by daniel shah
Gunung
Ledang National Park lies
just inside Johor's border with Melaka state, about 30 km from the town
of Muar.
The
park surrounds the fabled Mount Ophir, now called Gunung Ledang
(Mount Ledang).
The
mountain is 1276m high (4186ft). According to a sign at the entrance to the
park, Gunung Ledang is Malaysia's 64th highest mountain and the 6th most
difficult to climb, however, as you can see from the more detailed list on myMalaysia Mountains page, Ledang is actually only the 134th
highest peak and it does not rank in the top 20 peaks in terms of
difficulty.
Be
that as it may, it is the highest mountain in Johor stateand its
accessible location, being only a couple of hours drive from both Kuala Lumpur
and Singapore, means that it is one of the most popular and frequently climbed
mountains in Malaysia.
That
does not mean that it is easy to climb. It is a 5 to 6 hour energetic
hike to the summit for a reasonably fit person and there are some
steep rocky faces to negotiate with the aid of ropes. Accidents happen and
there have been some fatalities which is why it is compulsory to engage
a guide from the Ranger's office.
The
most popular trail from in front of the Gunung Ledang Resort is
closed for climbers until further access so when I visited recently I had to
content myself with a short 20 minute trek along stone pathways and steps to
the Puteri Waterfalls, a cascade of about 60m with pools and a
pleasant picnic and bathing area further downstream.
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