UMTHE, Umlyngdkhur, 2a (Krem)
25.283800,92.492700
Description
At least four known cave entrances (A through to D) give access to a horizontal, joint controlled, and interconnected maze of cave passages at two (or more?) markedly distinct levels (note 1), which contain secondary calcite formations (speleothems), water, at least one chamber, and some boulder collapses. According to Jean-Pierre Bartholeyns (in: Korsgaard, Bartholeyns & Hardy 2009.02.09 Mss: Umthe 2), the second Krem Umthe (Umlyngdkhur) is a »horizontal, labyrintick [sic!] cave with some wet passages. In the wet season the cave would flood.« ETYMOLOGY: No locally known name has been identified for this remote cave in the jungle at the head of the Umlyngdkhur (Mulberry Stream), a stream near the village of Umthe (note 2). Introduced at a later stage of caving was the English cave name "Cobra Cave" and that was translated into the German »Kobrahöhle« when WINKLER, R (2010: 106) wondered »Was ist also von einer Kobrahöhle zu halten? Von einer Kobrahöhle genau genommen, die so nahe ist, dass sie wahrscheinlich sogar mit der Kolibrihöhle zusammenhängt.« SITUATION 1999: Two of the four known entrances lie at a jungle walking distance of about ten minutes approximately north of the temple cave Krem –>Umthe (Umlyngdkhur) and at a spot which, in April 1999, had been impossible to fix with the help of a 4-channel GPS receiver underneath a too dense foliage (Gebauer 1999.04.04). SITUATION 2009a: »About 10 minutes (max. 100 m) walk above Umthe (Umlyngdkhur), the temple cave. Climb up just to the right [note 3] of the temple cave and continue walking / climbing uphill until you reach a dry streambed. Follow the stream bed to the left [note 4] until you get to a "junction" [with unidentified position]. Follow the dry stream bed on the right [note 5] and you get into a pleasant small doline [note 6]. Umthe 2 is in the left end [note 7] of the doline behind a boulder« (Korsgaard et al. 2009.02.09 Mss: Umthe 2). SITUATION 2009b: A cave entrance, which »most probably is Umthe« lies »… about 10 minutes above the temple cave, Spiri Gufa« (Brooks, S J et al. (2009.02 Mss "Diary 2009.doc"). POSITION 2009: WGS84 N25°17'01.6”: E092°29'33.7” (±12 m, L. Korsgaard 2009.02.09, unspecified GPS receiver presumably »Garmen Etrek« (Brooks, S J): 874 m asl (Arbenz, T 2009.06.01 Mss: total 2009.xls). POSITION 1999: Estimated position near (±100 m) N25°17'00”: E092°29'33”: circa 950 m asl (WGS84, H.D. Gebauer 1999.04.04, wobbly 4-channel GPS Garmin 4). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1999: Entrance 1 is a descending slot behind a boulder at the foot of a 5 m high cliff face in sort of an oblong collapse doline near the head of an all-year-round dry valley about 10 or 20 m above the level country carrying the Umthe stream. Entrance 2 is a free climbable collapse entrance further up in the jungle. According to an anonymous contributor to DAWSON (199: 14, cave plan on pages 28-29), the second cave near the village of Umthe has, in comparison with the first Krem –>Umthe (Umlyngdkhur), »… a much less obvious entrance but one which turned out to have a large number of passages for us to explore. Although there were at first no obvious signs of any habitation we were soon to discover that we were certainly not alone in this particular cave. Firstly came the full frontal stripy, dinner plate size, man eating spider attack! These creatures managed to decrease our survey party by four. Thankfully not by consumption but simply because they ran at a Lindford Christie like pace out of the cave. However the extremely brave and courageous amongst us continued with the collecting of data … The larger party continued up the main passage until a very steep climb stopped everyone except Mr. Edmunds and Daniel. These two climbed the ascent only to find a much more dangerous form of inhabitant in the shape of a very frightened cobra - frightened needlessly, as the two fully grown men facing it were far more scared! The other group carried on through the passages, surveying as much as possible, and finding many other off-shoots, eventually exiting the cave by a different route. This afforded Nick the perfect opportunity to put his Tarzan skills into action as he dived in to thick jungle to find those waiting at the original entrance.« CAVE DESCRIPTIONS 2009: According to Jean-Pierre Bartholeyns (in: Korsgaard, Bartholeyns & Hardy 2009.02.09 Mss: Umthe 2), literally quoted, »Le mein N/E passage with at its ends a labyrinthick [labyrinthine] system cut by boulders and decorated chambers. Every where we can reach at the bottom the still water level. The first right passage ended in a big chamber with two entrances in the jungel. Mein of the passages are 1.2 m wide on 2 m high. Clean and dry passages.« Louise Korsgaard and Brian D. Kharpran Daly observed a cave with two entrances, which »… fits the discription [sic!] in 'the book'… and it is still ongoing …« beyond the first 123 m that had been surveyed in April 1999. Jean-Pierre Bartholeyns noticed (2009.02.11) not only a wet passage but also a labyrinthine maze of both dry and clean passages, chambers decorated with secondary calcite formations (speleothems), and boulder collapses: »At many places we reach the static water level« or water table (Jean-Pierre Bartholeyns in: Brooks, S J et al. 2009.02 Mss "Diary 2009.doc" Wednesday 11th February). An Indian Navy team found (2009.02.12) a »… passage full of deep water and discovered a new exit« (Brooks, S J et al. 2009.02 Mss "Diary 2009.doc" Friday 13th February), the Krem –>Umthe (Umlyngdkhur) 2c or "Navy From Inside" entrance. Again, an Indian Navy team continued (2009.02.14) surveying and exploration »… after the big chamber up to which survey was done, we started survey from station 2/5 and finished the passage for survey. It was opening to the jungle and before opening the jungle there were lot of boulders and we had to find way out amongst big boulders« (Brooks, S J et al. 2009.02 Mss "Diary 2009.doc" Saturday 14th February), thus establishing Krem –>Umthe (Umlyngdkhur) 2d or "Navy Jungle Opening" entrance. SPELEOMETRY: Survey length 137.29 m at ± 9.34 m (+9.34 / -0 m) on 1999.04.04 (H.D. Gebauer et al.) »The total survey is about 483 m« (Bartholeyns in: Korsgaard et al. 2009.02.09 Mss: Umthe 2). Survey length 517.65 m (Arbenz, T 2009.06.01 Mss: total 2009.xls) Survey length 518 m (Brooks 2009.03.10 Mss: Overview 2009): »… the relocation and ongoing exploration of Krem Umthe taking it from its 1999 length of 139 m to 518 m.« CAVE POTENTIAL: According to Jean-Pierre Bartholeyns (in: Korsgaard et al. 2009.02.09 Mss: Umthe 2), literally quoted, »the extreme / exit of the right passage [note 8] seems coming in the same doline that the big exit of Monkey Skull.« PROSPECTS: Each and every enterable passage, no matter how small it was, is said to have been pushed to conclusion: »As little they are, all the passages were visited« (Jean-Pierre Bartholeyns in: Brooks, S J et al. 2009.02 Mss "Diary 2009.doc" Wednesday 11th February). CAVE CLIMATE: On 10th February 2009, »… a light, cold wind is blowing and it is often possible to follow it through the boulders« (Jean-Pierre Bartholeyns in: Brooks, S J et al. 2009.02 Mss "Diary 2009.doc" Tuesday 10th February). On the following day (11th February 2009), »… some passages were more windy and at some places it smelled like petrol. Are we close to coal mines?« (Jean-Pierre Bartholeyns in: Brooks, S J et al. 2009.02 Mss "Diary 2009.doc" Wednesday 11th February). CAVE LIFE: Encountered in the early afternoon of 4th April 1999 were »dinner plate sized, man eating spiders« (Arachnida: Aranea: Sparassida: conf. Heteropoda fischeri Jäger 2005) and a greeting King cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) suggesting to modify the cave explorer's initial impulse to penetrate deeper into the ongoing cave. In February 2009, Korsgaard, Bartholeyns & Hardy (2009.02.09 Mss: Umthe 2) recorded to have noticed bat, spiders, and »one big white shrimp« (Crustacea: conf. Palaemonida).
NOTE 1: SINGH, N (1920: 281) circumscribes the English (from Greek) "labyrinth" with the Khasi »ka jaka kaba dap da ki kyrwad lynti« -- a place or room that is full of turns / bends and paths / ways. Personally, I would also expect not only road forks and road junctions to offer a multiple choice of ways on. On the other hand, Jorge Louis Borges counts among the most demanding labyrinths not only desserts and oceans but also the Argentine pampas. NOTE 2: Simon J. Brooks (undated amendment to Korsgaard, Bartholeyns & Hardy 2009.02.09 Mss: Umthe 2) suggests to introduce the cave name »Umthe (Area) Cave« and declares »Name after locality in which cave located« probably because "Umthe" is not at all the name of an area. NOTE 3: Directions such as right or left could be misleading depending on which way one was facing. NOTE 4: Directions such as left or right could be misleading depending on which way one was facing. NOTE 5: Directions such as right or left could be misleading depending on which way one was facing. NOTE 6: Dimensions such as "small" or "large" could be misleading as they depend on which state of mind one was (e.g. large mouse, small elephant): They are about as illustrative as cave photographs without a scale. NOTE 7: Directions such as left or right could be misleading depending on which way one was facing. NOTE 8: Directions such as right or left could be misleading depending on which way one was facing.
History
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1999.04.04, trip 1: Paul A. Edmunds, Brian D. Kharpran Daly, Herbert "Daniel" Gebauer, Nick Cain, Gregory D. Diengdoh, Sophie Kumar, Robert Lamb, Louise Le Fluffy and Helen Philp, guided by Milan Lamare and in company with Vivian 'Bibi' Kharnaior, S. Diengdoh and G. Lyngwa commenced mapping (Length: 137 m. Vertical range: ±9.3 m = +9.3 m / -0.0 m) and exploration. A cobra signalling "stop" in the middle of the only way on, a just about walking sized rift passage, interrupted cave mapping at an unexpectedly early stage of progress. 2009.02.09, trip 2: Brian D. Kharpran Daly, Louise Korsgaard, Bishnoi Prakash (Leading Seaman), and Roshan Yengkhom (Medical Assistant) »… went to find Umthe. They did find a cave [i.e. Krem Umthe, Umlyngdkhur 2] about 10 minutes above the temple cave, Spiri Gufa« which is Krem –>Umthe, Umlyngdkhur 1 (Brooks, Simon J. et al. 2009 Mss: Diary 2009.doc Monday 9th February). 2009.02.10, trip 3: Jean-Pierre Bartholeyns, Sujan Shubba (Leading Seaman), Pankaj Rai (Seaman 1st Class), and Joanne "Jo" Hardy »… went to Umthe. They started surveying from the wet passage and surveyed 148.85 m in dry, clean passages. It is a labyrinth system of passages and boulders, which offer some well decorated chambers. At different points, a light cold wind is blowing and it is often possible to follow it through the boulders« (Brooks, S J et al. 2009.02 Mss "Diary 2009.doc" Tuesday 10th February). 2009.02.11, trip 4: Jean-Pierre Bartholeyns, Sujan Shubba, and Pankaj Rai survey another 142.44 m of survey length. Allegedly (see tomorrow) each and every enterable passage, no matter how small it was, had been explored: »As little they are, all the passages were visited« (Jean-Pierre Bartholeyns in: Brooks, S J et al. 2009 Mss "Diary 2009.doc" Wednesday 11th). 2009.02.12, trip 5: Pankaj Rai, Polchung "Chung" Kipgen, Karma Choki Bhutia (Leading Store Assistant), and Vikram Singh Kirola (Leading Seaman) surveyed an approximate 57.31 m of survey length in a »… passage full of deep water and discovered a new exit« (Brooks, S J et al. 2009 Mss "Diary 2009.doc" Friday 13th), the Krem –>Umthe, Umlyngdkhur 2c or "Navy From Inside" entrance. 2009.02.14, trip 6: Cdr. Vijay Chhikara (Commander, Indian Navy), Polchung "Chung" Kipgen, Bishnoi Prakash, and Biranchi Narayan Bhola (Leading Store Assistant) surveyed an approximate 46.05 m of survey length, finding a route through a boulder ruckle or »opening to the jungle« (Brooks, S J et al. 2009 Mss "Diary 2009.doc" Saturday 14th), the Krem –>Umthe, Umlyngdkhur 2d or "Navy Jungle Opening" entrance. 2009 February: According to Brooks (2009.03.06 Mss: Overview 2009), the »… relocation and ongoing exploration of Krem Umthe took it from its 1999 length of 139 m to 518 m.«
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | UMTHE, Umlyngdkhur 2b (Krem) | ||
| 0.1 | UMTHE, Umlyngdkhur 2c (Krem) | ||
| 0.1 | UMTHE, Umlyngdkhur 2d (Krem) | ||
| 0.1 | KHONGRENG (Wing Pala 2009) (Krem) | ||
| 0.1 | UMTHE, Umlyngdkhur (Krem) | ||
| 0.5 | AA CAVE, Tangnub 08 | ||
| 0.6 | AA CAVE, Tangnub 04 | ||
| 0.6 | AA CAVE, Tangnub 06 | ||
| 0.6 | QUIET BIRD CAVE (aa -) |