Under a dense cover of the Borneo rainforest lies a hidden world, invisible from the surface. The colossal underground chamber is extensive enough to suit 40 Boeing 747s set next to one another.
It is the Shawak chamber – considered one of the biggest underground spaces discovered by people, a geological miracle that patches everyone who enters.
Hidden Stone Cathedral
The Sarawak Chamber is situated within the Gunung Mulu National Park in Sarawak, Malaysia – a tropical rainforest park, which was designated as UNESCO World Heritage.
It was first discovered in January 1981 throughout the Mulu’80 expedition by the British exploration team. Three explorers – Andy Eavis, Dave Checkley and Tony White – broke the cave after following the river that led them to the face of the mountain.
From the skin, no one would suspect that behind the narrow gae slit, Nasib Bagus (success of the cave) lies a wide ranging natural space. After entering the chamber, Sarawak AWE is immediate and inevitable.
The chamber seems unlimited, and its dimensions are stunning: 600 meters long, 415 meters wide and almost 80 meters high. With a complete size of 12 million cubic meters and an unsupported ceiling covering 300 meters, Sarawak Chamber has a record as the biggest known space on earth.
In imperial units it’s about 2,000 feet length, 1,400 feet width and almost 500 feet height – after which that anyone feels as small as dust.
On a scale, the Sarawak chamber has greater than twice as large because the Wembley stadium in Great Britain!
Wandering to the guts of the Earth
Reaching the Saravak chamber will not be a simple feat. The journey begins in camp 1, where guests spend the night before the beginning of a 3 -hour journey. The trail is demanding and requires good physical condition.
After passing a dense rain sink with tropical rain, the route lasts along the river flowing from gaps in a limestone rock. What begins because the deep water of the ankle progressively increases to the extent of the chest, often requiring trekkers to cling to lines bolted to the partitions of the cave by previous explorers.
Along the way in which, the peak of the headlight lamp dances in a vague water spray, and the sounds of birds and bats echo at the hours of darkness. Some birds even overcome briefly on the chest – as recognition of your presence as a part of this extraordinary space.
They wade over Mili through Bystra and sharp rocks, the river finally disappears – and also you stand on the edge of the Sarawak chamber.
A world without time, no light
At the time of entering the most important chamber, the sense of scale begins to dissolve. Your headlight reveals only a small a part of the colossal dome above. Up and down they lose their meaning – in total darkness the world can easily be the wrong way up.
Here, even the concept of time is blurring. There isn’t any sun. Without dusk. Only snacks and a cup of tea function “days” death markers.
The Sarawak Chamber is a natural cathedral, carved for hundreds of thousands of years by slowly dissolving limestone. Underground rivers, curtains of the calcite formation and big stone partitions that organize rare ecosystems lie in it.
Some species of bats and insects have evolved even to survive in total darkness.
Learning within the stomach of the earth
Much greater than the intense goal of travel, the Sarawak Chamber is a vital subject of scientific research. Geologists, biologists and climatologists consider this cave to be a living laboratory. Its complex, closed structure allows researchers to look at ancient climate change, rocks’ creation processes and a fragile biological diversity that adapted to this underground world.
One legendary cave researcher, generally known as “Mad Phil”, is known for climbing the cave partitions, others wouldn’t dare to try. Together with Eavis, he believed that the ceiling of the Shawak chamber could hide hidden corridors – like a secret attic in an enormous, ancient house.
Silence spell
At night – and more precisely, throughout the “rest time” – explorers scatter mats sleeping on flat rocks, hang wet socks to dry and have a look at artificial stars: glowing eyes of spiders reflecting light as precious stones, some as big as a hand.
The air contained in the cave is warm and moist, as if the darkness itself was a fog around every thing.
And although the cave seems determined to swallow all light, the memories of the Sarawak chamber are vividly shining. Moments when the flash loads the dome of the cave, when the bird lands in your chest or when the sound of water echoes in peace – they change into unforgettable experiences engraved within the soul.
