Mount Ophir (Gunung Ledang) Mountaineering Experience
Aug 26, 2011
|This is my first mountaineering experience in Mount Ophir (Gunung Ledang is what it is called in Malay). This place is located in Ledang district of Malaysia between the border of Muar and Malacca. This mountain is the most climbed mountain in Malaysia.
When I went there on 26 Aug 2011, the camping is prohibited due to the death of campers who were crushed by falling trees and the trail from CP7 to the Summit is blocked for the same reason (by the way CP is nothing but Check Point and there are 7 of them on the way to Summit starting from 1 till 7). It was a bit disappointing that I couldn't climb to the Summit but nevertheless the journey from ground to CP7 is quite an experience by itself. It goes like this....
I made my reservation for a night stay in Gunung Ledang Resort (Ph: +60 6977 2888).
Hiring a guide has been made mandatory now, so I called up the Gunung Ledang National Park (+60 127414385) and made reservation for that as well.
I started from Singapore on a Friday afternoon. I went to Kranji MRT from where I took Bus #170 to reach Singapore Immigration, went upstairs, cleared the immigration formalities, came down, took another 170 to Malaysian Immigration, again went upstairs, cleared immigration, came down and took another 170 to reach Larkin Terminal in Johor Bahru. Hmmm....that itself is tiring :-)
From Johor Bahru took a CEPAT Express bus to Segamat for 15.60 Ringgits which is a 3 hour drive. Then from Segamat to Sagil by a KKKL Express bus for 5 Ringgits. After an hour of travel, I got down at Gunung Ledang Resort junction and walked almost 2 kilometers to reach Gunung Ledang Resort, where I already made reservation for the night stay which costs 150 Ringgits for a Standard Room. I had my dinner in the resort restaurant and went to sleep.
The resort is quite a decent one and I heard that they offer some adventure programs in case if you are interested. Few pictures of the resort and my room.
The trail (which is the most scenic of all) that starts right from Gunung Ledang Resort is closed because of the recent deaths, so now we have to take the trail that starts from Gunung Ledang National Park which is almost 20 minutes drive from the resort.
On Saturday Morning, after having breakfast in the resort, I started to Gunung Ledang National Park office. There my guide was waiting. After declaring the items that I’m taking and paying the Hiking Fee (RM10), Entrance Fee (RM10), Insurance Fee (RM2), Rubbish Deposit (RM20) and Guide Fee (RM140), we started our mountaineering.
It was 9:15AM when we started, reached CP1 in 15 minutes by 9:30AM. The path to CP1 has got around 700 plus steps and a muddy trek. From there to CP2 is full of steep muddy trek then to CP3 which is of the same. By the time we reached CP3 it was 10AM.
We took a small timeout there and started to CP5 which is probably the easiest trek of all and the longest as well, normal terrain trek with up and down hills. We reached CP5 by 10:50, took a break there for 10 minutes, had some snacks and refilled our water supply as there is a small stream over there.
Then we started to CP6 which is again a steep muddy trek with some huge rocks which took us around 35 minutes to complete.
CP6 to CP7 is the hardest with 2 huge rocks to claim. The first one is around 10 meters high and the second one is 15 to 20 meters high. We used the ropes to claim and reached CP7 around 12:15PM. It was quite an achievement to reach CP7 in 3 hours (at least that's what the guide told me :-)).
We spent some time there enjoying the wonderful breeze and the breathtaking view. Then around 12:30PM we started to come down and this trail is a different one which joins the up trail in CP3. By the time we reached the ground it was 2:30PM. After taking a quick shower in the park office, I took a bus back to Segamat and from there to Johor Bahru. By 9:30PM I was at home in Singapore. It was quite an experience, I would like to go there again and hopefully reach the summit.