Gunung Ophir (Y2014 MTT)
BASIC INFORMATION
Trek: Y2014 MTT
Date: September 2014
Location: Gunung Ophir, Johor, Malaysia
Elevation: 1,276m
Duration: 1D
BRIEF ITINERARY
Day 1
Transport to base of Gunung Ledang
Overnight at basecamp
Day 2
Day Trek up Gunung Ledang
Transport back to SG
It was a bright and sunny Sunday afternoon. I arrived at the SMUX room, late for my meeting. I had a massive stomach ache earlier and according to a certain Jing Ying, I had pale lips. Nevertheless, the Organising Committee, distributed the stores and then proceeded to entertain ourselves.
Slowly, participants started to stream in and after a short brief of the programme, we are good to go! But before that, the mandatory group photo!
It was a smooth trip to the causeway but after clearing the Singapore customs, it was a nightmare. Queues that filled the entire arrivals hall at the Malaysian customs greeted us. After an eternity, 1 hour actually, and a few squabbles, one with a random lady, we cleared the customs.
We stocked up on water on our way there – 140 litres to be exact. We boarded the van and proceeded to KO land. It was a lazy trip there to Mount Ophir. Everyone fell asleep on the minivan.
Upon reaching the site, a breath of fresh scenery and greenery greeted us. After settling the administrative stuff, we started work. On our tents and a special surprise – campfire. All these, while not forgetting to pose for the camera.
Setting up tents!
Chandan setting up the campfire!
Skills!
Bystanders! Hahahah!
As the sun began to set, we embarked on our next, and probably the important order of business – dinner.
It was an eye opening experience for many, especially the girls. I remember that Jenny and Ann was especially excited. For the guys, well, it just reminded us of the jungle, the uniforms, the Army. One group even went the extra mile to prepare a hotpot, simmering delicious stock and shabu-shabu. All the others were jealous, but we refused to let them know. There were several lessons to take away from this outdoor cooking, but I think the most important lesson is that Jing Ying cannot cook at all. In fact, she managed to turn mushroom soup to plain water. That’s magic.
Brave souls who ate jingying’s food!
Minimalist group!
Normal food group!
the steamboat group! which was surprisingly good!
After which, as our stomachs are full and the night falls, we gathered around the campfire that Chandan painstakingly set up. Actually, no, not painstakingly, it was all the easy for him. It was a casual one, short introductions, short entertainments and talk nonsense sessions (TCS) till the night fell. A final safety brief was given and it was free and easy.
I just sat around, making small chats and really, just laughing my head off. Thunder rumbled in the background, and rain fell soon after. Ohmytian I thought. Tomorrow’s trek! Is it going to rain? Concerns were raised, but honestly, we can only hope at this point of time. Hiding in the shelter, we just rested ourselves till the rain stopped. Slowly, one by one, we proceeded to sleep.
The next day, we woke up and had breakfast at our own timings. It was a hectic morning as we began packing up to save time later. On the most important lesson from this segment, Nicholas, Chandan and Ben were quite heavy sleepers and they were not able to pack the tents as fast as they thought they could. Just saying.
The attire that everyone donned on was varied. We have standard trekking attires, singlet and FBTs, boots with short pants and also, vest slacks. We warmed up with exercises led by Kenny, top 10% of the top 10% in the Army. Looking at him is an inspiration to us, especially to those whose tummies are not getting any thinner, namely the seniors.
Top 10% of top 10%! Chan, cmi leh. hahahah!
Sandwiched by two guides, we began our trek of Mount Ophir. It was tough at the start, with killer stairs. I was sweating bullets. I regretted not sleeping earlier yesterday. I was whining. I talked nonsense. I whined. Gradually though, it became more manageable and my breathing eased. We trekked and trekked, going at a pace slightly tougher than our comfort zones. It was still manageable at this point of time.
Then, it was an ohmytian moment again. The guide informed us that we might not be able to hit the summit due to our time constraints. At the point of time, we were hitting pretty good timings, reaching CP3 at around 1015 hours. We were given an alternative, an off-the-tracks, straight up vertical path. We are SMUX Trek. We took it. We had really wanted to see the summit. For the next 3 hours, we trudged and climbed and sweat and whined, the only saving grace was the cool air at the higher parts of the mountain. Somewhere along the way, we hit a false peak. FALSE, in a sense that the summit is just ahead of us, but we had to circle a big roundabout to reach there.
Looking happy at the start
Still looking fresh!
We whined even more and finally, we were at the light at the end of the tunnel. What separated us now from the summit was just a rough 20m of vertical formation of boulders to be scaled by ladders and ropes. JUST that.
Ladders!
The summit was amazing. Words simply cannot described the view up there. It was majesty and a sense of achievement that overwhelmed us. I will let the photos do the talking.
MADE IT!!!
With the banner!
We rushed through lunch at the summit and had to trek down, time was running out. The trek down was fairly straightforward, straddling the path we had taken just a few hours before. Everyone was mega tired at this point of time and after what seemed like hours, it was hours actually, we reached base camp once again.
One by one, we dragged out beaten bodies to the toilets to freshen up. Louis lost his underwear. Just saying. But Jhohan found it for him. Sounds like a love story in the making.
We packed up and headed for the vans! The drivers were quite angry though, because we took our time. Sighpie. But our SKY was magical, appeasing them. This is definitely a useful skill. We KO-ed on the way back, to nobody’s surprise.
Shag but satisfied looking faces!
The next time we opened our eyes, paradise greeted us. SEAFOOD AT TAMAN SENTOSA! Crayfish, Stingray, Prawns, you name it, we ate it. Be jealous guys. Stuffed ourselves, drunk with HUGE sugarcane, all these, under $25. The wonders of currencies.
Taman Sentosa with our totally satisfied tummies!
Dragging our beaten and bloated bodies, we made our way back to Singapore. There was a jam on the Malaysia side of the customs, but frankly we just slept. Before we knew it, the customs were cleared, thank goodness there weren’t any queues, and a familiar sight greeted us – SMU. We were home.
PS: We saw the kayaking team! But that’s another story altogether
Written by: Siow Yun Han, Trek IC
