Planinska Jama

Wednesday August 15th 2012

Members present: Alexander Stelfox,  Christopher Jones,  Laurent Michaux,  Louise Bell,  Matt Gosling,  Sam Briscoe

After driving to a tall tower not far from Speleocamp we waited around under the trees for a while where there was a round hut that sold drinks that was not yet open. A little later a car drove up and two people got out, looking possibly like cavers. After wandering over they asked us if we were "the tourists". Confirming to them that were indeed not locals and therefore tourists, they wondered off again leaving us confused if they were the guide we were waiting for. Having only had a short telephone conversation a few days earlier with the guide in broken English we hoped we were in the right place at the right time. Not long afterwards what looked like a small removal truck skidded round the corner in a hurry...our guide had arrived!

After changing into full caving gear we were handed a wooden oar and a life jacket each and headed down a path towards a large cave entrance. The clear green tinted water was very low and was far below where the water could go off towards the hydro-powerplant. Passing through a locked gate covered in barbed wire we followed tunnels and walkways blasted into the rock by workers during the war who had been trying to build a walkway through the cave to the next city. Eventually we came to three boats, one of which was almost deflated because of a puncture. The other four cavers that were also with us, who were clearly local, were given a boat and left to go off on their own ahead, leaving the six of us and the guide to take the other boat. Sitting on the edge of the boat we paddled slowly into the darkness. Our guide with a halogen headlamp and a battery pack on his belt directed us the correct way. Along the way we saw many hundred proteus (an endangered cave animal native to the area). As the water was low we had to keep getting out and carrying the boat over shallow areas and rocks. On the walls, just above the waterline, were lots of cave woodlouse happily sitting doing nothing in the dark waiting for a proteus to come and eat them. Several bridges had been built over the river as part of the war effort, however they were made of wood and were therefore very unsafe and collapsing leaving tall concrete pillars standing ominously in the cave.

Eventually we reached the sump at the end which goes down about 100m and divers have tried to dive. Here we pulled up the boat on the side and clambered out. Continuing on foot through narrow passages and traversing a pool of murky water which we were told was very deep, led to a climb upwards. Upon climbing up we had reached paradiz! The formations here were really beautiful and many sparkled as if they were reflecting the moonlight on a frosty night. There were many curtains and columns, with the number and size of them greater concentrated and larger than I had ever seen. There was evidence of an earthquake many thousands of years ago that had broken a column. In addition much had fallen from the ceiling only to be covered with more formations in another direction to the existing stalactites. Further on beyond pristine flowstone were tens of large gour pools in the floor and through a crawl we reached another chamber beautifully decorated.

After resting and admiring the chamber for a while we began our journey back. Before taking the boat, our guide let us sample some local alcohol of some description from a bottle kept hidden in the cave which was fairly strong to give us energy on out return trip.

On the way back we stopped off by one of the disintegrating bridges to climb up and have a closer look. The wood was clearly rotten and damp and was not safe to walk on. It was amazing to think of how far they had built into the cave considering he resources they had at the time. A little while later we were once again in the baking heat and beautiful sunshine. It was certainly a superb trip I would do again!