Mt Ophir is one of the most trekked summit in Malaysia and stands tall at 1276 meters (4187 feet). It is located at the border of Melaka and Johor states of Peninsular Malaysia. The summit falls in Johor state. Among locals, Mt. Ophir is popularly known as Gunung Ledang. As is true with most of the local attractions, there is a fable associated with Gunung Ledang and I am not going into the details of this. A colleague of mine had mentioned to me that there was a Malay movie made, based on the legend of Gunung Ledang. Not sure if the movie was a box office hit, but I had an intuition that this trek was definitely going to be a big hit among us.
There are a few trails leading to the summit and the two popular ones are
- Asahan trail and
- Air Panas trail (also called Sagil route).
Between the two, Asahan is supposed to be an easier, shorter and straight forward trek route. It starts from the Melaka side, at the Asahan water work near Asahan village. Our plan was to take the Asahan trail, starting the trek at around midnight, reach the summit by early morning hours, watch the much talked about ‘Golden sunrise’ and trek down the hill to the Johor side, ending at the Resort.
The trek took place at the backdrop of moon lit night and I am sure this added up to the romanticism of the event. Towards the end of the trek, there was a series of waterfalls (quite close to the Gunung Ledang Resort), which was one of the major attractions for me. I have great affinity for waterfalls (probably because I was brought up in city of waterfalls-Ranchi). I was planning to unwind and chill out in the cool waters of the waterfalls after a full day of hard and tiring trek. This would surely rejuvenate the worst of the sufferers and make the return journey less troublesome.
This trek is called a crossover trek because we start trekking at the Melaka side and crossover to the Johor side, via the summit. Sounds very interesting and also challenging?
Some of the usual stuff that everybody needs to carry for this trek are :
1. Head Lamp,
2. spare torchlight,
3. first aid kit,
4. oral re-hydrating salt (ORS) sachets,
5. Cotton Hand gloves,
6. plenty of water (at least 2-3 liters),
7. mosquito/insect repellants,
8. medicated plasters/Band aids,
9. Towel(s),
10. Spare batteries
11. Ponchos/raincoats
Efforts should be taken to insulate the contents of the back-pack to avoid getting wet during rains.
The drive from Singapore Immigration check point to the starting point of the trek near Tangkak town (Johor state-Peninsular Malaysia) is roughly 3 hrs, including a short break along the highway for quick dinner. From Singapore Immigration at the 2nd Link near Tuas (Singapore), we followed the famous Malaysian North-South expressway (this 850 KM expressway connects Singapore to Thailand via Kuala Lumpur and the drive is beautiful) and exit at Tangkak town exit. We had guessed that hopefully we will be at the Asahan village (trek’s starting point) at 22:00 hrs.
From what I could make out from those colleagues who had already undertaken this trek in the past, Mt Ophir seemed to be a ‘not so difficult’ trek, which could serve as a good training ground for people aspiring to visit Mt Kota Kinabalu (Sabah State-Eastern Malaysia) or Mt Rinjani (Active volcano in Lombok, Indonesia).
Our Group
The Trekking Group
It wasn’t a big group-just 8 colleagues from various sections of our office and three guests. Out of this motley group of 11 trekkers, 3 had already done this trek in the past. There were a few who are avid trekkers but were going to Mt Ophir for the first time. Some members had not done any serious trek in the past and this would be their first serious trekking effort.
Friday, the 14th of July’06: Departure
Excitement was visible on everybody’s face. Most of us were carrying light backpacks, the weight of which would have been in the range of 5-9 kgs. I think mine was the heaviest. Eric, the team leader distributed ORS sachets to everybody.
Immigration clearance at Tuas second link and at Malaysian side was a smooth affair. Although it was Friday evening, there were very few people in the queue at the immigration counters. We finally left Malaysian Immigration at 18:50, to reach at Medan Nusa Perinitis Food court (Johore Bahru) at 19:00 hrs. Since we had plenty of time, dinner was quite relaxed. For dinner, we split into two groups and I joined the group heading for Malay Indian food. The food was OK. Nothing much to drive the point home.
Finished the dinner and left this place at 20:00 hrs. Immediately hit the North South Highway. By this time, everybody was dosing off. The FM radio of the van was blaring some unknown number, which acted more as a lullaby, rather than a stimulant to keep us awake. There was on restroom break for 10 minutes along the way. The Tangkak exit was easy to spot, as the highway is very well marked. We were at the Tangkak exit at 23:18 hrs. Tangkak is a very small town, in Muar district of Johor state. Since the driver was a local guy, he was familiar with the road leading to the Asahan village. Asahan is a small village in Melaka state, which serves as starting point of the trek. But the Rangers office (where we register for climbing the Mountain) is located deep inside jungle area and it is not too easy to spot the right path. We crossed a military camp and ended up near the Asahan water works, which I presume, is a water filtration/treatment plant. Even though the van driver had come here several times, he was having difficulty in locating the exact path leading to the Rangers office. We lost our way at one point and there was not a single soul visible around with whom we could have enquired about the exact road. The roads in this part are mere dirt tracks (not metalled roads), without any directions or signboards. I am sure it would be impossible to come to this place on your own. After a bit of hit and trials, we finally found our way, thanks to the analytical thinking of the team and specially the driver and the team leader.
Registration for Mount Ophir Climbing
The forest rangers office was a small hut with a signboard stating the pre-requisites of the Mt Ophir trek. Here, we did registration for individual members of the team and there were two forms to be filled up. In one form, (which is to be filled in duplicate), we are supposed to declare all items we are carrying. This form is to be carried with us and deposited with the ranger office at the end of trek. When we finish our trek, there is another Rangers office, where the officer verifies whether the items mentioned in the list have been brought back or not. The idea is to control the throwing of trash along the way and is a good initiative to keep the trail and the summit clean. The charges we have to pay at the entry point are
1. Entry charge of RM 10 for foreigners and RM 5 for Malaysians,
2. Insurance charge of RM 2 per person
3. Guide charge of RM 190 for two day one night trek for 10 persons
4. Refundable deposit of RM50.00
Taking a guide is compulsory. Well, it has its own advantages. This guide is thoroughly familiar with all the routes and depending on the capabilities of the group, decides upon the type of route to be followed-easy or hard. During the night, we realized, at several places, the routes are not very well visible or they have been simply washed away, following a heavy downpour. The guide would lead us to the right track, whenever we were in doubts about the right path. He is also a caretaker for the eco system and reminds us not to throw any trash anywhere. I remember in one incident, one of our friend dropped her hand phone, while climbing up a big piece of rock with the help of ropes. This guide went down and fetched the phone. His selfless service with smile won our hearts instantly.
Our guide was a young guy of 21 years and was called Rambo. He understood English well and did an excellent job.
Start of the trek
We completed the registration formalities at Asahan Rangers office in 15-20 minutes and took some photographs in front of the Rangers office signboard. Asahan Rangers office serves as the starting point for the trek and is located at an altitude of 300 meters. There was a briefing session by Eric-our team leader, just prior to the beginning of the trek and it was decided to move at a slow pace, as we had sufficient time to reach the summit. The team members were to alert the following members in case of any impending danger in terms of hanging branch, thorny bush, stumps and sharp edges along the path. Also, if anybody wanted to take a short rest or is feeling tired, he was supposed to alert others to stop, so that we stayed together. The trek finally started at 23:55 hrs.
All of us were walking in straight line, as there was hardly any space all along the trekking route. Rambo-our guide was in front, leading the group, with a green fluorescent stick. I and Eric were at the tail end. Eric was the last man and he was carrying a red fluorescent stick. The path was slightly wet, as it had rained heavily in the morning. It is important to have a good pair of shoes that has an excellent grip over smooth surface to prevent slipping. Tennis shoes or Jogging shoes are almost entirely useless for this type of terrain. The trekking shoes would be ideal for this kind of terrain. The initial one hour trek was a mix of mild and steep climbs and the team maintained a good pace. The team was in high spirits and there was a lot of talking within the groups. I was all the while maintaining my position at the end. At the end of one hour, the team decided to break for some rest and it was unanimously agreed. After 10 minutes, we resumed.
Next 3 hours saw a downward trek down a valley followed by a steep ascent. We slowed down further, as one of our colleagues was having difficulty maintaining the same pace as others, while descending. At the end of 4 hour trek, we came across a big piece of rock roughly 200 mtrs by 150 mtrs at an incline of around 35-45 degrees. There was a long rope, firmly tied to a tree trunk at the upper end and we were supposed to go up the rock using the rope one by one. Everybody was excited, as it was our first climbing encounter with the help of ropes. Somebody commented ‘this is a real rock climbing’. Our guide-Rambo told us that hereafter; there are several spots, where we need to climb up using ropes or ladders. We finished the rope climbing in 15-20 minutes. There was no forest cover in this area, as it was a big piece of rock and the moon was directly up, bathing the whole area in its moon light. There was an eerie silence in the valley and the reflecting light from the rock surface made the ambience very beautiful. The only sound one could hear at this time was those of cicadas rubbing their feet frustratingly, thereby suggesting that visitors have no right to break their silence and off course, there was the sound of our snoring colleagues, who had fallen asleep at the end of this rock climbing adventure. The time at this moment was 05:00 hrs and the place is the last campsite along this route, called Padang Batu (meaning ‘resting ground’ in Malay language). In the map, this site is marked as CP6 (Camp site 4) and is located at an altitude of 800 meters.
Rope climbing experience-Edmund Hillary Karjee in action
There is also a resting shed at this point and the girls made themselves comfortable here. Even the guide, Rambo had a short nap. There is a small stream and a small waterfalls behind the resting hut. The water was refreshingly clean and cool. I filled up my empty water bottle for future use. The guide told me that the water is very clean and as good as spring water. While climbing up, apparently, this is the only place, where we encountered water. The view of the valley in the moonlit night was extremely breathtaking. We rested here for one hour and proceeded further. The time was 05:45. It was another 1-hr climb to the summit from this point and everybody was getting impatient to reach the summit ASAP. There was light visible at the eastern horizon, heralding the end of night. The last one hour of this climb just before the summit is the most interesting part of this trek. The trail goes down a small valley and then starts ascending. During this one-hour uphill trek, we had to climb with the help of ropes and/or ladder at least 10 times and only in the last 5-10 minutes, the summit was visible. Nobody had any difficulty in climbing up the rocks with the help of ropes and ladders. Till now, the sky was clear and we were very hopeful of getting a good sunrise view.
The Summit at last
This part of the trek turned ‘on’ the spirit within everybody and all of us were rushing to reach the top. The summit was visible intermittently between the tips of tall ‘saal’ trees and finally we reached the summit at around 06:45 hrs. Everybody was feeling triumphant and a sense of achievement was all pervasive. We were congratulating ourselves and everybody else in the team. There was a photography session. Besides our group, there was another group of three young Singaporeans. Interestingly, they had camped near the summit on the previous day, and now they were preparing to start their descent.
A View From the Summit
The signboard at the summit was missing. On the western end is the Radio Transmission Tower and on the eastern side is another peak, which our team leader decided to scale. Unfortunately, the sunrise was a disappointment, as a massive cloud had started building up on the eastern sky, thereby engulfing the rising sun like Hanuman, who had engulfed the sun in the epic ‘Ramayana’. For Hanuman, it would have been a big feat, but for us, it was the biggest disappointment. Our team leader told us that this was his third Mt Ophir trip and so far, he has never been able to see the sun rise. All of us had something to eat, we also cracked jokes, talked about our last 5 hour experience and enjoyed the breathtaking view of the valley below, from the summit. A small town was visible below-presumably Tangkak or Segamat. The summit was quite cold and breezy. A lot of our friends took out their windbreakers/warm clothing that they were carrying along. The best part was that we were getting handphone signals on the summit and hence were able to contact our near and dear ones. In fact the signals were available for a large part of our trek. At the summit, I was reminded of my family members, who must have been sleeping in the cozy comfort of homes (this being a Saturday morning), where as we were struggling to beat the cold and applying balms on our body to mitigate our joint and body pains. But there was a feeling of achievement and smiles were visible on everybody’s face.
The return trip begins
Summit to Gua Kambing (CP 6-Sagil route)
The descent down the summit started at around 07:30 hrs. Since we were to descend down to Gunung Ledang resort (G L Resort), we took the Sagil route. The descent was steep and now I realized why everybody says Sagil route is more difficult. But it also has mind-boggling views of the valley, the track goes through quite a few caves and the route runs parallel to a stream for most part and hence there is a constant sound of juggling water along the path. From the summit to the G L Resort, there is more than one route. We took the one, which had more scenic landscape, since everybody wanted to enjoy the nature. And since all of us had done the trek pretty well, we had sufficient time to go at leisure and appreciate the nature. Twice, we had to ascend for a little distance before we started descending again.
After 1 hr. of the descent, we encountered a big rock face, which must have been around 100 feet tall. We had to descend using ropes. Coming down the rock face using the ropes was easier. The team leader had instructed to stand perpendicular to the rock face, while climbing down, to make the things easier, and also to avoid looking at the bottom, while descending.
That’s The Spirit ! Brajesh Hillary
The team spirit is very important at this stage to remove the fear of height. A couple of our friends were initially reluctant to use ropes to climb up / down to overcome the rock face, but constant cheering up helped to remove all the fear. A team spirit was visible at every point of the trek and cohesion in thinking was easily discernible. At no point of time was there any disagreement among the members. The fact that we had couple of experienced trekkers (some had undertaken this trek 3 times) made things easier.
After the rock face descent, we entered a few caves and it was too dark, humid and slippery inside (because of the moss growth on the surface). It was interesting to see the path through the cave. I had never seen such a diversity in climbing opportunities in any of the earlier treks. Within minutes, we were at Gua Kambing (CP 6 Goat cave). We never found any goat or sheep inside the caves. At Gua Kambing, we had a photo session and proceeded after few minutes rest. Immediately after Gua Kambing, the return trail bifurcates into a Lagenda trail (trail Lagenda) which is shorter and runs through a steep descent and a more scenic trail called ‘Trail Ayer Panas’, which ends in G L Resort. Latter is slightly lengthy, but easier on our feet. The split point is ‘KFC’ (well, no chicken wings here). We took the easier Ayer Panas Trail.
After few minutes, we heard sound of water stream flowing by and the next moment, we were in front of confluence of rivers. In the map, it is marked as Sungai Segi Tiga (CP-5). We crossed the stream here. Thereafter, the trail runs parallel to the stream and there is a constant sound of rivulet flowing alongside, which is very pleasing to the ears and eyes. The place offers ample opportunities for photography and the landscape is beautiful.
We came across several pools. At one point, we stopped for splashing our face with water to rejuvenate ourselves. It was a very refreshing experience. The water was very cool and the bottom was clearly visible. There were numerous small fishes visible. Thereafter, it was a short trek to Kolam Gajah, which is just next to a beautiful waterfalls and there is a small pool. The water, again is very cool and clean. The spot was beautiful, and breaking at this point again was a unanimous decision. Our team leader decided to take a dip into the pool. After going into the pool, he realized fishes are nibbling into his feet and hence quickly retracted. It was a refreshing experience for him.
The trek comes to an end
Near the resort, there were a lot of people in the river enjoying with the family. Being a weekend, this place gets crowded by local people, who bring along food and have picnic with their family here. There is a public washroom near the resort and charges 30 cents for using their bathrooms. We dumped our belonging and headed for the bath. There is also a canteen nearby, where one can get light snacks and drinks. Our bus was already waiting for us. All of us were very hungry, at the same time, everybody wanted a short nap, on the way to Singapore. We immediately headed to Tangkak town for lunch. We came across this Maju Curry House on the main street of Tangkak, where we had our lunch-curry chicken with rice. At 1600 hrs, we finally left for Singapore. Within minutes, everybody was fast asleep, as if chloroformed. The return journey took less than two hours and we were at the Malaysian immigration by 17:50.
All good things come to an end and so is our lovely trip to Mt Ophir.
I will remember this trip for excellent rock climbing opportunities, which added fun and excitement to our trek, and also for the fact that we had an excellent team.
Bijhar Singapore 