Hi,
Me and a few friends have decided to explore the world of spelunking and caving in December this year. We're all from India, and plan to head toward the Indian state of Meghalaya for a small caving adventure. This is the only place in our country that has caves suitable for the purpose. There are likely to be 4-6 of us (final number yet to be decided).
When I first stumbled upon this website, I thought it was an international website catering to caving enthusiasts and experts from around the world, but after reading through many posts, it's evident that this is more local to the United States.
However, since I searched online for other caving forums a lot, hoping to find any local resources pertaining to India, and couldn't find any caving forum apart from this one, I'm forced to ask my question here -
Is anyone here familiar with the caving scene in India? Has anyone here been caving in Meghalaya? Does anybody know any experienced caver in that region who could agree to be our local guide when we do go there?
Since this is our first time caving, as well as in visiting the state of Meghalaya, we'd need a local guide who knows both - the lay of the land; as well as knows his way around the inside of a cave, what to do, and so on.
My next question is -
What kind of equipment do we need as a bare minimum to enjoy our caving activities? I have been through some threads on this board, and also some other links and resources online, and, to be honest, got quite lost in the whole barrage of gear available (and recommended) for even the most basic of spelunking outings. There are so many items that you're told to carry, and then you have to contend with a hundred different features and variations for each item depending on the particular purpose it may be used for, and when in the end, if at all, you've come to a decision as to which item you want, you have to contend with a thousand different brands to choose from. In the end, all this information-overload was quite overwhelming, so I'm leaving myself at your expert hands for recommendations on basic gear we need, and if possible, any tips on where we can find them in India.
Please note that I prefer not to carry too much gear, I'm a bit more in favor of the natural way of doing things. And the prospect of carrying too much gear which many never even end up being used in a simple trip makes it quite cumbersome to carry them around.