8 NOVEMBER 2006

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Last Day's caving

The end of the showcave had been satisfactorily concluded the previous day although no doubt a means of bypassing the continuing passage could be found either by an alternative entrance or a hidden high level passage. Today was our only chance to close the system's gap from the resurgence end that Bruce had visited with Zhanghai on their first day in Pan Ling.


Rice husks by the roadside are bagged up and used for crop frost protection


The resurgences lie on the east flank of the limestone hills

Tony H, who hates to disappoint was willing to have a crack despite feeling under the weather after the previous day's caving episode. We knew the resurgence was essentially a long canal and Tony armed himself with a wetsuit and Bruce opted for fleece suit and life jacket.

Eddie was assigned to look at the other resurgences with Huang Baojian. A quick re-briefing on the GPS yielded some good results from the day and this was supported by notes and photographs too. Prof Yellow (Huang) made measurements of the rock dip with a clinometer, took water samples and temperatures supported by Eddie.

Meanwhile, back at the resurgence, Bruce and Tony showed the Taliban driver the way to the village and were reminded of the footpath through the village to the cave by the locals. We were followed by a small group of villagers to the entrance where we prepared ourselves for a wet day. A local man gestured what he knew about the cave we were about to enter. Tony took the plunge and before long was hanging off the sidewall in deep water. There was no way to measure from this survey station and Bruce leapfrogged him with the survey gear to take some reverse readings. A shallow section was found with a ledge to put down the equipment. Above our heads were masses of roosting bats of different species and sizes that were beginning to stir as our lights awakened them. The laser rangefinder would not however measure the distance invoved and after a fair delay, it was decided to split the measurement later taking note of our positions. When Tony caught up, he was getting pretty cold and decided that in view of his unwell state could not continue. we took one more forward survey leg and Bruce swam ahead into the unknown. The canal deepened and the entrance could be seen getting smaller and smaller as Bruce swam on. Because the cave was incredibly straight, at least 500m was travelled before the direct line of sight to it was broken. The walls of the canal narrowed being perhaps a foot wider on either side of a breaststroke span. The waves generated began to noisily trap air beneath the undercut walls and a low connecting tube was briefly investigated before reaching a collapsed section of canal wall. This allowed Bruce to climb up out of the water and gain the upper level of the passage 6m above which had become noticeable from below whist swimming.

He was able to traverse back along the upper passage to a flowstone boss opposite the last survey station in the canal. Using an LED keyring, a one-man survey was possible back into the cave to where the upper level passage fizzled out. The canal beyond the fallen blocks was not investigated and may continue for some distance despite there beng no draught. Bruce returned to the entrance after 3 hours, being buzzed by low-flying bats for much of the way to find Tony waiting nearby. Tony had waited on the ledge for a long time before retreating to the entrance and was hit by more than one clumsy bat whilst waiting. A couple of bats were seen struggling in the water however the one managed to claw his way out up the walls. A large 'fruit' bat, one of many in the cave flew out into the daylight before disappearing into another entrance? Its wingspan was about 45cms.

Our driver appeared and led us back to the village where rice was being dried on large platted mats in the sun. Here Huang appeared and went to our resurgence to get a water sample. We travelled back to the showcave in time for a shower and to attend the 4pm press conference. Bruce, Arthur, Niu and Chen Lixin all gave reports and speeches for the benefit of the cameras. The Meeting was hosted by Mr. Chui and attended by the director and deputy director of Wannian County.


Woven reed mats are used for sun drying rice

Afterwards, we all had a grand meal and celebrated Mr. Chui's birthday with a large cake and plenty of toasting. The meal developed into a cake fight with all remaining gusts involved using the lashings of 'shaving foam' cream from the birthday cake.