Feb 16, 2001

I made a heading toward Johor State at night via Tunas Highway in a coach bus. It was a long ride along the North-South Express, which in the middle, had a rest stop at Yong Peng. Finally, I reached Gunung Ledang Resort at midnight to make the chalet lodge before the climb. However, the thought of climbing the 6th most difficult mountain overwhelmed me, so much so that I had a card game with my pals first before I got to sleep for only a few hour.

Feb 17,2001

In the early morning, I had a light breakfast along the stalls outside the resort before I prepared myself for the trek up the Gunung Ledang summit. Gunung Ledang (Mt Ophir), is the highest mountain in Johor State (1,276m) and is believed in legend as the abode of the mythical princess, Puteri Gunung Ledang.

It was a long walk up a long flight of stairs to reach the first check point at Kolam Puteri. After that, the luxury of paving along man made levelled track was replaced by the roughness of natural trail. The trail up to the fourth check point at Kolam Gajah (2050ft high) was still manageable with some striding over fallen logs.

After a descend down to a valley to fifth check point at Sungai Segi Tiga (2200ft high), I was taken by surprise by the rocky slope, renowned as "KFC" (Killing Field Centre) as overcoming it required more stamina and determination. It became more challenging as I headed towards the Botak Hill, the seventh check point (3650ft high); ropes, tree roots and hands of the climber pals were my precious means of ascending up series of steep cliffs.

After conquering the Botak Hill, I continued forwards up to another steep cliff (and yes, more ropes to climb...) at the near risk of leg cramp. But this last steep ascend was repaid by the spectacular view at the last check point, the Mount Ophir peak! The tents were already pitched by the advance party friends (thanks!). The rest of time was to be indulged by photo-taking and view admiring. As the night drew near, my friends and I prepared a relatively grand feast with fast noodle and can food at such remote position. I managed to steal some time to have star-grazing, and boy, I almost forgot that the night sky could be that spectacular.

Feb 18, 2001

The night was undoubtedly cold yet quiet. Perhaps because of the temperature or the hard stony sleeping ground, I did not have a good rest and woke up early around 4 to roam around at night to wait patiently for the sunrise. Although the sunrise view was ruined by the cloudiness, the view remained as breathless by the moving cloud as it brushed like a silk cloth along the contour of the nearby peak.

Soon it was time to unpack and leave no rubbish before we took a group picture and hiked to a different route to take a bus back to the resort, and thus ended the climb. It was indeed an experience not to be forgotten.