Japanese Tunnel, Bukit Tinggi, West Sumatra

Japanese Tunnel, Bukit Tinggi, West Sumatra, originally uploaded by algenta101.

This the first underground tunnel that i have entered it my life and the feeling is mainly unpleasant. Being in Indonesia where tremors are quite a common earth's activities, feeling of it going to collapse never escaped my mind. In addition, the cave was reportedly claims thousand of Indonesian forced labours' lives where nobody knew where the Japs dumped the bodies contributed to my uneasiness. But due to satisfiy my curiosity, I braved myself to enter it.

I entered the caves together with my better half and and her cousin's families accompanied by a local guide. Actually, you can enter it on your own but it is better to have a guide so he can explain the cave's history. As my time were more occupied in taking photos, most of his explanation fall to my deaf ears.

However, I still could recall the gist of his explanation. The caves was just recently open to public, I believe in 2007, and there are 3 similar caves exist in Indonesia. One in Bandung and another in Irian Jaya, and only in Bukit Tinggi it is open as a tourist attraction (the locals call it as objek wisata, a loose dialect for visitor object).

The cave was constructed by the Japanese during the WWII in secrecy. Even the locals do not know of its existence. Bukit Tinggi was previously used by the Japs as their main headquarters. The Japs used forced labours collected throughout the Indonesia but reportedly none from Bukit Tinggi. No one really know where the Japs dumped the earth they digged nor how many lives it claimed during its construction. But based on their other grand design such as the Death Railway on the River Kwai, thousands may have lost their lives till its completion. May God have mercy on their souls.