GARO HILLS, MeghalayaSiju Cave



132 km from Tura, Siju is famous for Dobakkol or the bat cave with impressive stalagmites and stalactites. It is one of the longest cave in the Indian Sub-continent and contains some of the finest river passages to be found any where in the world. There are magnificent limestone rock formations inside, especially named princes, Di's chamber by the excavators will fill any visitor with awe.

Tetengkol Balwakol

 Four km north of Nengkhong village, are the two adjacent 1 m diameter circular entrances of Tetengkol Balwakol which lead to 5.7 km of dendritic river cave which also contains a maze of stooping to walking size passages. For such a small entrance it is really amazing to find behind it, a large and sizeable cave.

Dangedikol Chiningkrikol

 The 18 m wide and 12 m high entrance leads to a largish meandering stream passage. The cave houses a large population of bats. With 1352 m of surveyed length, the cave is still ongoing.

Korekol

 A tunnel cave connecting a sink in the downstream end of valley in pinnacle karst to a resurgence at the rim of (the locally) shallow limestone outcrop below Matrongkol. An inspiring entrance (15 m wide, 3.5 m high) leads to a boulder collapse obstructed by driftwood but a squeeze to the top of a 2 m climb down gains a dirty, shallow pool from where a north-south running passage (on average 7 m wide, 2.5 m high) continues below a daylight window (15 m above) to enter a Y-junction. Here North South passage turns to the right, continuing all the way (185 m, inclined by-7º) to the resurgence as a North-North East-South-South West passage. Some 50 m from the Y-junction, the main drag splits into two parallel 20 m-passages (the right/north-western one requires swimming but the left is dry). They unite at a cross-rift chamber, split again, and re-unite once more to continue from then onward as a level passage to a daylight-lit collapse area at the rim of the limestone outcrop.

Cave Exploration/ Expedition organized by Sikkim Government during Feb/Mar.