Mystical Gunung Ledang

The next mountain destination I had in mind after successes in the Titiwangsa mountains is Gunung Ledang or also known as Mount Ophir by most Singaporeans. Mount Ledang is a very popular climb amongst Singaporeans because of its relative proximity to Singapore (just 2-3 hours by car from Singapore). It is also arguably the most climbed mountain in Malaysia because the routes up the mountain is relatively beginner friendly and also due to the legend of the Princess of Gunung Ledang which adds some mystic to the mountain. The planing involved for this expedition wasn't that rigorous as there was a lot of information available on the internet. There were two main routes up this mountain and they were the Sagil and Asahan routes respectively. The former being the more popular and crowded route because there is a big waterfall along the way which most people like to chill at. That kept in mind, I decided to follow the less trodden Asahan route instead to avoid the crowds.

In front of Christ Church in Stadhuys Square, Malacca Town.

At the A Famosa, the famous 16th century Portuguese Fort.

Ian, Brian and I set out for this trip taking a bus to Malacca town. We spent a day and a night in Malaysia's historical gem touring famous historical sties like the A Famosa, Saint Paul's Cathedral ruins, The Stadhuys and Jonker Walk. The following day, we took a cab from the town center all the way to Asahan which is located at the foothill of the mountain. Asahan is actually the opposite side of the mountain facing east while Sagil is on the western end facing Malacca.

There was a guide post at the Asahan trailhead where we registered and paid park fees and also booked our guide. There was a dog at the guide post which was a little hyperactive and was quite annoying at times as it bothered us the whole time while we were going through the paper works with the guide. That dog even tried to make love with Brian's leg by clinging on to his leg and humping on it! Brian eventually freaked out and ran away, only to be passionately chased by the dog.

Brian climbing up a tree stump trying to avoid the over-hyper dog which wanted to make love with his leg.

Much to my surprise, truckloads of army personnel came by and dropped off at least a hundred soldiers at the Asahan guidepost. Initially we thought that some kind of war games must be going on but we found out that it was just part of an exercise for the group of voluntary soldiers also known in Malay as "Askar Wattaniah".

Together with the Askar Wattaniah soldiers at the foothill of Mount Ledang.

We headed up the slopes of Ledang along with our guide, Ridhwan and the barrack of soldiers. Most of the early stages of the trail was trekking through thick jungle infested by mosquitoes and as usual, we got bitten badly by those parasites. The first major challenge was a bare rock face which was quite steep. Fixed ropes had to be used to assist in the climb up these rock faces. Thankfully it wasn't raining because the rocks can be very slippery when it is wet. Along the way up we made a lot of soldier friends who were taking a break along the trail.

Ian & Brian climbing up the slippery rock face with the help of fixed ropes while the soldiers watch on.

We reached our campsite which was an open ground next to a small stream. It was quite a sandy campsite and this is a good thing because this means that we will be sleeping on soft ground. We left our luggage on the campsite and didn't bother to set up camp yet as it was crowded with army personnel enjoying lunch break. We just had some snacks for lunch and decided to push on for the summit to avoid the "massive traffic" once those army people finished their lunch and head up the mountain.

Assistance of a ladder was needed to climb up a steep and challenging portion of the slope.

Hiking up without luggage felt way much better and lighter and helped speed things up. The vegetation higher up in the mountain was more scarce and the trees are not as big and tall as those at the bottom. The mist and fog were also about to set in and the temperature was cooler than the bottom. It probably was a good call to move on quick and not stop too long for a heavy lunch because it would just make our bodies cool down and take the climbing momentum off us. The area around the summit was a steep rocky outcrop. Fixed ropes and even fixed ladders helped us climb up the challenging slopes. When we approached the summit, we could clearly see the deep drop below us, making it a little unnerving.

On the summit, above the clouds looking towards the Straits of Malacca.

There is a big telecommunication tower located just below the summit by the ridge which one would definitely not miss. The summit was quite flat and had lots of room. It also had very little vegetation unlike that of Mount Korbu's. This meant that we could have a 360 degree panoramic view of the surroundings! To the west we could see the Straits of Malacca and the ships passing through it and also the town of Malacca. To the east was the view of the surrounding hills of Asahan.

Ian and Brian on the summit in front of the telecommunication tower by the ridge.

We camwhored and posed around the whole summit, taking advantage of the spectacular views. According to legend, the summit is also where the Princess of Gunung Ledang supposedly stays in a magical garden palace. We didn't see any magical garden on the summit and we didn't find any palace with the princess in it despite calling out her name repeatedly :P One part of the legend even says that the princess wanted the Sultan of Malacca to build a bridge made of gold that connects the town of Malacca to the summit of Gunung Ledang! That's one really high maintenance princess and if I were the king I would just forget her and start looking for some easier to please courtesan!

Posing by the ledge on the summit.
Flying in the air!

We headed down to the campsite after spending about an hour on the summit. The army personnel arrived on the summit in droves just when we were about to head down. We took a good refreshing bath in the stream before cooking up a long awaited meal. The night went by quite well only with a few glitches such as Brian sleeping like a dead log and at times rolling over and crushing Ian with his "kayu balak" weight.

Buddies taking a refreshing bath in the natural pool.

At the campsite, in front of our tent that we've pitched up.

The next day, we headed down the mountain back to the guide post. We were lucky enough to catch a taxi who just dropped off a previous passenger. Trust me its quite hard to catch taxis especially in remote areas like this. We bid farewell to the guide post people and also the mountain and headed back to Malacca Sentral where we bought our tickets back to KL. The climb up Ledang was a short but every bit interesting and fun trip and although we didn't find any princess up there the story of this trip will interest many "city princesses" out there in KL who would even hesitate to take a gentle walk in the park in Lake Gardens.

The view of Mount Ledang from the foothill in Asahan. The telecommunication tower can even be seen.