Challenge to mt ophir
I have always thought that climbing mountains was just another kind of sports that doesn’t require much effort. Apparently, this proved wrong the moment I decide on climbing
So this is what a wiki search leads me to:
Standing at 1,276 m (4,186 ft), with a clear trail leading to the peak, the mountain is a popular destination among amateur climbers.
Gosh, amateur climbers?? It is my first time climbing a mountain. Fear hasn’t gripped me until I read on…
Camping on the mountain has been forbidden after the death of campers who were crushed by falling trees in separate incidents….. The trail from the resort has been closed due the death of campers.
Our itinerary says we are going to camp at the plateau overnight before going down the mountain…
YY's words "mmm...is probably quite tough, must train leh" lingered in my mind... Because of this, I trained by jogging for two consecutive days in the tight schedule before the trip just to make myself feel better about the trip.
After googling for more information, I was nearly sure that this mountain is not for me. “ What? U climbing mountain? U’ ll need at least 1 month of training climbing stairs or running up to Bukit Timah hill with a loaded backpack..” my sis, who knows my lifestyle, exclaimed when she heard the news. She surely knows how to demoralize me on the day before my departure. “Yes, definitely, there will be leeches.” wanshang told me in a serious tone with a very serious look. Collegues were telling me, “ Tropical weather, it will be very hot and you will become tan. You will prob be feeding mosquitoes along the way. Dun forget your repellant. This is not a luxury trip u know right?”
That was when I have second thoughts and started calling up qing for reassurance. “can we do this?”, I asked. “surely we cant back out at this time right?”qing asked me back, she herself was equally flustered. In sec school days, she never failed to impress her NPCC mates with her overloading plus plus backpack. Then YY reassured me that she will make sure I can go up the mountain and will never be left alone. Also, after knowing that
Packing for the trip was definitely not as easy. Unlike other climbers who go up and down the mountain in a day, we are going to stay at the mountain overnight, which means a heavier load and more things to carry. Fortunately, the guys will carry up the tents, cooking essentials and most food, while I just need to focus on my own essentials.
My compressed packing list:
1 set of clothing
windbreaker
insect repellant
sleeping bag
torchlight
handiplast, black tape, alcohol swabs
sun block
energy bars, chocolates, sweets
500 mL water bottle
face towel
toiletries
hand sanitizer
tissue paper
cap
MP3/ipod shuffle
lighter
slippers/sandles
good sports shoes
extra socks to keep warm
passport
Maggi mee
Things which can add on:
gloves (to grip onto the tree branches while climbing)
wet tissue
RM money
Mass tin and solid fuel
canned food and bread
.. and all in a good backpack with soft back support (thanks to
We departed at night from Woodlands in a hired van to a small town near Gunung Ledang. There was when I met qing and realized she made the same mistake again. The guys started to joke about her carrying a fridge. Upon arrival, we found a supposedly decent hotel. I said, supposedly, because the hotel isn’t as alright as it claimed. There was no water!! Not even cold water! The water dripped for 1min the most, and stopped. Both qing and I were taken over by surprise, and later shock. No doubt the toilet looked old and even the ceiling cracked with water dripping from the cracks, but the taps do not work at all. The reception came over for a look and told us they would check it out, but that was the last I see of them. I had to use mineral water for basic washing on my first night. We got over the lack of water quickly as we were all too exhausted and cant wait to just get onto the bed. The bed wasn’t exactly comfortable either, and I hardly slept. I began to worry if I have the energy to the next day.
Next morning, the gang had a sumptuous roti prata meal. Many of us ordered
The first track to CP1 was a flight of 700 over steps, followed by simple trekking all the way. The steps drove me crazy. I was already panting the moment I was on the 50th step I think.
I was in the middle of the group, the ranger was walking so fast like he took no effort at all. The rest of us just followed, trying to keep up with the pace. Zichuan was behind me, encouraging me to move forward and slow down if need be. It was just so tiring my face whitened the moment we got to CP2. The guys were sweating, but qing and I were completely shagged, I didn’t even feel like talking anymore. YY was still in good shape, urging us to just keep on moving if not too tired. Just before CP2, qing and I had to trouble jianming and zhihao to carry our bags for a short distance. It seemed effortless for the guide, who even started smoking, or simply LOXing, getting his regular intake of liquid oxygen. “how much longer to reach CP?” we asked the guide. Everytime we asked him he would just shrug and say soon. Then after CP2, we changed plans, qing and I walked in front of the group, just behind the guide. It was probably a psychological effect of lower stress. Since after I spear headed the group at the front, I found it effortless to trek upwards, as if I have eaten some kind of elixir, my body seemed lighter and I got used to the load on my back. Somehow, the pressure of not needing to pace up with the group subsides and it was actually relaxing to just simply move on and enjoying the scenary. Halfway up, every single drop was so precious to us. Before we reach our water point, it is important to keep every drop fully utilized. Qing our diva, could not stand the continuous climbing, and almost wanted to give up. It was funny that she would make some strange noises every now and then, just to keep her frustration away. Sometimes, we can hear her singing a few lines just to keep on moving forward. zichuan would keep on asking, OK? Can? then wanshang would be monitoring everyone’s speed, saying we have all the time, move slow, and giving out chocolates. It was really not that easy , but I expected worse so I didn’t feel too bad. Some of the paths are steeper, and muddy. The tree trunks are my best friends, they supported me along the way, and I rested my weight on their roots. But there are some trees with ant colonies. Once, I grabbed the wrong trunk and the ants crawled onto my hands, only realized after I felt the ant bites. I got a pair of gloves for wanshang for a better grip on the tree trunks.This was however nothing to YY, our Hua mulan, who overcame the climb easily like the guys. It is the stamina, the leg strength and the determination to move up that makes it easier to climb like u walk.
Eventually, after what seemed like a long time, we reached the plateau. There, we found our most precious natural resource- water! Ice cold water gushing from a pipe which leads to the river side. The water is not totally clear, but it has all the minerals we need. Perfect for drinking and washing up. We were enjoying ourselves with water like it is the best thing that happened to us on Earth. This was when I realized I am so close to nature and the wilderness. The view from the plateau was spectacular, finally seeing a view free of trees and soil. We were so hungry the bread loaves and tuna were gobbled up in a matter of minutes. The cloud started to gather and became darker. Rain is coming soon. Then someone realized we forgot to bring up solid fuel!! How dumb but not that dumb after all. We splitted up into two groups, one to build the tents, and the other to gather dry wood sticks for starting the fire. Fortunately, we made it on time, and before the rain got heavier, our tents were ready for accommodation. The rest of the afternoon was spent lying in the tent and sleeping, recuperating our shagged bodies from the morning climb. Soon the rain stopped and we figured out how to start a fire without solid fuel. Kian siong’s smart idea of spraying insect repellant on the wood helped to maintain the flames and kept the fire going. Then qing and some guys found bits of used charcoal left in the wild which we used to sustain the fire.
It was a good team effort, and soon, the fire was big enough to do cooking. wanshang was so excited his bean can was the first over the fire. One after the other can food came. Of course, nothing outwins my maggi mee :) But i still like rendang chicken n bread, most of which however were gobbled up by amin n jian ming. Tuna + bread combi was also another hot favorite. Eventually, all had a very full meal. It was the first time I find my chu qian yi ding magi mee so heavenly I m pretty amazed myself. Not wanting our efforst to go to waste, we kept the fire going with dried leaves even after the meal. Sitting around the fire, we chatted and kept ourselves warm in the dark. Most of my games were rejected, so we played 3-up and another very lame game suggested by wanshang about asking a person a question, and the person has to reply another answer... that was when kian siong became famous for e=mc^2... We then continued our cozy chat on pick-up lines and the ten of us squeezed into a 4 men tent with the rain drops beating hard on the outside.
It was already
Through the night, I was tossing and turning, trying to keep myself warm in my sleeping bag. Outside, it was raining heavily, the wind howling, and some water actually penetrated the tent! The tolerance level of my bladder reached until a limit whereby I could burst out crying. This was when I regret not relieving myself before I sleep. If there is a need to release your bladder, please do it at all costs, for we are fertilizing the soil, and is therefore completely harmless.
Thankfully, I managed to survive through the night. At
It was completely dark. The only light was moonlight and the torches that we have. Some do not like the torch, as it was too strong and dazzling to the eyes. To my amaze, the trek up to the summit was relatively easy in the dark compared to the day. It was so leisurely cooling and more focus was needed to make sure I didn’t step into a mud pool since it rained through the night. I was a little fearful of the dark, especially since I could not see where I was going, but the desire to see the sunrise made me move faster. I had to shine the torch for qing and sausze in front while keeping an eye on my path. We climbed up the ladders and used the ropes as we trekked upwards. Then after what seemed like an hour, qing exclaimed that we are reaching. We emerged from the leaf foliage and I could see the view below, and the sky above. We hadn’t missed the sunrise, which was a good sign. I was already panting then, but the view was too breathtaking to be ignored. At that time, I felt so close to nature, the clouds and the sun. I was captivated when the sunrise happened in just a matter of minutes. Soon the moon disappeared and the sun was high up in the sky.
We took several photos before giving the chance to the other group of climbers who just arrived. Soon it was time to go back to our campsite. Going back down was difficult, at least for me because I fear of height. I was shocked to see that I actually climbed that path in the dark!! Couldn’t believe I climbed all that like it was nothing, and now that I see it, it became even more daunting. Luckily I had zhihao as my
Back at the campsite, we were like hungry ghosts gobbling up the remaining food. The guys were exceptionally happy to get rid of the food stuff and lighten their load. We packed up our stuff and descend the mountain. YY was hoping to go to the waterfall, but due to time constraint, many complaints of backache, leg pain and yesterday’s rain, we decided it is best to just descend as advised by the guide. Descending was fast, but not that easy, in fact, I found it more difficult to descend. Every step toward gravity, we had to make an effort to stabilize each footing, and this is hurting the knee cap. Also, some of the paths are slippery and we had to move carefully. As we went down, many groups of climbers were on their way up, and it was quite good to chat with them along the way and advise them on how much longer it takes to reach the summit. When I saw them climbing up, it reminded that was how I climbed up just a day ago. The climbers were very friendly, it is as if we were all in the same boat and ever ready to extend our help to one another, no longer feel like strangers.
Finally, after 2 hrs, we reached the foot of the mountain. I was dead beat, exhausted, and sweaty. The guys went for a dip in a small pool, while qing n I rested at the office. I realised I have not bathed for 2 days!! zichuan retorted, "in army, i didnt bathe for 7 consecutive days"..We then moved on to Malacca in a taxi. During the trip, qing and I dozed off and slept like a log. I have never slept so well before. I even forgot where I was the moment I woke up and found myself in a taxi at the customs toward Malacca. wanshang was trying to find us accomodation, esp with all these last min changes to go malacca. It took us about 3 hrs to reach Malacca and find a decent hotel – Metropole hotel, recommended by Amin who stayed there before. The taxi driver was recommending another hotel, which after wanshang n qing checked out, was unacceptable - women in nightgowns and men in underwear walking around. The best thing is, Metopole hotel has a decent toilet with hot water and good shower facility!! I was exhilarated to be able to get a shower woohooo. I got myself a cheap pair of clean pants for only 8.90rm to last me for the rest of the trip.
Malacca is a beautiful city with a lot of interesting architecture from colonial rule. The food is also very gratifying, which i m sure kianming can testify to that. We explored
qing n yy were however very hyper. The group was so tired we followed the wrong person and splitted into two groups, whereas wan shang n sausze who were on the right track had to call for us.
All in all, it was a very fun and entertaining trip, at least, I am glad to say I came back in one piece. Thank you everyone for making this trip possible, I never knew I could climb a mountain and this was an achievement. Actually,
posted by Lynn @ 10:05 PM
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