Indonesia cave adventure: 60 metres down a rope is an ancient mini forest, and underground passage to see the ‘light of heaven’
- Visitors to the forested Gunung Sewu geopark in Yogyakarta province are lowered 60 metres to the cave floor, where plants from ancient times still grow
- Strict limits on tourism keep the caves pristine. Come at the right time and sunlight streams through a hole in the roof of on cave to make an Instragram moment
The air is quiet except for the sound of my breathing as I hold nervously onto a single rope, dangling at a height of 60 metres (200ft), before being lowered slowly into the dark cave by an instructor. It’s my first time vertical caving, but I am safely clipped into a harness, and my tension soon turns to awe as I observe the towering, plant-covered cave walls.
Before long, my feet touch firm ground, and I am released from my harness by guide Suharjono. Our group of 20 tourists murmurs with excitement as we land in this still natural cave in Indonesia’s Yogyakarta province, equipped with boots, helmets and headlamps to help us negotiate the dark, slippery terrain.
Jomblang cave has become a popular adventure destination for Indonesians and foreign visitors to the region in Java. The main space of the cave is about half a football field wide, and overgrown with various types of mosses, ferns, shrubs and trees.
Suharjono says the cave is formed from a doline, or sinkhole, that appeared thousands of years ago in the forest floor and brought a layer of soil along with vegetation crashing down. The sinkhole has a 50-metre wide lip. The vegetation continued to flourish.
