MALO (Krem)

History

EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1980ies: Sometime in the late 1980ies, a truck (TATA 1210 SE) carrying seven passengers rolled down the jungle track and fell 50 m down into the shaft. All seven were killed and local people used bamboo ladders to retrieve the bodies (KHARPRAN DALY, B D 2006 s.a.: 41). 1997: 467.51 m. 1998: +1648.18 m (total: 2115.7 m). 1999: +226 m (total: 2404.3 m). EXPLORATION LOG (citations from Tony Jarratt's Mss Cave Logs of 1997 and 1998):1997.02.17: Antony 'Tony' Boycott, Paul A. Edmonds, Anthony 'Tony' Jarratt and Estelle Sandford »… got a lift up the road for about 5 km to the (supposedly) Nepalese coal mining village [of Thangskai]. We were first taken to Krem Wah Umshangktat upper entrance by mistake. Further up the road the jeep stopped at a hamlet with a track leading into the forest. An old local showed us the "Alum Pot" type entrance just off the track. A few years ago [circa 1990], a coal lorry carrying seven people accidentally rolled backwards into this 50 m deep pot with obvious results and apparently seven (?) locals descended this impressive vertical shaft on purposely made bamboo ladders to recover the corpses and useful truck parts! Rather them than me!!! Paul rigged the pitch as a free hang using our 66 m 9 mm Beal rope leaving just a few metres at top and bottom. He descended first and I followed him down to find the lorry neatly "parked" upright in the centre of the shaft -- never to see a road again. Paul deftly removed the plastic nameplate -- TATA 1210 SE -- and we had a look round for ways on. From a ledge some 5 m up at least three passages were found and the others then joined us. I had found a crawl through formations into ongoing stuff and Paul found a grotty streamway going both ways. Above this a large, draughting gallery led off so we opted for this and followed generally walking sized high level passage and streamways for several 100 m. Some of this was superbly decorated with dead stalactites, stalagmites, columns and botryoidal stal. A possible, small "shield" [disc, disque speleothem] was also noted. At one point, a superb 5 m wide by at least 30 m high circular aven was seen. Scores of passages led off on all sides and one roomy lower level went at least 250 m to bigger stuff which was left untouched. In the opposite direction it led back to the main streamway where we stopped exploring and started surveying back to the pot. 466.81 m was done with at least 500 m being left unsurveyed. There is a good chance of several kilometres to be found here! Back at the pot we were apprehensive of the climb out and the time needed for this, so decided to head for the surface. The climb was not too bad and the large audience gathered at the top seemed to be enjoying the spectacle and were happy to assist in hauling out the rope and bags. Several bats left at the same time as us.« (note 2) 1998.02.24: »Uwe [Krüger] accompanied us [Jarratt, Boycott and Brian Johnson] to video the descent as he had injured his foot … the previous day. His intention of filming the "jungle bashing" above the pot were thwarted by the locals who had chopped most of it down! Brian rigged the pot … using the stumps of the same trees used last year, to give a perfect free-hang … The Tata lorry at the bottom was partially covered in cut down trees. We started surveying in the dry inlet series partly explored last year and followed this for 230 m to a choke of huge sandstone boulders with a possible way on out of reach above. This was almost certainly a surface collapse as a huge spider was seen –generally a good indication. Another 90 m of loop passages were surveyed on the way back. This was nearly all attractive, roomy, dry passage with gypsum crystals, cave pearls, etc, in places. We next surveyed downstream, past another possible surface choke on the right, to reach a much larger passage. Further downstream all the water disappeared in a low passage on the RH side so we followed the dry LH route past many side passages to reach a superbly decorated "White Scar"-like minor streamway. As we followed this downstream Brian suddenly announced that he could hear a lorry! Sure enough, just round the corner daylight could be seen and after a low, grotty crawl we emerged from a tiny entrance (exit?) in the jungle. The excitement and elation were only eclipsed by the relief we all felt in not having to prusik up the 50 m pot! From the entrance we climbed steeply up through the jungle to appear on the main road near a bridge. A passing local provided the information that we were between Lumshnong and Thangskai, so after some deliberation, we decided to walk back to the Soil Inspection Bungalow (circuit house) for a tea break. After only a couple of hundred metres we were amazed to see it directly below us! … after tea and biscuits … we reenacted our exit for the video. We then went back in to survey another 150 m of fossil passage -- much of it visited last year.« 1998.02.27 (Georg Bäumler, Susanne Annette Becher, Boycott, Antony 'Tony', Jeni A. Brooks, Simon J. Brooks, Anthony 'Tony' R. Jarratt, B. Johnson, Uwe Krüger, B. D. Kharpran Daly, Kyrshan Myrthong, Thilo Müller, Sher Singh, Raphael Warjri, Yvo Weidmann, etc.): »Several of us abseiled being videod by Uwe and Raphael. Tony and team had been surveying the main upstream passages and joined us at the pot. Yvo, Brian J. and I then surveyed some 50 m of large passage leading upstream from the pot to a high aven – found earlier by Jeni and myself. We then spent a lot of time surveying a series of passages on the opposite side of the pot which led back to the main route where we relieved the film crew from their boring vigil at the shaft bottom. More filming and still photography was done at the pretty crossroads chamber before Asia '72 where Jeni, suffering from contact lens problems, left on her own for the lower entrance. Everyone split up again on various projects and Yvo, Uwe and I got the short straw -- having to survey the inlet streamway beyond Asia '72. Uwe jacked it in at a low crawl so the two of us continued into large inlet streamway ending fairly quickly. Knowing the lateness of the evening meal we decided to continue downstream -- a good hour's job and after mapping lots of knee-wrecking stuff we were surprised and grateful to emerge at "Estelle's Dumping Spot" in the main stream. After surveying two more low connections, we were low on light and glad to pack it in. Heading downstream we were equally surprised to meet Brian K.D. and Uwe at the main junction. They had just came back in with Tony on a search for Jeni who had not turned up at the I.B. [search details] … Brian J. and Simon found her at the end of Mega Heteropoda Passage with no light and back and leg injuries as she had fallen from a traverse some 3 hours previously. She had reached this remote spot by taking the wrong left turn from the main stream and it was extremely lucky that this unlikely location was searched so quickly [rescue details]. Eventually, at 11.10 pm, a very sore but relieved Jeni emerged from the entrance and was assisted up the steep slope to the coach on the road above. All back to the I.B. for late food, beer and whisky after a long but exciting day. This event is the first Meghalayan, and indeed Indian, cave rescue and the first one I had been on where the team arrived by coach!«1998.03.04 (Boycott, J. Brooks, Jarratt): »Our intentions were to survey the downstream passages and some higher level stuff near "Estelle's Dumping Pond". On the way I followed a roof tube from the main junction to a roomy chamber –not surveyed, and also followed the low streamway from here to the Pond and beyond for a long way until it got too low –also not surveyed. From the crossroads near the start of Asia '72 (now re-christened Time Warp Chamber in honour of Jeni's mistimed entry to Mega Heteropoda Passage) we started surveying back towards the Pond. I noticed a hole through a choke into large, unentered passage so we decided to map this instead. The next three hours or so were spent exploring and surveying some superbly decorated high level stuff and maze passages above the main stream including two magnificent 20 m high avens –a feature of this system. One passage, named Saguaro Skyway, had a fine, branched stalagmite resembling that cactus. Eventually we got fed up with this very complicated area and at last surveyed the oxbow back to the main stream.« 1999.02.07 (Sandford's I.B. log): »Tony, J’Rat and Estelle went to Krem MaLo and surveyed 250 m up two passages and then Tony and J’Rat went up to have a look at H Stream and found 50 m [not surveyed] beyond the 1998 end.« Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 17/04/2016