Right now it is already 2 pm and I am sitting on a wooden bench feeling

exhausted. Something is biting my right ankle but my mind is set on the three-dish lunch
spread on one of the long tables in the humble dining hall. Rendang chicken, bean curd
skin and glass noodles in coconut milk and fried salted fish with hot white rice is not a
combination I usually eat but on this particular day, it turns out to be the best lunch we
could have asked for. The home-cooked meal is served at the base camp of Gunung
Tampin Forest Reserve where the trees and a shallow stream induce a relaxing mood.

However, this setting is the exact opposite of what we experienced not too long
ago. And that tame-looking stream is nothing like the one we emerged from just half an
hour ago. That was merciless and unforgiving; with raging cold water from the moment
we stepped into the river bed until we stepped out again.

But this is not a story about the river. This is a story about a cave, one that has a
river gushing through a cavern. Gua Batu Maloi in the Johol district, Negeri Sembilan,
will never be accorded "cave" status for two reasons. First, it's a granite cave and
second, since it's not a limestone cave, there are no stalactites and stalagmites. But
since a cave is generally a natural underground void that a man can enter, Rusman, our
guide insists that Gua Batu Maloi is, in actual fact, a cave.
.
The cave probably the only "cave" in the state since there is no limestone
outcrops south of Batu Caves in Selangor is actually a cavity made by piles of huge
granite boulders in the river bed. Some parts of this heap of large rocks are still covered
underground which does not allow the sun to shine through. But where there are
crevices, shafts of sun rays made a beautiful spectacle in the dark, cold cave.

The cave is literally unknown. Not much is written on the Internet about this cave
and only a handful of websites has short entries which are not really helpful to those
looking for more information about the cave.
 I prepared a few items for the trip. I decided to bring along my amphibian outdoor
sandals, a head lamp and a small water-resistant knapsack to carry a bottle of water
and a small dry bag to keep my car key and a compact camera "Are you sure you want
to put those things in that dry bag? And those sandals and the knapsack?" asked
Rashid from Persatuan Mendaki Kuala Lumpur. "This is good stuff. I've used them many
times and they are able to withstand the water," I answered without looking at his face.
He smiled and mumbled, "We'll see later."

Like any other adventure, ours started with a short briefing that was, oh, so
monotonous. Rusman explained the history and background of the cave. Apparently,
there are 24 checkpoints along the 1 km cave, marked by adventurous villagers who
thought that the cave had tourism value.

The strategy was for us to walk in a single pile with Rusman heading the pack
and explaining to the person behind him, who then would do the same to the one
behind and so on until the end of the line. "Please, don't hold anything in your hands,
not even a water bottle. You need your hands to push and pull yourself around and the
strong current might just wash it away from you," he explained. I started to panic my
claustrophobia and aqua phobia began to seep in. "Rusman, I'll walk right behind you," I
quickly anounced.

The trail from the base camp did not take too long before we enterd the water.
While some of us were trying to avoid getting wet, Rusman and Rashid comfortably
walked in and waded through the shallow water. Following Rusman closely, I, too, (66)
went into the water. It was cold but nothing like what Rusman described during the
briefing. After several stream crossings in less than five minutes, the walk stopped at a
little pond that has two big boulders making up more than half of its perimeter.

Rusman lowered his body till the water came up to his chest and on all fours, he
headed for the small gap between the rocks. "You mean we start here? Now?" I asked,
innocently. He replied to me with a serious instruction: "Look at how I do this and you do
the same." If you ask me now I do not remember how I managed to get myself between
the rocks but there I was, surrounded by huge rocks, with my feet in the water. We
could still see the blue sky, feel the wind blowing against our wet bodies and hear the
leaves brush against each other. We were still out in the open.

But the further we moved the less open it became. Soon, we moved further and
further into the trail that leads us into the cavity that only had shafts of sun rays to give
us some light. At that particular time, the water was starting to show its fury. We
struggling with the darkness and the strong current in order to pull push and squeeze
ourselves through the gaps.

Where the space was too small to use our limbs, knees and elbows were put to
good use. There was a gap that required us to stand on our knees and press our cheek
against a rock as we inched sideways through the gap. There was climbing too. When
we had to climb against the water falls, we did so with the help of ropes. It was not that
tall a climb just a step up on the rock but the water was too strong for us to use
our hands to pull us up. Since it took so long for one person to go through it, Rusman
decided that the rest would go through a much easier route. When I finally saw the sun
again and felt the wind blowing against my wet body after two hours in the dark, wet
caves, I realized how tough and risky Gua Batu Maloi was.

Adapted from http://www.nst.com.my/life-times/holiday/no-ordinary-cave