Gua Tempurung

Wondrous Cave

Useful Information

Location:	Pusat Pelancongan Gua Tempurung, 31600 Gopeng, Perak. 25 km south of Ipoh. North-South Expressway, Gopeng exit, south on Federal route 1, after 5 km turn left, 2 km to Gua Tempurung. Signposted from Gopeng exit. (4.4169565, 101.1879494)
Open:	All year daily 9-16. Closed Hari Raya. [2024]
Fee:	Golden Flowstone: Adults MYR 20, Children (6-12) MYR 10, Seniors (60+) MYR 10. Top of the World: Adults MYR 30, (6-12) Children MYR 15, Seniors (60+) MYR 15. Top of the World & River Adventure: Adults MYR 40, Children (6-12) MYR 20, Seniors (60+) MYR 20. Grand Tour: Adults MYR 50, Children (6-12) MYR 25, Seniors (60+) MYR 25. This is the rate for foreigners, Malaysian inhabitants have much cheaper prices. [2024]
Classification:	Karst Cave Tin Mine
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:	L=4,500 m, river passage: L=1,600 m.
Guided tours:	Golden Flowstone: D=40 min, L=300 m, self-guided. Top of the World: D=105 min, L=600 m, self-guided. Top of the World & River Adventure: D=2.5 h, L=2.4 km, ranger guided. The Grand Tour: D=3.5 h, L=3.8 km, ranger guided.
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	only entrance section
Bibliography:
Address:	APT Consortium Sdn. Bhd., Pusat Pelancongan Gua Tempurung, 31600 Gopeng, Perak, Cell/WhatsApp: +60-14-220-4142. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1950 to 1960	during the Malayan Emergency used by the communist guerrillas as a hideout.
early 1970's	mining for tin at the Gergasi Chamber.
1995	beginning of development.
1998	opened as a show cave.

Description

Gua Tempurung is a large cave system with beautiful speleothems like stalagmites, stalactites, rim stone pools, curtains, straws, calcite crystals, and pillars. It is located inside Gunung Tempurung (Tempurung Mountain), which was named after the cave and is about 500 m asl. The marble and limestone mountain is crossed completely by the 1.6 km long main passage with its cave river.

Quite rare for karst caves is its history as a tin mine. Normally the limestone does not contain resources, and so there is not much mining in caves. In this case, there was a small deposit of tin ores in the Gergasi (Giant) Cavern. The mining created a separate cavern, which is artificial and was named Tin Mine Cavern.

The cave is quite spacious, and it has five huge chambers. Golden Flowstone Cavern was named after a flowstone cascade which looks golden when water flows down, and it is up to 90 m high. The second largest is Alam Cavern (Universe Cavern), which is up to 72 m high. Gergasi Cavern (Giant Cavern) contains a 15 m high stalagmite and is the access to the Tin Mine Cavern. Battlefield Cavern was named after numerous stalagmites which have collapsed, one of them is called Fallen Warrior. The ceiling of some chambers looks like the inside of a coconut shell, which is the reason why the cave was named Tempurung, the Bahasa word for coconut shell.

This cave is very well developed with paths, stairs and electric light. It is a rather young show cave, as it was opened to the public in 1998. Before this it was already toured a lot, because it is so huge, the visit had no big difficulties. Nevertheless, it was necessary to wade through the river, which is now replaced by an elevated trail.

It is now possible to choose between four tours of different lengths, from a short show cave tour to a long cave trekking tour. The shortest tour is said to be easy and enters the cave at the main entrance. It leads into the Golden Flowstone Chamber, where it turns around at platform three. Hence, it is called the Golden Flowstone tour. This tour is intended for elderly or disabled visitors as it has only a small ascent. As far as we know, there are several staircases, but as it is self-guided, the visitor can turn around any time.

Much longer and with numerous strenuous staircases is the Top of the World Tour which leads to the place called Top of the World, which is the highest point of the main passage. Here at platform five, the developed part of the cave ends. Visitors return on the same path.

There are also two cave trekking tours offered. The Short River Adventure uses the tourist trail to the end, then returns through the river in the lower level. The Grand Tour is a cave trekking tour which completely crosses the through cave along the river, which is close to the original cave visits which were made before the cave was developed. It shows all five huge chambers of the cave. The cave trekking tours are ranger-guided, and participants walk through the river and get wet. As the cave is actually quite warm, including the cave river, this is not that bad, but it is strenuous. It requires waterproof shoes, we recommend special water shoes, and some physical fitness and surefootedness. The tours are also dependent on the weather. After heavy rains, the river rises and the tours are not possible.