Gunung Ledang (Mt Ophir) Johor Malaysia (5 Nov - 7 Nov 2011): A trip to nature

Tips:

• You can contact Rangers' Station via these mediaContact: 06-9631030 / 019-7772057Blog: http://tamanhutanlagenda.blogspot.com/Email Address: tamanhutanlagenda@yahoo.comAddress: TAMAN HUTAN LAGENDA
                P.O Box 77, Batu 26, Jln Segamat,
                84020 Sagil, Ledang, Johor
• It's possible to arrange transportation with Rangers' Station at a reasonable price.

On the way from Larkin Station at JB to GL

Standing at 1,276 m, Gunung Ledang (GL) is the highest mountain in Johor state. After a while visiting many beaches, this time we decided to explore a place with height, lush green and let our body sweat ;))...


Just a quick fact, Gunung Ledang is now taken over by National Park (NP). If you want to climb up the mountain, you need to register with them, pay fee for guide (RM140/group of 10 persons) and permit. Most importantly, trail at Gunung Ledang Resort (right behind Puteri Ledang Waterfall camp site) has been closed for many years and only when we reached there did we know about that.


Shocking enough, parks under NP in Malaysia close on public holiday also. All the articles we read  do not mention all these. Our plan to visit Endau Rompin National Park after trekking at Gunung Ledang fell apart. Luckily, the camp site near Puteri Ledang Waterfall is still amazing for a “jungle night” : ))

Reach Gunung Ledang HQ compound

Our guys in front of the Gunung Ledang HQ

500+ Staircase to the camp site :))

Overview of the jungle- near our camp

We managed to find dry branches to set up the bonfire and cooked some stuff. 

BBQ Hot dog :))

After having some food, we made our way to the waterfall. Most visitors had descended, leaving the place such lovely peace. We swam in the chilly water and enjoyed fresh air that is hard to find elsewhere. 

Night came at last. It was sweet and thrilling to camp overnight in a jungle and be friends with the dark. In a night of November, by the warm bonfire, we ate hot noodle, drank tea and talked all the stuff. The jungle was bathed in the silver moonlight. The roaring sound of the waterfall floated in the air. It is like an image you wanna keep after years later to remind yourrself of 'those days"... ;)) 

Interestingly, around midnight, we heard a strange noise beside the tent and I felt like breathless. We did not know what it was, and that was the moment I felt scared indeed :)) We kept silent, waiting to see what happened next. It went away after searching for food, and we realized it could be a PAW coming for the cone beef we put outside. God bless us :)). So a piece of advice: consume all ur food and clear all thrash before going to sleep. We cannot deny it is a big risk to camp in a jungle :))

Some first sun lights of a beautiful morning woke us up. There was that sudden chill of cold, clean air striking as I walked out of tent. Drinking some hot coffee in such great atmosphere was sth really enjoyable. 

On 2nd day, our 2 guys decided to follow the long- closed trail near Gunung Ledang Resort to any place it can lead to :)) I did not join them due to the super difficulty of no-maintained trail . Instead, I lay by the waterfall, read my "The lost continent" book, and sleep in the sunshine. Feel calm and relaxed. 

What about our 2 guys? The track they went is super difficult as it has not been maintained for 3-4 years and no one really trekked there. It requires a lot of strength, but looks really awarding. Before they went up, the message was clear: Report the Gunung Ledang Resort if I do not see them descend. Luckily, they were back safe and sound with truely nice photos as you can see :)) 

Our 3rd day is an "official" trekking day. The trail is not easy at all. 

And we reached Check Point 4 after 3.5 hours. 

Shoals of little fish were swimming around us at CP4, sth beautiful we did not expect in the first place :))

We have 7 CPs before reaching the summit . Really want to be there, but realized we cannot due to the fact that we need to catch the last bus to JB then Singapore, 3 of us decided to try to reach CP5 . While being en route, there is one feeling engraved in my mind, the feeling of the mountain breeze sweep your face in the glorious sunshine, the feeling of joy indeed :xxx

After all up and down, we reached CP 5 in the next 1.5 hour I guess. 

We are at CP5, and 2 more CPs for our next time :))

We made our way down quite fast and managed to take a photo in front of the Gunung Ledang HQ. 3 days with lots of unexpected things happened but we did enjoy our best. And a promise to say hi to the summit is still there. Will make it real soon :))

(We reached Singapore at 2am Tuesday after a lot of hassles with 170 bus from JB. More tips on all these will be shared soon. Sunday today, enjoy ;)))

Phuket, Thailand - The Island of Fulfilment (Day 3&4)

Day 3 (11/09/11):


8.00AM Despite the persistent rain, we had a pretty good night sleep at our "private" and special chalets of PP Ingphu Viewpoint Hotel.  The rain started to ease off in the morning, leaving us refreshing feeling to enjoy our breakfast.

When we rushed back to the pier after breakfast, the weather started to turn bad, and became more like it should be in a rainy season. We really "felt" how bad the weather was when the strong tides and wind kept bouncing our boat up and down, making some other passengers throw up.  Nevertheless, it only took us two hours to reach Phuket island anyway.

11.00AM The mini-van drove us straight to our hotel, Phuket Island View Hotel. The hotel was really sweet and at a reasonable price. Though the prices on agoda.com for this and Karon Princess hotel were pretty much the same,  Phuket Island View Hotel does offer better service and greater facilities. You can enjoy a number of swimming pools catering for different purposes  and a spacious land area full of lush green here. 

One of the swimming pools.

Heading off to Chili Restaurant for our lunch, I would not recommend this place. The price was a bit high compared with the quality of the food, and just a few houses away, you could find a better restaurant where we had our lunch on the first day.

1.00PM Up to then, the weather seemed to be not very favorable for a "JUMP" :)). The sky was dark and cloudy in a pouring rain. It was just more than enough to discourage us from going for Bungy jump, on top of our attempt to look for an excuse out of fear :p. But eventually, we decided to do it TODAY but not TOMORROW. We chartered two scooters and looked for our way to Jungle Bungy Jump.

(Tips: There are currently two Bungy Jump operators in Phuket: World Bungy Patong (60m) and Jungle Bungy Jump (50m). You might find World Bungy Patong on the way to Jungle Bungy Jump.)

3.15PM The journey was much harder and longer than we had expected as asking for direction here was not always easy. Jungle Bungy Jump is located at Kathu province, straight ahead from Patong, and after a right turn at some corner next to Kathu Police Station. The undulating and winding road leading here was really fun, especially in the freezing rain of that afternoon.

Our first impression on arrival was the crane emerging in a dark sky. The wind was so strong on that day that the elevator occasionally had to stop half-way or we needed to wait for the wind to stop at the jumping base, which made the thrill for a real "jump" last even longer.

Despite all difficulties, ALL of us did make the jump on that day. It   really brought us great enjoyment afterwards out of accomplishing something that we thought we never dare to do in our lives. The next one we want to conquer, who knows, can be the one in New Zealand :))

(Tips: The jump + shirt + pictures costed each of us ~U$80.)

Some Bungy Jumping shots:

             

And vid:

 7.00PM That night, we had our yummy and affordable dinner at a a restaurant with the "chicken" symbol on top of it across Thai Boxing Bar, which would be very easy to find (during our stay, we kept getting flyer for Thai Boxing event). It was located between Patong and Kathu, nearer to Patong side. Give it a try and you would love it as we did.

The restaurant.

Mango Salad.

9.00PM We ended our night with some drink at Seduction on Bangla road, the most so-called famous bar here. Yet it was pretty much an ordinary bar anyway.

Day 4 (12/09/11):

Our last day in Phuket came so fast. It was the most relaxing one: no rushing for boats, no bumping on the sea, no bungy jump, etc. On that day, we took our time, woke up early in the morning and had a nice breakfast at Starbuck opposite Patong beach ,wandered around the crowded streets, and most of all, indulged ourselves again in the coolness the sea.

Our rides. 

Starbuck for breakfast.

I like this toilet:))

At Patong beach:X

In the evening, just before we left, we went to a spa at Karon beach, somewhere in a small road after failing to find one in Patong due to their high price or fully booked. The one we found was very professional, and the price was pretty affordable as well. We had a good time here, relaxed our bodies after three days of non-stop adventures in this beautiful island.

(Tips: If you are determined to go for massage in Phuket, it's best to book in advance. Our visit was during low season, yet all the affordable places were fully booked.)

SUMMARY

We had a fantastic and memorable time here in Phuket during our 4D/3N trip, though we didn't have enough  time to visit all the places that I had planned to (Krabi, Viewpoints, Sunset at south-tip restaurant, Rock Climbing, Cliff Jumping, etc.). Personally I would like to visit this island again someday in future, but for now, other interesting places and activities are still waiting for us :)) .  If you haven't visited Phuket, plan your trip today, find the right partners, book for the tickets and hotels, grab ur packs and go for it. You would definitely fall in love with this place. Let yourself sink in the river of joy and excitement that may go beyond ur imagination :)) 

Phuket, Thailand - The Island of Fulfilment (Day 2)

Day 2 (10/09/11):

Morning wind and tide were worth
our effort any way:D

5.30AM On the next day, we went out to the beach in front of the hotel early in the morning for the sunrise. It is a piece of advice for you guys: Don't think about sunrise if you are staying at Karon, Patong or any beach along the West side of Phuket; like what we did:).


7.30AM After missing the sunrise and packing up our stuffs in the hotel, our hotel's breakfast vouchers were not wasted. As I mentioned before, the restaurant's location was pretty good for us to enjoy the meal while refreshing our eyes with the ocean in front.

Despite having some problems with the Phi Phi island tour due to the fact that we hadn't booked the tour the day before, finally we got one-way boat tickets to Phi Phi island at 11AM, thanks to the agent's contact that we had got on the first day.

Boarding...

(Tips: Always book for these island tours at least one day before, and it's best to make it from 9AM-5PM. Even the tour desk at your hotel would usually operate during this hour.)


One lucky thing happened after all the harsh time that morning, we were offered 400 baht/person for the return ticket including hotel transfer to Phuket's hotel on the following day, which was kind of cheap compared with normal price of 500-600 baht/person, even in this low season:).

In the boat.

Reaching Phi Phi Island.

1.00AM It took two hours from Phuket to Phi Phi Island, and it was a pleasant trip in that cloudy day. Since we hadn't booked any island tour before departing for Phi Phi, we approached a tour agency near to the pier and fortunately, the next island tour at 2.30PM was on.

It was a long way from the pier to our hotel, longer than what we could expect. Nevertheless, the small and lovely town resided on this charming island was really worth our time taking a walk around. And amazingly enough, we found a lot of shops such as scuba diving, etc. owned by Europeans here.

A 15-minute walk through the town finally brought us to our destination, PP Ingphu Viewpoint hotel. Oh before that, I would like to mention about the steep road before reaching the hotel. A lift like the one below was desirable yet never expected:)), which gave us a unique experience here as well.

Hotel's Front.

PP Ingphu Viewpoint was no ordinary hotel. Each room was pretty much like a small private chalet surrounded by nature, resting on the side of the hill. To get there from the reception desk, we needed to climb up another long staircase. However, we were really pleased with putting our effort into getting there and by that, grabbing a unique life experience staying in this wonderful chalet with a fantastic view over the sea.

(Tips: About the hotel itself, the rooms were pretty much standard, yet the price was unbelievable cheap: ~U$14/night/person for non-aircon. Be warned that this place is not recommended to anyone who couldn't or doesn't like climbing staircases.)

(Tips: Do not go for any hotel near the beach at the north of the island if you want some good sleep. There is party at the beach every night, and believe me, it is really loud.)

On the way back to the pier for the island trip, I took another nice picture of this place:

2.30PM Ready for our island exploration, here we were at the pier. We had chosen speed boat over the longtail boat, and it was definitely a right choice. Though longtail boats are cheaper and more private, speedboat could save us a lot of our precious and limited time here. Not even mentioning about the fun that we had by sitting in front of the boat, it was a win-win situation. If you would like to have some really "bumpy" feeling, I recommend you to go for the very front circular seat bench of the boat before anyone gets there, you are gonna have a lot of fun during the whole trip:D (you might not get the bumpy thing during the sunny season. In the low season, the tides were really strong out here.)

Our first stop was Monkey beach, yet due to shallow water, the boat could not get in. What a pity, from out here we could see those monkeys playing on the beach there.

Money Beach.

The next stop was Viking cave that basically I could not hear anything from the driver's story regarding this cave. It could be because we were sitting too far, or probably we were totally stunned with the unbelievable beauty right in front of our very own eyes.

Viking cave

It was just not the end of it. Loh Sa Ma Bay, our last stop in this wonderful trip, was stunningly beautiful. And this was just the passage for us to reach the final destination, which we all heard about very often, Maya Bay, the place where "The Beach" was filmed.

Loh Sa Ma Bay

Have you noticed the color of the sea? Yes, it was truly emerald sea water here, and I promised I didn't do PS on any photo posted here. I myself was really amazed no less than anyone, since it was the first time I saw this sea color, and I truly felt how lucky I was at that time (I love sea, by the way:p)

The most difficult part of this trip was getting into Maya Bay from here. In the middle of the sea, we dove into the water and swam our way to the cliff. Crawling along the cliff and stepping on these slippery rocks with one hand holding tight to the rope, everything sounds easy enough until certainly a strong tide came in, blowing off all of us despite any attempt to resist. Believe me, a lot of people got scratches and wounded by the time we reached the land.

After that challenging task, we moved on to the forest on the island. Finding our way to Maya Bay, certainly out of the forest, a huge space was opening up, with the finest sand under our feet and the most beautiful beach in front of our eyes surrounded by those tall and magnificent cliffs. We could not believe in our own eyes, we were totally stunned and no-one could talk to anyone. At that very moment, everyone seemed to be living in their own world, and without saying anything, it was certain that four of us were sharing the same thoughts and feelings. Just this one, I would like to leave all the feelings for those who hasn't visited to explore, and for those who has visited to recall. You MUST come to this place and feel it by yourself, no-one could describe to anyone how great the feeling was. 

Unluckily, we could not take any picture here since we left it with the boat's assistant, and somehow we could not find him when we were at Maya Bay. Having said that, we felt no regret at all, as we knew that, the feeling we had there wouldn't never be faded, and the image we had captured in our mind, it would be there forever.

I just borrow this picture from the internet for the completeness. Personally I don't feel this picture could capture the great view and feelings that I had on that day. Anyway, I took this just for your reference.

This picture was definitely taken during the high season, with the clear sky and peaceful sea. It wasn't the case for us at all on that day, and it won't be the same for you either if you decide to go to Phuket during low season.

Cold cokes were waiting for us when we reached our boat, and it might be my best coke so far, just because it came in at the right moment. Luckily enough, the sky was getting darker and darker. If it had been like that when we reached Maya Bay, we could have not been able to see the exceptionally astounding Maya Bay. Anyway, it started to rain, followed by the storm. Now that on the way back to Phi Phi Island, the boat even got bumpier than before and the rain was hitting pretty hard to our faces, but somehow we were laughing there out of joy:))

By the time we were back to Phi Phi Island, the rain hadn't stopped or seemed to be stopping at all. We ran our way back to the hotel without any raincoat while busy keeping water away from our cameras.

(Tips: To avoid disappointment, during low season, make sure you have plan B and pray for a nice weather. Island tour at Phi Phi island could be cancelled due to bad weather.)

8.30PM The rain was pretty much over, left a cool breeze and refreshing air on this island, Phi Phi. Being all exhausted after the trip, we were headed for a nice seafood restaurant named Noh Chan, located somewhere near the pier to the south of the island.  

Phi Phi Island's Map - From hotel's owner

Noh Chan restaurant

Lobster:X

The food was nice and the price was very reasonable. Moreover, it helped us regain back all the energies that we had "dropped" on the way during our trip earlier. After that, we went for a drink at a pub to the north of the island, right at the beach. Here was my first chance to take some pictures of guys with fire:

That night, we had a good sleep at those special "chalets". Though it was fan-only, the weather was cold enough to keep us cool for the whole night. The next day, we were going back Phuket Island and preparing for one of our biggest adventure, Bungy Jump.

End of Day 2 - A memorable day in my life.

(To be continued.)