"Never underestimate a mountain"

Mountains have always fascinated me. Once upon a time, I used to describe climbers and trekkers as people who have nothing better to with their lives. But it changed over time. As I have written before, every time I am on a mountain, I feel like I am a different person. It all started when I first stumbled up on Mount Bromo, Surabaya for totally different reasons. After that, I got hooked on the idea of being at a summit to watch sunrise. That's when I started searching for mountains which are doable with my level of fitness (beginner).

As with all good things, trekking a mountain needs time and money. So I was determined to find a mountain reasonably tough, but at the same time cheap and nearby, so that I can finish over a weekend. After spending some time in the net, I read about Mount Ophir (Gunung Ledang) in Johor, Malaysia. Information was hard to come by, numerous blogs talk about finishing Mt Ophir as a day trek. Since my main goal is to be at the summit for the sunrise (and of course, photography) I didn't want a day trek. That means, camping at the mountain before going up early in the morning.

Thanks a lot to my crazy friends, especially Jen, who was persistent to find all the details for such a trek, starting from the the contacts of the park office to what kind of diet we need during the trek. The itinerary she came up with was exactly what I wanted to have, a 2D1N with camping and lots of fun. Also, I wanted this trek to be done as a preparation to our upcoming Mount Rinjani trek (more on that on a later blog).

The rough itinerary from Singapore is as follows.

Day 1, Saturday

6:00 am: Start from home towards Woodlands checkpoint. Thanks to my dear friend Andrew, who picked us up from home and dropped us at the checkpoint.

7:00 am: That was our meeting point. After immigration we took an SBS 170 towards Larkin Bus Terminal in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

The group that rocked Mt Ophir

8:30 am: Since my friend Yao had bought the tickets to Segamat earlier, we just had to reach Larkin terminal to board the bus. We had our breakfast there too. We reached the bus station around 11:30 (~3hrs). We asked around to find a nice restaurant (apparently very famous for their beef) for lunch. Then we got a taxi from the bus station to the park office, gate B for RM10. 

 Gunung Ledang Park Gate

The Gunung Ledang Park office and resort

Since Jenn had done a thorough job of arranging everything (including our camp, cooking stove etc), all we had to do was to fill up some forms with the details of the stuff we were carrying, get our camping stuff and walk on.

A guide explaining the route

2:00 pm Our guide was a bit late, so we started our hike around 2:00pm with another guide.

Starting our trek

Check Point 1

On our way through the jungle

 Using ropes

Our plan was to hike up till checkpoint 4 (CP4) and camp there.

Setting up our camps

4:30 pm We reached and put up the camps. After a short break, we went to the nearby twin waterfall. Its a steep descend and using slippers can get very slippery.

Relaxing by the waterfalls 

We had a great time in the waterfalls. The water was so cold that all the tiredness will go away with one dip there. We also went up to the bigger waterfalls, slightly up hill and stood directly under the falls to get a free back massage.

Cooking dinner by the camp fire

7:00 pm Reached back at the camp and started boiling the water. We had cup noodles and a lot of extra food. After dinner, we spent some more time chit chatting with others. By 9:00pm, I retired to the tent as I wanted to get as much rest as possible before the start of the summit hike

Day 2, Sunday

2:00 am: We woke up to find that it was drizzling. So our hike got delayed by an hour.

We started the hike through the dark and thick jungle around 3 am. Now all I could remember is the long hike through the steep and tough terrain, sometimes climbing almost 80 deg surfaces at KFC on tree roots, walking up top over rocks using ropes, dodging protruding rocks and tree branches etc. I couldn’t take any pictures.

5:00 am: We had our last stop for break here.

6:00 am: As usual, I had to rush the last 20 minutes to reach the summit in time to get the sunrise. The path was narrow and getting crowded with people posing for photographs. However, I managed to reach up top with enough time for me to set up my gear. Even though we were still under the clouds, we got a gorgeous sunrise. People rested for around and hour (except me, who was busy clicking)

 One of the most beautiful sunrises I have seen

The group

For the record - Yeah, we did it

8:00 am: Started our journey back through another “supposedly easier” route. It was just another treacherously long route through thick forest. The only good thing was, we were protected from the sun at all times due to the thick foliage.

I never thought the supposedly easier path will look like this

Using all fours to climb down

Yeah, we had enough water supply from the springs.

Another 40 more grueling minutes to our camp 

Preparing quick lunch

11:00 am We reached back our camps, had an hour of rest, took a quick bath in the river nearby and had our lunch.

2:00 pm: We started our journey back from CP4

4:00 pm: Reached the park entrance, had a quick shower and boarded our van (thanks to Yao who arranged it) back to SG. On our way back to SG, we had a short stop for our dinner.

8:00 pm: Reached back home with lots of great memories (& photos) and the satisfaction of bagging yet another mountain.

'Adrenaline' Journey

I like to be on the safe side of things, especially when I travel. So, when there is a connection journey involved, I book my tickets in such a way that I have enough time between flights,. But when you have to travel on a particular date, you tend to pack things a bit too tight. That’s what happened to me last week when I had to book a connection flight with only 2 hours in between. I knew it was risky, but in my defence, I knew the transit airport very well and also I've never been delayed before by the airlines I was travelling with. And the first reason helped me from missing the connection flight in a matter of minutes.

All of this happened during my weekend trip with friends to Langkawi island in Malaysia. Since all of us had long year end holidays, none wanted to give our boss a reason to scream at us by asking for more leave. So we planned a weekend trip. In order to take full advantage of the weekend, we planned to reach the destination by Friday night itself. As with all Fridays, around one hour after reaching office - after reading newspapers - our clocks started ticking - to get out of the office. We used different methods like using the back door, setting our on-line status to be ‘In a meeting’ etc to slip out of the office early and discreetly. Somehow we all managed to reach the airport just in time before the counters closed.. 

When we reached the gate, I noticed a strange thing. The flight we were supposed to be on, was not there, yet. (Usually by the time we are at the gate, most people would have boarded). We checked at the counter and they said the flight is delayed for 20 minutes. 

Little did we know that when they told us about the 20 minutes delay, they meant that the flight would have to come from somewhere else in the world. That reduced our transit time to around one & a half hours. 

Since our only option to make it in time for the connection flight was for the connection flight to be delayed, one of my friends was suggesting a fake bomb call to the transit airport. But before we attempted any such drastic measures, the flight crew ‘assured’ us that there is a slight chance that we can reach the transit airport in time. 

We boarded in a hurry, got settled in our seats, captain announced that he was waiting for the clearance to take off and started taxi. We were anxiously waiting for the take off for a long time and later realised that we are not going to take off. Instead the flight was taxied to a remote taxiway and made to wait till there is a slot available for take off. 

Finally, by the time we took off, we kissed our weekend plans good bye.If we had any hope of making it, the flight attendants assured us that its not going to happen. It was also the last flight to Langkawi which means we had to resort to our back up plan, which we never had. But one flight attended did some ‘calculations’ based on her experience with the air routes and said there is a chance that the next flight also will be delayed. 

Since we had nothing to loose, we decided to give it a go. We switched on our mobiles and as soon as we got a signal (after touchdown), we called our friends and we heard the words we all were hoping for, “the next flight is late and will take off in 20 minutes”. 

We could easily make it, provided we are able to get to the immigrations from the tarmac (around 1 km away), pass the immigrations (as it our next flight is a domestic one), collect our bags, get out and get back in to the domestic terminal, go through the whole security process, get to the counters/kiosks, and finally go through the gate security again, in less than 10 minutes. 

At that moment, I became a believer of the concept “adrenaline rush”, as I felt my senses super tuned and my muscles stronger. By that time, most passengers knew that we had to catch another flight and cooperated with us when we pushed them aside while exiting (and the rest of them, cursed us with their ‘ colourful’ vocabulary). After exiting the flight, we ran like we’ve never ran before in our whole lives, reached & passed through the immigration in seconds, split up to collect bags and to find the information counter, screamed at the top of our voice to explain the whole situation and then finally ran through the security again. I was sure that the security personnel were going to shoot down at least one of us after all the chaos we caused there. On later thought, they may have realised that a terrorist probably would like to be much more discreet than us. When we reached the gate, it was half closed and we found our friends anxiously waiting for us at the end of the queue. And so, 10 minutes later, we were on our flight to Langkawi. 

Unmistakably this is one of the never-to-be forgotten experiences in my life which I will probably publish as a book titled “How I realised the existence of the adrenal gland in my body”. If it were not for a combination of sheer luck, quick reflexes & wit and a bunch of terrific friends, we would never have been in that second flight. Even though we went through a lot of adventures later - during the course of our trip - this was the one adventure we never planned, one that none of us will never forget and one that I really don’t want to repeat.

Sabah: An experiment from God

According to the popular travel guide Lonely Planet, Sabah is the result of an experiment from God. It goes on like this, “After the first six days of work (creation), instead of resting, He wanted to see what happens if He takes an island, covered it with impenetrable jungle, add lot of new life forms and turned the temperature up to 40 deg C. The result is the ‘tropical Eden’ of Sabah”. In my opinion, to His test tube He also added some kind of “over-sizing” portion so that everything is either the biggest or the largest in the area.

Mt. Kinabalu – one of the tallest mountains in Southeast Asia is located in Sabah. On the other side of the state are the seductive blue coral reefs of Sipadan, also called ‘The Diver’s Mecca’. One of the world’s incredible cave systems and karst formations can be found in Gunung Mulu National Park in Sarawak, the other state of Borneo (UNESCO world heritage site). Borneo is also home to the largest flower in the world – Rafflesia, the largest living arboreal animals – Orangutan and the list goes on and on.

Even though, I wanted to visit Sabah for the above stated reasons, none of the above was the actual reason I made my first visit to Kota Kinabalu last week. Two of my ‘self-proclaimed mountaineer’ friends were visiting the place for the sole purpose of ‘conquering Mt Kinabalu’ and exploring the Mulu caves (around 10days). Being a travel enthusiast, I immediately agreed on meeting them. Since everything was last minute, I couldn’t cater time for conquering the mountain or exploring the caves or diving with the sharks (yeah, sharks are the major attraction of Sipadan). So I decided to use this trip as a survey trip for planning the future expeditions. Also, this trip was different from my usual trips as I concentrated on ‘less traveled paths’ and of course, spending time with my friends and concentrating more on my photography skills.

Our stay - Hotel Jesselton, KK. Jesselton was the name of KK during the colonial period. Located at Gaya St. – still cobbled, another remnant of colonial rule

 Night markets of KK - Great place to spend time after dinner if you are a shopaholic, especially because there is a lot of room for bargaining.

 Handicrafts market in KK - It was too late by the time we reached there and most of the shops were closed. These shops will give you a peak in to the rich culture Borneo has to offer.

‘Street dining’ in KK – One can discover the local cuisines in its authentic form here

 We started our jungle/river boat ride from here. Located near a tropical reserve, this place is home to some of the unique species of flora and fauna.

The boat ride through the calm river during sunset was so relaxing

A lot of tourists – especially those from non-tropical countries seemed very curious about wild monkeys and got very agitated whenever one was sighted.

 A ‘family reunion’

 King of the trees -
During our jungle trek near the Mt. Kinabalu national park, the local guide pointed out this particular tree to be known as the king of trees

 Hanging Bridge Canopy walk – The view down below is overwhelming, but I wouldn’t recommend this for those who are afraid of heights and also afraid of walking on a ‘rope’.

 Nature at its best - After the trek we visited the poring hot springs. I have no idea why they call it hot springs when the water is cold and chilly. All my tiredness from the trek just vanished after a bath in the ‘natural’ pool.

 Mount Kinabalu hiding behind the clouds. A view from Pine Resorts near the national park

By the time we returned, the clouds were up on us and the air was chilly. Our guide had a hard time driving through the S-shaped roads.

 Sunday market in Gaya St. I found all sorts of interesting things in these shops. Both visitors and locals were shopping with equal enthusiasm

For Sale - A kitty in a pet stall in the market

Even though I spent around 3 days there, I parted with the feeling that I hadn’t even 'scratched the surface' of all the things I could do there – all the surprises Borneo holds. As my return flight was taking off, I was busy making a mental note of all the things I should do during my next visit.

Travel Guide: Pulau Rawa

Its been only around a week since I am back from Rawa Islands and already I am missing that place. It really is a paradise - see it for yourself from the snap below.

This is the perfect place if you are looking to take a break from a hectic schedule or if you are longing for a weekend getaway from the city. You wake up looking at the beach and the clear blue water, with the mild wind blowing at your face. Eating, drinking, and playing at the beach are all I did the whole time I was there, as I was looking for a very relaxed, ‘be-as-lazy-as-you-want’ kind of a break and I am not out of that mode yet.
When I was planning this trip, I had to do a bit of ‘asking-around’ as this is not a destination to which you can find a lot of travel agent tour packages. A couple of my friends and colleagues also asked me about the trip after they saw the photos. So this time I am attempting to write a ‘travel guide’ to Rawa. (Note: All the prices quoted are at the time of my travel and may vary with time)

Pulau Rawa
Pulau Rawa is a coral island off the east coast of Johor, Malaysia, 16 km by boat (30 minutes approx) from Mersing town (Wikipedia). The beach is made of pure white soft sand and the water is clear blue in color. You wouldn’t want to get out of the water, any time.

Accommodation
There are two resorts in the island, Rawa Safaris and Alang’s Rawa. Both the resorts offer tour packages, but I didn’t go for them as I like to decide on my own. Also I wanted to try the restaurants at both resorts.
At Alang’s Rawa (where I stayed) - previously known as club Rawa - the most sought out chalets are the two facing the beach (shown in the snap) and you might want to book these at least one month in advance if its peak time (April - September). The room charges are RM220 per day (twin sharing). More details can be found in their site.

Food
The main reason I didn’t go for a package is ‘cos I wanted to try the restaurant in the other resort. After having my first meal at Alang’s Rawa, I knew I would be having all my meals here only. The food was so tasty that I wished I had a bigger tummy. At Saturday nights, they provide an excellent barbeque dinner. Average meal cost is around RM35 (BBQ cost is RM60).

Drinks
Bottled water is costly in the island and its better to stock up at Mersing. The well water is salty. But they provide beverages (cocktails, liquors, beers) and juices at a very reasonable cost. Since its a party atmosphere at the bar at nights, there is a possibility that the beer get over on weekends and you may have to wait for the supply boat to get it from Mersing.

Activities
Even though its an ideal place to be lazy, there are some activities you can try there. The obvious ones are snorkeling, island hopping etc. Rawa Safaris resort rents Kayaks at RM35 per hours and you can go around the island, if the sea is calm. If you have an Advanced (or better) diving certification, you can rent the diving equipments from the Rawa Safaris for RM95 and venture in to the corals near the beach on your own. If you want the tank only, the cost is RM20. The max depth is around 9m. A couple of staff I talked to, told me about the existence of baby sharks around the island. But I was not lucky enough to find one. They also told me about a small jungle path behind the resort which can make a small trek.

Getting there (from Singapore)
If you are a very lazy person, you can straight away book a bus to Mersing from Singapore (Five Star, Transnasional etc) and the cost is around S$30 per head, one way. But I prefer the ‘do-it-yourself’ way. I booked the bus to Mersing from Johor – S&S International (One way cost - RM10). Travelling time is around 2hrs. Another option is to book Causeway Link Express. The timings are displayed at the ticket counter. For both, one has to personally visit the Larkin bus terminal in Johor. From Singapore, you can take the MRT to Woodlands MRT station, get the SMRT bus no. 950 to Woodlands checkpoint. From there, take SBS 170 to Larkin terminal. From Woodlands checkpoint, it will take around 20 minutes to 40 minutes to reach Larkin depending on the queue at the checkpoint and the traffic. Even though I booked the 8:30 am trip, the bus started at 9:30 am only due to some repairs.

Back to Singapore
For travelling from Mersing to Johor (on Sunday), I booked the ticket at Mersing Bus terminal on my way to Rawa on Friday. The bus timings chart is given below. The 8:30pm bus I booked came at 10pm only. Always expect some delays if you are thinking of a bus journey and plan accordingly.
Another option is to take a taxi from Johor to Mersing and back. I did it during my last trip to Pulau Tioman. The taxi cost from Johor to Mersing (Friday morning) was RM150 and from Mersing to Johor (Sunday evening) was RM200. You need to bargain for the lowest fare.
I guess that’s all what you need to know for a trip to Rawa. Visit the resort’s website and shoot a mail asking for a reservation. Book the bus, pack your bags and simply go and have the time of your life in Rawa. For any missing details, just drop me a comment.

Some Snaps

Larkin Terminal, Johor with S&S bus

During the 10 minute walk from Mersing bus terminal to ferry

Ferry timings – I hear that if there are around 5-7 people and pay around RM50, they will drop you at RAWA on their way to Tioman.

Rawa Safaris Office at Mersing

Private Jetty from where we board the speed boat

Rawa Island

The main dock at Rawa. However the speed boat directly drops you at the beach.

Alang’g Rawa – The big hut is the bar and restaurant and the other A-frames are the chalets.

The speed boat ride

Where I stayed – The hut in the left

Twin sharing room

Get tanned – All the facilities are free here. You don’t have to rent any life jacket or snorkeling equipments. But I have to warn you about one thing, its been used by many people and the equipments may not be in an excellent condition.

Dreamy Rawa

The beach from the restaurant. You will never get bored sitting here, sipping a cocktail and watching the ocean.

A romantic remote part of the beach. You can literally call this a private beach, just for you.

Bus timings back to Johor from Mersing.

More snaps here