For many years, Deer Cave was the largest known cave passage in the world. First surveyed in 1961, it was only overtaken by the survey of Son Doong Cave in Vietnam in 2009.
Deer Cave boasts some impressive measurements – passage length of over 4 kilometers with a one kilometer stretch with a width of 174 m and a height of 122 m. The main entrance (photo below) has been measured at 146 m. Indeed, you can get an idea of the scale from the two men that appear in the photo.
When I was there I had to keep reminding myself that all of this was carved out by water! Yes, it may have taken four million years or more, but still.
As with my photo yesterday of a dry riverbed we passed en route to Deer Cave, the rocks here on the floor of the cave are rounded and smooth. This is testament to the forces of water that have passed through this cave in the past.
Deer Cave is one of the four show caves in the Gunung mulu national Park accessible without caving gear and with a concrete path that runs the length of the show passage.
The colors in this photo are impacted by reciprocity failure in the original slide film from the long exposure. The greens weren't really that vibrant but I was a big fan of Fuji film back in those days much preferring their vibrant blues and greens over the reds and yellows of Kodak products.
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