Not that we have much choice as our passport has been chopped already. But I did saw some people getting out of the exit; probably they really gave up and made a detour back. Oh and I met my Appco batch mate. Haha he was saying Singapore so big and yet customs so small because we never meet again after he left Appco (within 2 weeks) haha. Not that I lasted any longer, probably 3 weeks to a month.
Anyway he must be thankful to have caught sight of me else he probably will not head to JB due to the long queue. Although I seriously cannot fathom how some people could just decide to go JB shopping like going to Tampines shopping to me. XX was right to say, where he stays probably is a strong factor ha-ha. For me though, I will avoid Malaysia during public holidays already. Actually other than a promised Penang trip, I don't really see myself heading to Malaysia again. Perhaps if my teacher-docent friend is planning to bring me to Malaysia to catch butterflies, I might reconsider. Haha reminds me that I have not gone Cameroon Highlands too hmm.
We finally made it to JB checkpoint and I thought there will be a long queue awaiting us. But I saw a new building and got a shock.
My friend told me coach checkpoint is different from car and also from public bus. Hmm and this checkpoint is new because I remember my Berkelah trip, the checkpoint was not so grand. The queue was manageable too. Most importantly, majority of the crowd headed to City Square shopping centre like my friend. Hmm I have never been there but I guess it is ok as I am not an avid shopper.
We took bus 160 to Kota Raya to collect the car (Malaysian Proton).
The bus was super empty as most people will head to Larkin Terminal which was where I went in Berkelah trip to catch our buses. There are two known ways of reaching Gunung Ledang (Mount Ophir), one is from Sagil, Johor and the other is through Asahan, Melaka. We chose through Sagil and thus made our way to Tangkah town.
Then is a long drive to Tangkah town. The tolls were initially 1 to 2 RM till we reached Tangkah where it suddenly cost us more than 20 RM and our touch-and-go card was zapped clean. We stopped at a rest area to buy drinks in the convenience store and had our dinner at their café which was Nasi Lemak plain or with Chicken Redang, Otak-Otak. And it was really lucky that we chose to dine early instead of at the canteen in the nature park because we almost lost our way. We went to the wrong resort (Gunung Ledang Resort) at Pintu A when we should be heading to Pintu B where the National Park office is located. We ended up travelling that road a few times to find the security guard at Pintu A because he can speak English haha. And he thought we are Malaysians as we were driving a Malaysian car. Sigh I am supposed to master my Malay but after one year, still NO progress.
Anyway after travelling up and down, we finally met the guy who is supposed to meet us. Then we went through a long stretch of dirt road (palm oil estate) before finally reaching our rest area. Then a quick cold shower and I plod straight to sleep just as what the FB Application – Message from God revealed...
On this day, God wants you to know...
... that tonight you can turn your worries to God, and have a good night's sleep. You've been worrying too much about the future lately. So tonight, go ahead, put your faith in God, and just have a peaceful evening and a restful sleep.
Woke up early next morning to wash up and have breakfast. A wise choice that we only ordered 2 Nasi Lemak sets although it would have been better if we had eaten earlier. Because when we started the trek, breakfast was not digested and thus the guys were feeling uncomfortable. (My friend said for Mt KK, they were not allowed any breakfast and had only one cup of thick Milo.. probably we should do that next time.)
After climbing up 739 steps and some trekking, we made it to checkpoint 1 which they already felt like the summit. Then is more trekking to checkpoint 2...checkpoint 3...checkpoint 5.
The estimated time and actual time taken for this "gentle" uphill from Checkpoint 1 to Checkpoint 5.
CP1 to CP2 25 minutes / 21 minutes
CP2 to CP3 60 minutes / 34 minutes
(Probably because we skipped Twin Fall)
CP3 to CP4 25 minutes
CP4 to CP5 60 minutes } 84 minutes
And the total distance from start point to CP5 = 3.9KM
From CP1 to CP5 I still have some energy to take photos and made observation e.g. I saw lots of tree trunks buffed shiny by the ropes… and lots of vandalised rocks and trees… and lots of trampled grasses and broken roots.. sigh.. all man’s fault for wanting to conquer mountains, yours truly included :-(
And then a tougher road lies ahead.. The KFC (Killing Fitness Centre). It is a more tedious and steeper climb
and the ultimate challenge is the rocks climbing!!! I want to give up!!!
The reward? A beautiful prelude of the scene you get to see at the summit. Somehow the guide leaves us not much choice so we had to reach the summit even if we wanted to give up. There is a rule however that if anybody cannot reach summit before 3.00pm, he/she must turn back from the point where he/she is. But I don’t want to go back via this way again and so we pressed on to the summit to be able to go back via an alternative return path.
The total trail length for KFC = 1.9 KM
Thus the grand total is 5.8 KM / 1286 metres high. I wonder which is tougher, my marathon buddy’s 20KM marathon training or Mt Ophir climb?
Oh and when you reach the summit you can penned your thoughts... you know the scene where one climb to the highest and start to record one's thoughts and feelings. It probably is a good time to seek Fairy Princess too. However I only spent some seconds at the summit because there were too much flies. Not sure if it is because of the leftover food discarded at the summit but the flies sure killed any good feeling you had when reaching the summit. Even the guide went down after a short smoke. Felt sad because the view is quite serene where you can see the birds flying on top.
The name “Ophir” itself is thought to have originated from the Hebrew language.
In the 14th Century, Chinese seafarers called it 金山.
And Javanese during the period of the Majapahit empire named it Gunung Ledang means “mount from afar”.
Standing at 1,276 meters (4,187 foot), on the 64th highest mountain in Malaysia, it is said on clear days you can get a panoramic view of Segamat and Jementah town of Johor, as well as the historical Melaka. Well I fail my geography so I will just appreciate what I see – Earth and Sky!
On our way to descent, the thunder got louder and the skies got darker. Soon it began to rain. At first I thought that the rain will not reach us as the foliage should protect us. But I was wrong. The rain got heavier and I got wetter and colder. Luckily I borrowed a plastic bag from my friend to protect my bag. Seriously for this trip, I did not pack appropriately. I had even forgotten that I should get a backpack needless to say water-proof my valuables.
With the rain, I slipped and fell more often that I lost count already. Before that, I had slipped into a stream while trying to test the coolness of the water. When the rain fell, I no longer bother about water puddles as I was already wet from head to toe. In addition I could not take any photos because I did not want to test if my camera is water-proof even though I saw a snake and heard the horn bill. The snake encounter was a scary one as it was heading straight into our path as we were on the same path as where the water was flowing. So the guide kept trying to divert its direction till all of us crossed safely.
We managed to reach base by 6pm. Actually come to think of it, I am quite grateful of the rain as we did not dehydrate too much because our water supply went low after reaching summit. I did replenish my thirst with some spring water during the descent (before rain fell). But with the rainfall, my thirst was constantly replenished through my eyes, lips, skin haha. Luckily I was not wearing spectacles or contact lens else I will be extremely uncomfortable.
and had our dinner. Somehow the canteen being the only monopoly, took their time to cook. Luckily we brought down our tidbits and were munching it. When the food did arrive, we immediately gobble them down.. that I forgot to take photo even though I brought my camera down. A sample of their serving can be found here where we had been given someone's share wrongly and it was at our table untouched for minutes.. Luckily!
My last note for that day probably is to say thanks to the guide. As mentioned, he really gave us no choice but to reach the summit. He is 36 years old and had been climbing Gunand Lebang for 10 years. He told me he climbed here about 5 times a month. And the toughest he tried was Mt Tahan, the tallest in peninsula, (my friend told me it meant East Malaysia; guess I still got lots to learn about Malaysia). I wondered if I should start climbing Bukit Timah every week haha... Must jio my teacher docent sia..
The last day we left for Malacca. Woah is like I just been here 2 months ago and I'm coming back again haha. Since we have no idea what we want for breakfast, I suggested trying the chicken rice ball. This time I remember to take photo of the feast haha.
After the feast we headed to Malacca zoo. It was quite well decorated actually. Took the tram to go round for an overview. Then took random photos e.g.
Somehow due to aching legs, I never really explore the zoo properly. So sad. Even the observation tower, I was too lazy to climb.. and the mini safari, I just take a picture from the entrance.. sighz
My personal highlight is to catch sight of red panda. Was upset when I could not find it as I have not seen firefox yet. Phew, now I dont really need to fly to Hong Kong to see firefox already. This was really a surprise for me.
Had our "ANW" feast too. Somehow a trip to Malaysia always must end with an "ANW" feast haha. Then we headed back.
On the spur of moment we decided to head to Kota Tinggi to see the waterfall. Talk about sponatarity.
There was a Wet World for one to play water near the waterfall.
And well one can climb up but as my legs were aching and it was drizzling plus we are quite pressed for time, decided not to climb for today,
Stayed awhile, while we ate the remnants of the packed chicken rice... And then is home sweet home. I did some research about Kota Tinggi and realized one can see fireflies there. Oh so sweet.. I still have not seen my fireflies.. sigh
Oh ya before I penned off, more about the legend of the fairy princess in Mt Ophir can be found here...
And did I meet fairy princess? Did fairy princess answered my queries? Well is for me to know and for you to find out.
p/s: I went to do a comparision between Berkelah Waterfalls & Mt Ophir.. Actually Berkelah Waterfalls being my first hike, I find it quite scary on the way to the summit too. While it does not have the rock climbing, it had a narrow ledge where any small step, you will plunge into the water or the land... and it was lucky that we were not carrying our camping equipments that time as my friend had volunteered to look after our stuff. So I am still unsure if I want to trek Mt KK even though I have been assured that one can hire porters and one can rest halfway as there are actually accomodations in the middle of the track. Let me think again in 2011.
Related Posts:
Trek1: Berkelah Waterfalls
Trek2: Endau Rompin (Selai)
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