by Liz Price
“This is Burma and it will be quite unlike any land you know about ” – Kipling (1898)
Myanmar, or Burma as it was previously known, is one of the few countries relatively unexplored by cavers. In colonial days at the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries there were many visitors to the caves. Some were just going on outings and for picnics, whereas others were doing scientific studies. Many of the scientists published their findings. There were several famous temple caves, such as Pindaya and the Farm Caves. Since then very little research has been done on the caves, and when Myanmar effectively closed its doors to travellers, it was not easy to travel to the limestone areas. However it is now getting easier to travel around some parts of the country and cavers are once again taking an interest.
In the last 2 decades there have been a handful of caving expeditions to Myanmar, however more work has been done by bat researchers. The cavers were generally restricted to the northern Shan area. Even in the late 1980s foreigners were not allowed to the southern peninsula area, so it was only in 2009 that the first cavers were able to visit that area. However a lot of the limestone areas are still off limits to foreigners.
This site will consist of an accumulation of data gathered for and after the 2009 expedition, which was held Jan 28 - Feb 4. Further expeditions took place in 2010 and 2011 and will continue in 2012. In Jan 2012 there was a recce trip
NEW BOOKS
- - Karst and Caves of Myanmar.
- - Atlas of the Great Caves and the Karst of Southeast Asia
See more details on books page.
PLEASE NOTE THIS WEBSITE WAS ONLY BORN IN EARLY SEPTEMBER 2009 AND IS STILL IN ITS INFANCY. HOPEFULLY IT WILL SLOWLY GROW OVER THE COMING MONTHS………..
For further information, or to give information, please contact moc.liamtoh|ecirpzil#moc.liamtoh|ecirpzil
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Updated Apr 2012
