It was 9th Dec 1995, 0300 hour, nine of us met at Segamat Railway Station, I came from my hometown Port Dickson where I spent my poly holiday, and the rest from Singapore by coach. Our mission was to climb Mt.Ophir or Gunung Ledang (1276m). Before the mission was to sleep a few hours on the railway station floor to wait for the public bus set off at 0700.
On 10th Dec 1030, we stood on the highest point of Johor, Malaysia. The sense of achievement was still strong despite it was my second time standing there.
Recalling Air Panas, foothill of Ophir where we started our trek yesterday at 1030. The trails from there to Square Pool (a campsite before Botak hill) was relatively easier where we took lots of photos, and took our own sweet time in the waterfalls which water was very cold.
At 1230, we reached Square Pool (mid hill) and had our rice lunch. From there, it will not be any water source, hence we topped up our bottle and prepared to set off. But later we delayed an hour because we were in the water again (unable to resist the temptation).
By the time we reached Botak (bald, called such for its lack of vegetation) hill after another 4 hours trek and scramble, it was already 1900, almost dark. That night was terribly cold (because I had only a thin windbreaker) at 15 degrees Celsius, not to mention worse caused by wind chill factor.
After filled with instant noodles, everybody squeezed into the only 8-men tent which fly sheet seemed likely to be blown away due to the strong winds. The sentry duty outside the tent was a real nightmare like sitting in a refrigerator with added gusts of winds.
The next morning, after a fast breakfast, we locked all our stuff in the tent, just brought along water and camera, we headed toward the last hour trail to the Gunung Ledang summit. A riskier shortcut to summit is available with some rock climbing, however it is possible without rock climbing skill.
40 minutes before summit, we passed by the only small stream where we had a wash. An hour from Botak hill, we finally conquered Ophir. It was cooling and scenic, weather had been nice to us where panoramic views were clearly visible to any direction, clouds and their shadows moved across the green plains. The vehicles on the road looked like ants.
We relaxed there for 2 hours till 1230 (the weather turning warm), then returned to Botak hill to cook for lunch. Unlike Genting Highland, at daytime, Botak hill (over 1000m) was extremely scorching - no wind at all, and the heat from sun was rather uncomfortable. We had our lunch in sweats.
Later, we quickly packed everything into our backpacks and moved back to Square Pool to spend another relax and undisturbed night away from the stress of city life. Square Pool offers many solid campsites near water source, protected from the sun, but be careful of falling branches. That day was really a rest of mind and body where everybody do nothing other than eat, bath and sleep beside enjoying the nature.
At night, we had a Truth or Dare game, where everyone had to disclose the truth, shame and secret in his lifetime. Dirty jokes became part of the fun too. Two team members and I slept on the ground sheet near the bonfire that night to enjoy the natural and supernatural sound effects produced by unknown creatures.
11th Dec 1230, after cleaning the campsite, we descended with all the rubbish we produced in garbage bags. To take the most out of Ophir, we bathed and swam 4 times in the cold waterfalls along the way down, couldn't deny the waterfall is one of the main attraction to any Ophir climber. We had a nice meal in hawker stall immediate after we checked out the ranger office at Air Panas.
Then we visited the Historical Town Malacca after few hours coach travel from Muar, had some delicious local foods, and spent that night in a so-called Gay Garden. None of us was able to sleep because there were many pairs of eyes from unidentified person kept focusing on us throughout the whole night.
The next day dawn, we were interrogated by polices who were patrolling the park. Nevertheless, all of us were safe and had a very nice chitchatting and ghost story telling section yesterday night. In the morning, we continued visiting the famous historical attractions and ended our expedition cum tour in the evening.
