A Rope Between Me and Death

I’m terrified of heights and I definitely do not ride roller coasters for larks like my dear sis so someone please do tell me why was I hanging on a rope for dear life down a cave wall last weekend?!

There comes a point in everyone’s life when they get tired of the humdrum-ness of everyday life and just have to spice it up someway or another. Well, my moment came last weekend when me who screams at the sight of a caterpillar and nearly cried while rock-climbing in Club Med ventured into the great, big scary outdoors! It was an adrenaline charged day of caving, flying fox (no, it’s not a bat!) and white water rafting with Nomad Adventure up in the hills of Gopeng, Perak. I’m so “outdoors inclined” that I didn’t even have a pair of sandals for the event and had to run out to buy a pair of Teva sandals the night before!

First stop was Gua Kandu, a cave which hid the Japanese equipment during World War II and the communists after that. It was a muddy trek to the cave mouth opening and my feet sinking into mud was my first taste of what outdoors meant! From the mouth of the cave, it was onwards into the pitch-black darkness where these two fluffy sisters were the only ones without flashlights! Clever eh?! So we were at the mercy of the light from others who were, luckily, really nice with sharing their lights.

It was a little sad and freaky to hear about how the communists lived in the darkness of the cave for 5 years during the Insurgence with only a candle each a month. At one point, the guide made us all squat down and switch off all our lights for a full minute just to experience what life must have been for them then. It was the longest minute of my life. The silence and darkness was really heavy and oppressing with only the drip of water against the limestone breaking the silence. It was so dark that I couldn’t even see my hand in front of my face. How did they live? I don’t know. I’m not sure if I could have survived such an ordeal. Then again, I guess necessity makes tougher people out of all of us.

So yes, it was necessity that made me scramble up a slope of the cave with nothing but a rope to get to the upper sections of the cave. It was necessity that made me go down a slope BACKWARDS while clinging on to a rope and trying to find footholds. Of course, that was not done without some whimpering first and the guide having to talk me down like how you’d coax a small kitten down a tree! All I could keep telling myself was to not let go of the rope, no matter what happens!

The highlight of our caving adventure was the flying fox which isn’t a fruit bat but essentially this:

It’s cables strung up between the main chamber of the cave where they harness you up and you swing all the way across to the other side! Remember Batman and Spiderman when they shoot out their little devices to help them swing? Something like that but with, of course, a lot more safety equipment and a lot less style!

You have to wear this little harness around your thighs then make your way to the guides standing on the ledge. For me, making my way to them was one of the hardest parts as you have to inch your way across a rock face which I was, as usual, terrified of falling down below! Once you get there, they’ll attach the safety ropes and cable carabiners to your harness and then comes the hard part again. You have to walk backwards, literally off the ledge! Once you’re off, you have to kick yourself and off you gooooooooo!!! Flying through space with nothing under you! It’s a pretty exhilarating experience!

I brought home lots of little souvenirs in the form of scratches and bruises while my unfit legs ached for 2 whole days with all that climbing! My colleagues were probably wondering why I was walking so funny all of yesterday!

Would I do it again? Well, when I was scrambling down rocks with ropes and the worst-case scenarios running through my mind, I thought there’s no way I’ll be doing this again. Now that I’m back on terra firma and seated in the comfort of my chair, I think maybe…although I’ll definitely need to be fitter before embarking on something like that again!

P/S Go read Paris’ blog for our White Water Rafting Adventure and my reviews blog for a review on Nomad if you’re getting bitten by the adrenaline bug!