The Treasures of Amir Temur Cave by MECET

the treasures of amir temur cave a n

u z b e k

s to ry

Middle East Caving Expeditionary Team (MECET) Amir Temur (Tamerlan) Cave Expedition Report 30 July - 6 August 2021

a semi-serious report written by Eva Lourau with very serious interruptions by Omar Abou Nader, Toufic Abou Nader & Will Hardie

report design Omar Abou Nader proofreading Omar Abou Nader & Will Hardie topo survey

Christopher Pike, Eva Lourau, Hassan Ibrahim Almaeeni, Mikolaj (Miko) Zielinski, Omar Abou Nader, Toufic Abou Nader, Will Hardie topo drawing Omar Abou Nader cover photo: Amir Temur cave entrance. © Toufic Abou Nader backcover photo: Amir Temur cave entrance at sunset. © Christopher Pike contacts Eva - evalourau@hotmail.com, Omar - omarabounader13@gmail.com All rights reserved © 2022 Middle East Caving Expeditionary Team (MECET) 2

Amir Temur Cave 2021 Expedition, MECET

Contents of an epic adventure report

01 04

The precursor of an epic adventure.. is an epic adventure

Buckle up for 04-05 the adventure !

Access from tashkent The drive of a thousand melon

Approach hike Amir’s scenic canyon hike

Day 4 August 3 The Maze’s Psychedelic room

Day 1 July 31 08-09 The crystal carpets of Amir Temur

Day 5 August 4 Catch me if you can

Day 2 August 1 Earthquake traverse

Day 6 August 5 Birthday labor

Day 3 August 2 Louder Than Words

Day 7 August 6 Hit the road Amir

10-11

12-13

14-15

18-19

Amir Temur expedition team 20-21 Photo selection

Topography 22-23 Plan & Section

Conclusion 24-25 & reasons why we should go back

Amir Temur Cave 2021 Expedition, MECET

The precursor of an epic adventure.. is an epic adventure P1. Eva posing next to the broken-down UAZ, our (allegedly reliable) transport to Amir Temur cave on our first trip to Uzbekistan, May 2021. © Omar Abou Nader P2. The expedition members en-route in the UAZ, 30 July 2021. © Christopher Pike

It all started in May 2021, when Omar and I decided to go to Uzbekistan for holidays. Keen to cave in a beautiful new country I remembered that some cavers were exploring Dark Star, one of the deepest caves in the world. The hunt for information and local contacts to visit some of these caves started from there. A chain of inquiries led me to contact Vladimir Dolgiy, who welcomed us and quickly became a dear friend after visiting two caves and sharing many feasts together. One of the caves we visited was Amir Temur Cave (aka Tamerlan), locally known due to the legend involving the infamous local hero. It is believed that Amir Temur used the cave as his refuge and headquarter where he prepared for his subsequent campaigns. In 2003, three British cavers started exploring the cave but stopped shortly after due to time limitation. After reading the British expedition’s report by Lou Maurice, and seeing first-hand the potential, it was clear to us that this cave was worth a shot.

Buckle up for the adventure ! The mission was to push the Cave of the Horses of Amir Temur, in whose chambers by legend the great emperor sheltered his cavalry. From Tashkent we drove 12 hours in an UAZ van, cartoonish and newish but of ancient design — a ‘50s VW camper copy, apparently still in production. The driver had a fine moustache of similar vintage. Up through dry pastures and steppes, back through time past yurts and neat mudbrick settlements and onto the high plateau, our base camp for a week. - Will

Back to Dubai, we gathered members of our caving family, MECET (Middle East Caving Expeditionary Team) and we briefed them about our epic adventure and the exciting possibilities. Without much thought, it was decided then and there: MECET is embarking on a promising expedition to Uzbekistan.

Amir Temur Cave 2021 Expedition, MECET

Grudziadz, Poland Toufic Abou Nader Lebanese 4,1 0

Nukus Vladimir Dolgiy Uzbek Tashkent

5,200

Bukhara

Samarkand

Grenoble, France

Shahrisabz

Eva Lourau French

Qarshi

Amir Temur Cave Termez

2,2

Position: 38.72862, 67.29663 Altitude: 2,650m

Uzbekistan is a Central Asian nation known for its dazzling architecture and its historical importance along the Silk Road. The team flew from three different locations on the days leading to the expedition kick-off day. Those who landed a few days earlier got to rest, meet the local Uzbek team and shop for supplies.

Sharjah, UAE Christopher Pike Canadian Hassan Ibrahim Almaeeni Emirati Mikolaj (Miko) Zielinski Polish Omar Abou Nader Lebanese Simon Cahill British Will Hardie British

UAZ photo taken by Simon Cahill

Amir Temur Cave 2021 Expedition, MECET

access from tashkent The drive of a thousand melons The drive started from Tashkent, passing through Shahrisabz, Amir Temur’s birthplace, and on to Chukur, the last town where asphalt roads morph into dirt.

The second part of the drive is on an unpaved road up the mountains. In total it is a 500km drive (8 to 12 hours) to reach the basecamp plateau, never short of surprises.

After pitching the basecamp past dusk, and preparing a well needed dinner, a kick-off meeting declared the start of the exploration. The plan is simple: several teams of three would each carry out various roles: pushing, surveying, supporting and general exploration in rotation for the coming seven days. Amir Temur Cave 2021 Expedition, MECET

approach hike Amir’s scenic canyon hike

Expedition Logo Uzbekistan 2021

Amir Temur Cave 2021 Expedition, MECET

Day 1 July 31 The crystal carpets of Amir Temur

Resurgence Entrance Amir Temur Cave

Side Balcony Amir Temur Cave

P3. Cave approach through the canyon with some 200-meters walls perched on each side. © Christopher Pike

We commuted daily over the lip of the canyon and down into shadow and waded and hiked downriver to the mouth of the cave, through a curtain of winter cold air and into the dark. The passage pinches down to a crawl, then to a squeeze passed lizard-style, chest to earth, back to rock, breathe out and turn your head sideways to pass the narrows. Bats flit madly past. Amir Temur’s horses didn’t come this way, for sure. Then — a cathedral chamber whose roof swallows our headlamp beams.

The chamber wall needs a bolt climb, and that’s the objective of Day 1’s team: Will, Simon and Miko: reaching as far as the British have in 2003. Power-drill a hole as high as possible above your head, hammer in a bolt, step up in a sling, clip the bolt at your waist, and repeat. P4. Will bolting the climbing pitch. © Christopher Pike

Big vertical caves are easiest to explore downwards, but we can’t find a top entrance where the water goes in so we’re doing it bottom-up from the resurgence. 8

Amir Temur Cave 2021 Expedition, MECET

It takes us a day to top out at a small lake on a ledge high above, beyond which a carpet of white crystals leads off into the mountain. We wash our boots and tread gently over the rock-hard hoarfrost. - Will

P5. Eva at the circular crystal pool at the top of Amir Temur Hall pitch. © Toufic Abou Nader P6. Omar head to head with the dragon, guardian of the “Dragon’s Lair” pitch. © Eva Lourau P7. Miko at the start of Amir Temur’s crystal carpets. © Toufic Abou Nader

Amir Temur Cave 2021 Expedition, MECET

The first pitch climbed which sits within a chimney parallel to the main big chamber, announced the beginning of the technical cave. The climb-head is topped by a short traverse that goes out, overlooks the main big chamber (aka Amir Temur Hall), and ends at a circular crystal pool.From this point, a parallel pitch (P35) was bolted and rigged directly back down into Amir Temur Hall chamber, facilitating access and movement for the days to come. The circular crystal lake there is followed by a short pitch called “Dragon’s Lair” (P10) leading into a gallery with a crystal carpet section and a stretch of gours.

Day 2 August 1 Earthquake traverse

P8. Pike exploring and rigging the earthquake traverse. © Toufic Abou Nader

Toufic, Christopher and Hassan led the 2nd day push mission. After bolting for a couple of hours the team reached what seemed to be a never-ending underground lake.

The cave went mostly horizontal past the top of the climbing section, for about 300 meters. We ran into 2 forks: • Fork 1: the right leg led to a lower section in the cave and led into a longlake. The left leg led to a second fork in about 70 meters. • Fork 2: the right leg led into a decorated short tunnel that turned back and overlooked the previous section of the cave from a balcony. The left leg stood above the long lake which we previously saw in the first fork. - Toufic 10

Omar, Vlad and I caught-up with them at that point above the lake where a moment of doubt took over everyone: all seemingly possible ways to cross the lake dry are non-existing. With no end to the lake in sight, coupled with temperatures nearing freezing, swimming was not a viable option. Could we get an inflatable boat in time to tackle the lake without risking the expedition? Could we find wetsuits? Did we spend weeks organizing this expedition to abort it on the second day? Being hours away from civilization, let alone somewhere that we can actually find what we need, a creative and rather sketchy solution was in order: bolt a traverse that runs across a small, inclined, and slippery ledge, 20 meters above the lake on the upper left corner of the cave. With a critical and challenging job in store for Toufic, Pike and Hassan; I headed back with Omar and Vlad to the basecamp. Amir Temur Cave 2021 Expedition, MECET

Pike and I shared the work of rigging the traverse. It was nerve wrecking and a slow job as we had to be careful around the formations while lead bolting on natural threads. We passed the lake on higher ground and then descended past the lake and continued for about 100 meters and reached a big round lake. We climbed on the right side of the lake and decided the higher ground would make a good camp for the next push team. Meanwhile Pike continued a little bit further than the lake to scout what is next for the following day’s push team. - Toufic P9. Toufic bolting the end of the earthquake traverse. © Christopher Pike P10. Hassan standing at the crystal gours after the traverse. © Christopher Pike

Every evening at basecamp we impatiently waited for the push team to resurface with more tales. Every evening, those of us in camp relived the day and discovered a whole new world through the stories of the exploring team. As the cave gradually revealed its secrets, each day was a delightful surprise, and even though everyone enjoyed updates, nothing was quite as pleasurable as the muchawaited phrase: “the cave continues!”

Amir Temur Cave 2021 Expedition, MECET

Day 3 August 2 Louder Than Words

Eva Ledgewalker Pike Cheerleader

Miko Astrocaver

Omar Team’s Minion

P11. Day 3 push team, and their cheerleader Pike, ready to roll. © Toufic Abou Nader

Pumped with adrenaline after I bolted the handline in the cave camp (aka birthday camp), we charge for a fun exploration lead climb. Once we reached the gallery and saw the pitch, we realized that this was not your average 10 meters climb: a wall as smooth as silk, dotted with crystals and ending with a small overhang. At this point we realized why Pike had suggested to climb the pitch from the left wall of the gallery and then make a traverse to finally bolt and rig the permanent pitch. After a quick assessment of the options, Omar decided that it was indeed best to attack the climb from the left side wall. With no time to lose I jump on belay; Omar starts his ascent.

Imagining the climbing line was easy, composing an action plan was less so. The conditions were bordering my comfort zone: bolting against gravity, climbing 12

sandy & chossy rock, bulky & muddy shoes, a heavy drill on one side, and a jingling chain of metalwork on the other. In reality, cave exploration is far less sexy than it actually sounds like, but boy is it rewarding. With the clock ticking, I broke the silence with a few grunts till I found myself clinging on a narrow sandy slope 3 meters above ground. “Put a bolt” I told myself, but before I knew it my left foot slips. “Rooock! Rock!” fills the emptiness of the air. I look down and everyone is safe; a sigh of relief followed by an internal dialogue: “Breathe”, I remind myself, “2 or 3 bolts and I reach the safety of what appears to be a more comfortable ledge”. Amir Temur Cave 2021 Expedition, MECET

I was moving slowly, more slowly than I realized or would have wanted. I had underestimated the climb, but I was determined to reach the ledge, set up a belaying station, and help Eva up so that she continues the second part: the traverse. After clipping to the third bolt, I reach above my head for the ledge, only to be met with another sand-covered slope. With no holds, I managed to pull myself up to the slopy ledge, sweat drenched, dusty nostrils, but with a grin on my face. I roll on my back for a minute and think to myself: Sylvester Stallone’s cliffhanger is total BS. - Omar While Omar climbed, Miko had to return to basecamp to rest. He had developed a painful foot infection a few days before the expedition which in spite of, was still as active as ever. Meanwhile, Simon showed up exclaiming that he had missed the underground, offered advice as well as took up belay duty when I got cold. P12. Omar aid-climbing “Louder Than Words”. © Eva Lourau P13. Eva bolting “Louder Than Words” traverse. © Omar Abou Nader

Once Omar reached the top of the 10-meterhigh ledge, I soon followed with additional gear and got ready to lead the bolting of the traverse section. 4 meters into the traverse, I reach around a corner and I am out of Omar’s sights, the sandy ledge that was already uncomfortable, gradually shrank to about 15cms with an overhang . Six meters left to the end of the traverse, I had only one bolt left and I knew I had to place it at least a couple of meters further to be able to finish the traverse. With the encouragement of Simon below and Omar belaying, I slowly advance using the skyhook, I then lay flat on the crumbling tiny ledge and drill as far and as high as I can. When this is done and I manage to go to the next section, I feel happy but most importantly relieved. Attaching the end of the rope to a natural anchor for Omar to come join me, I quickly go to scout: a few minutes walking led me to a scree slope, on top of which I saw another long lake underneath, though this time with evident pathways to bypass it. With no time left, I retrieve my steps back to Omar and together we bolt and rig the permanent rope for this pitch, thus concluding our mission for the day with “Louder Than Words”. On our way out of the cave, we crossed paths with Hassan and Will who were going to set up a proper camp at the birthday camp to facilitate the coming days of the expedition.

Amir Temur Cave 2021 Expedition, MECET

Day 4 August 3 The Maze’s Psychedelic room

P14. Gypsum florets formations covering hundreds of meters of wall and ceiling in the maze. © Toufic Abou Nader

After a good night’s sleep, Will and Hassan continued where the previous team had reached. To bypass the lake, they bolted a few handlines and drops until reaching a walkable pathway along the lake. After about 10 minutes of walking along the lake, they reached a sump, declaring the dead-end of the main system. Few hundred meters before the sump, a small climb to the left of the cave led Will and Hassan to a passage that branches out to form a maze. At this point, Pike, Toufic, Miko, and Omar who were surveying part of the cave, caught up with them. With Miko and Omar planning to return to basecamp, Pike and Toufic were meant to continue the exploration and relief the previous team from their mission. However, adrenaline overpowered Will and Hassan’s tiredness and they decided to stay for few more hours to also explore the seemingly endless horizontal passageways. 14

The air changes: patches are colder, dryer, fresher. There are piles of batshit and dead bats but few living - perhaps entombed here when an exit passage collapsed, or hibernators who never woke up. Either way, they didn’t come in the long way we did, so there must be an exit above, at least for bats. The passage narrows down again to a crawl for the final glory: a chamber dripping with the most spectacular decoration: stalactites encrusted with sugary crystal blooms; otherworldly whorls and spiraled extrusions; surreal, dreamlike. - Will

Amir Temur Cave 2021 Expedition, MECET

Will and Hassan resurfaced that night with tired but happy faces recounting their long but rewarding day. The consensus was that if by 8:00 am Pike and Toufic do not come back to the mouth of the cave and through the radio tell us that it stops, Omar and Eva are going in to continue exploring. Interesting things to note about the maze: 1. It is not an active side of the cave. 2. It is full of crystals and fragile formation that seem to have fallen off the walls and ceiling most likely due to seismic activity in the past. 3. There are thousands of dead bats laying around. Many bats are mummified. 4. Long stretches of the floor are covered with bat excrement. 5. It is all on the same horizontal level with minor elevation change. P17. Omar crawling in a passage in the maze. © Eva Lourau P15. Hassan crawling in the maze. © Toufic Abou Nader

P18. Sugar crystal blooms. © Christopher Pike

P16. Pike in front of a fragile passage. © Toufic Abou Nader

P19. A warm welcome by two residents. © Toufic Abou Nader

Amir Temur Cave 2021 Expedition, MECET

Day 5 August 4 Catch me if you can

P20. The maze presenting twists, tunnels, forks and chambers of different sizes but equally as charming. © Toufic Abou Nader

8:00 am, August 4th with no response on the other end of the radio, I made a move with Omar and within 2.5 hours we reached the start of the maze where Pike and Toufic’s SRT gear was left behind. Entering the maze, we found a note left by Toufic and Pike and thanks to a time stamp, we realized that we are only 30 minutes behind them and so we decide to play catch up.

camp to the maze. With our last guests of the day leaving to basecamp, Omar and I had dinner by candle light, and then retreated to our 7-degrees Celsius tent. P21. Eva in a crystal-covered tunnel. © Omar Abou Nader

After a few hours of running around the maze in a scene that looked at best out of a Tom and Jerry episode, we eventually managed to bump into Pike and Toufic at 2:00 pm. The maze was already fully explored but we decided to spend the afternoon looking for any remaining side passages, stay the night at camp, and then morning comes, disassemble the camp and derig on the way out. Late that afternoon, we bumped into Will and Hassan who were surveying from birthday 16

Amir Temur Cave 2021 Expedition, MECET

Day 6 August 5 Birthday labor While derigging the main big chamber, Pike spots a potential line to climb in the roof. With no more time left for the expeditionary team, this last surprise raises a question: could this line lead to new passageways? Hopefully one day we will find out

P22. Omar blowing his 27th candle served on scrambled eggs. © Eva Lourau

On the outside, Vlad was trying to arrange for donkeys to help with carrying the multiple heavy bags of kit, metalwork and ropes. The donkeys however, had a mind of their own and decided the afternoon was for siestas. With a no-show from our friendly porters, the team stepped in to form a caravan of overworked but overjoyed caver-porters.

After blowing his birthday candle served on top of scrambled eggs, Omar and I cleaned the last sections of the cave as well as the camp.

I never expected that on my birthday I would be treated to packing my brother’s makeshift toilet and carrying it out of the cave, perhaps my fate for usurping the cave camp name, or perhaps just his birthday gift to me. In any case, my dusty nostrils saved the day. - Omar

P24. Will’s load is bigger than yours. © Toufic Abou Nader

P23. Can you guess the bag’s content? © Christopher Pike

On the way out, we met Toufic and Pike coming to help around the Earthquake traverse. Miko’s mission was to bolt the first pitch climb-up with permanent anchors for future trips. The entire caving team came to help at different points of the cave. Amir Temur Cave 2021 Expedition, MECET

Day 7 August 6 Hit the road Amir

Amir Temur Cave 2021 Expedition, MECET

ou Nader

Simon

Will

Hassan

Omar

Pike Toufic

Vladimir Eva

P27. Team members at the cave entrance celebrating the end of the expedition. © Simon Cahill | edit: Abou Nader Amir Temur Cave 2021Omar Expedition, MECET

Miko 19

Amir Temur Expedition team Photo selection

Amir Temur Cave 2021 Expedition, MECET

ou Nader

P28. Celebrating the end of the expedition. © Toufic Abou Nader | edit: Omar Abou Nader Amir Temur Cave 2021 Expedition, MECET

Amir temur cave Topo

Amir Temur Cave 2021 Expedition, MECET

conclusion & reasons why we should go back

Despite a few challenges along the way, our mission to explore Amir Temur’s cave was both successful and memorable. Eight MECET members flew into Uzbekistan and along with Vladimir, our Uzbek contact and friend, made the long and bumpy drive to the Gissar Mountain Range where Amir Temur cave long awaited to be explored. The conditions were favorable, the landscape stunning, and the companionship rewarding. During 6 days, we took turns on various missions and managed to tick the following:

We were also fortunate to share the last few days of the expedition in great company with our Uzbek friends: Anastasiya Kostetskaya, Ekaterina Klipinina, Konstantin Bushaev, Evgeniy Kim, Vakil Bagamanov. Accompanied by Vladimir, the group visited the cave till the Crystal Carpet on Day 5. On the last day of the expedition, we all gathered around to celebrate two birthdays and one successful mission, this could not be done without food, toasts, songs and half-drunken dance moves.

1. Explore and discover the main cave passage, as well as side galleries. It is important to note that the cave is a resurgence, which means it was an aid-climbing type of exploration. 2. Bolted and equipped the cave for future trips. Installed permanent rope on dangerous and/or difficult pitches and traverses. 3. Surveyed approximately 60% of the explored passages. 24

Amir Temur Cave 2021 Expedition, MECET

Despite a successful mission, there is still more work to be done in the cave: 1. Continue surveying the galleries after Birthday

3. Climb and explore potential passages in the Amir

camp including the maze system which requires

Temur Hall (opposite side to the current pitch) as

extensive effort due to its complexity. The

well as some smaller higher concavities along the

survey could also reveal the water source of the

main galleries.

Birthday camp stream which remains a mystery.

4. Comb the surface for potential entrances or

2. Bring adequate gear (i.e. wetsuits) to explore

other caves as this area seems very promising.

the river and waterways; notably under the

Vlad managed to drop down to a concavity in the

earthquake traverse, under the decorated tunnel,

cliffside, located 100 meters from the top. The

and between Louder Than Words and the Maze

concavity turned out to be a hole with air flow

entrance.

and is worth checking.

Finally, the area is stunning and worth traveling to even though it is remote and hard to get to. Afterall, isn’t that the case for any Treasure?

Amir Temur Cave 2021 Expedition, MECET