Gua Kelam and Perlis State Park

A Tin Mining Tunnel Through A Limestone Hill In Malaysia'S Smallest State, Walked On A Suspended Plank Bridge, In A Forest Type That Exists Almost Nowhere Else In The Country · Kaki Bukit, Perlis

PERLIS IS THE SMALLEST STATE IN MALAYSIA AND ALMOST NOBODY STOPS IN IT. GUA KELAM IS THE REASON TO. THE NAME MEANS CAVE OF DARKNESS, and the cave is a TUNNEL RIGHT THROUGH A LIMESTONE HILL - roughly three hundred and seventy metres of it - WITH A SUSPENDED WOODEN WALKWAY RUNNING THE WHOLE LENGTH, built in the 1930s SO THAT TIN COULD BE MOVED OUT OF THE WORKINGS ON THE FAR SIDE. You walk in at one end and out at the other, over a stream, in the dark, on planks. AROUND IT IS PERLIS STATE PARK AND THE NAKAWAN RANGE - THE LONGEST CONTINUOUS LIMESTONE RANGE IN MALAYSIA - holding a SEMI-DECIDUOUS FOREST THAT EXISTS ALMOST NOWHERE ELSE IN THE COUNTRY, because this far north the dry season is real. THE STUMP-TAILED MACAQUE lives here and in very few other Malaysian places. Check the cave has not closed after heavy rain, when the stream inside rises, and carry a torch even though the walkway is lit - it is a through-route emerging on the far side of the hill, so plan how you are getting back.

Gua Kelam, Kaki Bukit, Perlis, Kaki Bukit, Perlis, Malaysia

GUA KELAM IS AT KAKI BUKIT, about THIRTY MINUTES FROM KANGAR and roughly AN HOUR FROM ALOR SETAR OR THE PADANG BESAR BORDER - a car is the practical way; there is little public transport in Perlis. THE CAVE KEEPS DAYTIME HOURS AND CHARGES A SMALL FEE; the WALKWAY IS LIT but a torch is still useful. IT CAN CLOSE AFTER HEAVY RAIN when the stream inside rises. PERLIS STATE PARK at Wang Kelian is a separate site with its own headquarters, trails and basic accommodation, and GUIDES ARE ARRANGED THERE. THE WANG KELIAN AND PADANG BESAR BORDER MARKETS are nearby and keep their own hours. PERLIS HAS A REAL DRY SEASON, roughly December to March, which is unusual in Malaysia and is when the forest looks most unlike the rest of the country.

Gua Kelam and Perlis State Park on Spottos · Explore more places on Spottos