PHIYAWRO GUFA

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

A sizeable cave entrance (12 m wide, 5 m high) to a broad but very low horizontal cave passage which is almost hidden behind a pile of conglomerate debris in the back of a 60 m wide and 50 m deep crescent shaped overhang of a cliff situated on the southern rim of the Pokhara Terrace and about 600 m to the east of the –>Powerstation Caves. The known part of Phiyawro Gufa (Jackal's Cave) clearly originates from a seasonal subterranean stream which flushes decomposed conglomerate through the entrance above the northern (left) bank of Phusre Khola. This hydrological function, however, is reversed –to a certain extent– for most of the year because the mouth of the resurgence is nearly closed by a dam of pebbles fallen from the cliff face above the entrance. The greater part of the dam rolls down into the valley below but a certain amount of the falling pebbles spill into the cave mouth (by gravitation) and smaller particles are washed by surface water into the cave. This alternating draiage results in a longitudinal passage shape resembling a Swiss alphorn. CAVE POTENTIAL - Outlook: About a 100 m further east of Phiyawro Gufa, and at the same elevation lies a much smaller cave wit three entrances. This Phiyawro Gufa 2 is terminated at a distance of about 15 m from the entrance by breakdown (dig!). The three small entrances were secured by animal traps made of barbed wire destined, as I was told, for the 'phiyawro', the jackal. The two caves might be connected.