BY NINA
This week, we headed for the Gunung Ledang Recreational Forest in Johor where we camped at a mountain reputed to be haunted by a princess.
We packed up our Ford Everest with camping gear, some food and, most importantly, mosquito repellent to keep those nasty little creatures at bay. We left Kuala Lumpur just before 8am and headed towards the Plus highway, southbound for Tangkak.
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Raw beauty: A climb up Gunung Ledang reveals a beautiful waterfall near Kolam Puteri. |
The journey to Tangkak was a short one; we were there in less than an hour. We made our way to the town centre to savour their famous Tangkak beef noodles before we hiked up Gunung Ledang to battle the legendary mountain princess.
The beef noodles did not disappoint. Not only was the soup boiled to perfection and the beef tender with bits of salted pickled vegetables, the noodles were smooth and soft. We slurped every last morsel from the bowl. Suffice to say, it was a delightful pre-lunch break.
With heavy bellies and a big smile on our faces, we headed towards Sagil, 25km from the main town, before arriving at the foot of Gunung Ledang.
We parked our vehicle and walked to the Ranger Office to register. We had to pay RM10 per person for entrance and a deposit of RM50 for the camping gear and food. We were bringing into the park. The park authorities were quite strict about campers littering the area. The deposit would be forfeited if the park rangers noticed that campers did not clean up after themselves. It was definitely a commendable effort in conserving nature – kudos to the park rangers!
With all the administrative details out of the way, we headed towards our campsite at Kolam Gajah, our first campsite. It was an easy trail even though it was high noon by the time we finally started our hike.
The tall and majestic keruing and meranti trees shaded us from the scorching sun. Along the way, little lizards darted out of our way. Leafy shrubs and vegetation, some with brilliant red and yellow blossoms, grew in abundance on both sides of the trail. Colourful butterflies fluttered among the flowers searching for nectar.
After a 20-30 minute hike, we arrived at Kolam Puteri which has a beautiful waterfall. The waters thundered down from a height of more than 100 feet above, crashing over boulders and rocks before hitting the pool at the bottom and then meandering gently down the hill.
Since it was the campsite nearest to the park entrance, tons of picnickers were already there. After a 10-minute breather, we continued on our journey up the hill towards Kolam Gajah. We were told that it would take us about an hour so we made sure we paced ourselves.
The flora we saw on the way up was amazing – we caught a glimpse of the nepenthes plant, more commonly known as the monkey cup hanging off the trees.
After walking for almost an hour, we arrived at the Kolam Gajah campsite. We were about 2,000 feet above sea level, and the air was chilly.
We pitched our tents and savoured nature’s beauty. By about 5pm, we helped to prepare dinner, a simple yet delicious meal of chicken and rice. After that scrumptious meal, all of us fell asleep by the fire to keep warm.
We awoke bright and early to the birds’ chirping and insects hooting. Mist had rolled in and shrouded our campsite. By 7am, the mist had cleared up. After a nourishing breakfast, we packed up to head down the mountain.
We made sure to dispose the rubbish in the trash bin provided. The hike down was a lot quicker, due to the fact that we were walking down hill and had eaten all the food that we had lugged up the hill the day before.
Once we got down, we loaded our Ford Everest and continued our journey towards Pontian where we were booked into the Pulai Spring Resort. Our drive towards Pontian was a picturesque one. We could see endless rows of pineapple plantations along the highway. The roads were also dotted with rustic stalls set up by farmers to sell their harvest. We stopped by one of the stalls which displayed a rather eye-catching sign that read “Painapples for Sale”.
Out of curiosity, we stopped by the stall and bought a “pain apple”. Seated on makeshift chairs, we savoured the fruit with a variety of dips – rojak sauce, assam and chili powder dip.
After a good feast, we continued our journey. After passing a huge park called the “University Park”, we saw the sign that directed us to the resort. The resort was nestled amidst green hills. The architect had done a good job of designing the resort to blend with the jungle. The cool breeze coupled with the smell of nature made us forget we were at a resort.
We took a short nap before heading out again, this time towards Johor’s pride – Danga Bay. The journey took us over an hour from our resort.
Once we got there, we asked around for a cruise to Kampong Melayu where we were able to see traditional “kelongs” – these huge fish traps built on stilts. The locals used these to breed local mussels, sea bass and garoupa.
The trip to Kampong Melayu was certainly eye-opening. Our local fishermen still practise traditional fishing methods to prevent “over fishing”.
Next stop – Danga Bay. We headed for the street that boasts over 280 retail outlets. Here, you can find anything from food to souvenirs. After two hours of retail therapy, we headed back to the resort and called it a day.
The next day, we were ready to push off by 8am. Our final stop before we headed back to Kuala Lumpur was Kluang. We were told to look out for the Kluang Railway station, one of Malaysia’s oldest stations; it has been in service since 1915. We also found a canteen on Jalan Omar that served really good coffee, toasted bread with kaya and half-boiled eggs.
It was certainly a trip to remember as we not only experienced nature, culture and tradition but also one of our country’s latest development projects – Danga Bay. I can’t wait for our next adventure with Ford Everest.
This article is brought to you by Ford Malaysia.
SOURCE: THE STAR, Saturday February 9, 2008
