Spelunking

At the cozy lodge where I stayed for the night, I met two Brits, Imogen and Tom—two very kind people. Fortunately, we decided to explore Cave Stream together.

Reaching the cave was easy enough, though when we got there, we saw plenty of warning signs advising against exploring it without proper equipment: warm clothing, a helmet, ideally a wetsuit, etc.—which we didn’t really have. Oh, and apparently, people have drowned there. Plus, the water was supposed to be rather cold.

We hiked down quickly and inspected the entrance. It looked amazing! But as soon as we stepped into the water and realized how deep it got right away, we decided to turn back and call it a day. It was simply too cold, and the trail seemed pretty intimidating.

Before returning to the car park, we took a quick look at the exit—just in time to see a guy emerging from the cave, his clothes soaked up to his chest. We asked him what he thought about the cave. Long story short, he told us it wasn’t all that difficult and that it hadn’t taken him long at all. He even recommended that we try it ourselves.

The three of us exchanged glances. That settled it. We were going in—equipped with headlights and my fancy dry bag, which Tom kindly carried the whole way.
(Tom and Imogen remembered that they actually had something like a wetsuit in their car, but they felt it would be unfair to wear them—wanting us to embark on the expedition under equal conditions so we could truly share the experience (and possibly suffer together 😁)

Just as the water was getting hip-deep at the entrance, we were greeted by an eel. Later on, we even saw a baby eel! It felt both creepy and cool to be so close to them—just 5 cm apart.

The cave itself was incredible. Pitch black, if not for our headlights. The rocks were fascinating—rugged yet smooth at the same time. We had to watch our step constantly, as the stream flowed through the entire cave with varying water levels. Depending on your height, the water could reach up to your hips at times, though it was mostly ankle-deep. It definitely wasn’t ideal to hold anything in your hands (as we saw some people doing with their smartphones, using them as torches). We were glad to keep our hands free to stabilize ourselves as we maneuvered through the cave.

There were several waterfalls—some cascading down from the walls, others completely integrated into the stream with strong currents. One, in particular, was tricky to traverse. I struggled with it, finding it hard not to slip on the smooth rocks while trying to keep a steady stance against the powerful flow. But we all made it. That was actually my favorite part! 😁

At another point, we had to crawl under a large rock, and toward the end of the cave, we encountered a deep pool of water. Thankfully, we didn’t have to go through it, as a few metal steps on our left led us upward. The final challenge was to slide and crawl through a narrow gap to exit the cave—before high-fiving each other for a job well done! We even only took about 25 minutes for the hike through the cave - instead of the hour that it was supposed to take.

While the water was definitely very cold, I was actually fine! Surprisingly. Maybe because we were all moving the entire time or because of the adrenaline. 😁

Exploring Cave Stream was definitely one of the highlights of my travels so far! And I was especially grateful for the supportive company. 😊

This adventure is certainly worthy of my 100th footprint!Read more