Met up with car mates ms law n driver ervi. Ervi was taking us on her maiden voyage out of KL in her zippy Kancil (local car model, 850cc)! We met up with the rest of the entourage at Tangkak and then a couple more in Segamat. Bunked the night at a friend's office-warehouse placed for the night, a little ala Amazing Race. However, the mosquitoes decided to make the a banquet out of this group of 13! Needless to say, we hardly slept.

Day 1 - Rise and Shine! Enthusiastically, we made way for the best coffee in Segamat at NanYang Coffee Shop. The coffee was far creamier, richer than the White Coffee in Ipoh, Perak. Hard-core coffee drinkers nodded in approval.

The shop was packed with locals, even those still in pajamas!, while others were in their best Saturday dresses. :) While waiting we noticed every table had at least a plate of toast and steamed bread. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. We enjoyed the breads so much, even the small-eaters were happily carbo-loading aka just another excuse to eat. :P

As we made our way from Segamat to the foothills of Gunung Ledang, behold, she stood majestically right in front of us. Her peak was under a shroud of mist. *gulp*

i was going to climb that high?

After declaring all belongings and paying entrance fee of RM10 per person, we made our way up the Sagil trail, named after the village beside the waterfalls at the Gunung Ledang Resort. Apparently Ledang can be scaled via the Asahan trail from the state of Malacca, which is supposedly easier. but nm..

The trail starts with a long walk alongside the cascade of waterfalls, to a stretch of stairs, quite steep, but useful as warm-up to the long trek up. As it was the school holidays, many people were having a good time, some on a family outing at Puteri(Princess) Waterfalls.

I've neva been on a more interesting trail. Some parts were steep, that's expected, otherwise, we had some jagged stony paths, and a bit of rope climbs at Gua Kambing(Goat's Cave). be warned! upper body strength required. therein lies my weakness.

Before reaching Gua Kambing, there was one part, i was really enjoying a nature excursion as it was rather flat. I was a real midget admist trees possible a hundred years old if not more, the canopy was rather dense in some places. When the sun went behind the clouds, the place transformed into an mystical enchanted forest.

All was well after that, reached Botak Hill without any trouble. Lost my front markers, and was with Master Tong, and the SuperHuman group. We came to a fork, and he willed another newbie, Alex and i towards the Expert trail without telling us what lay ahead. He was more anxious to save 1.5 hrs and beat the rain. And so i went along...

After awhile, we reached this huge rock, at 85degrees slant. I looked up and asked myself ...

"How am i gonna get up there?" *gulp*.

You couldn't even see the top, which would be the summit. What wouldn't I give for Doraemon's helikopta cap now? In a short distance, grew some beautiful wild orchid, eye candy to take ur mind off the height i suppose.... didn't work!

The worse was nearly over. Next, had to walk like a crab across a tiny slippery ridge. falling was again an issue, but u might land further than Botak Hill. mebbe i'm exaggerating, mebbe not, didn't intend to find out. :P Could hear the rest of the entourage who had reached the summit via the normal arduous trail. Still couldn't see them as had a few more rocks to climb. At the last stretch, my shoulder cramped up. sigh.. but i made it! i'm now an 'expert'. hehe..

Was so glad to reach the summit, I just collapse there for awhile, volunteered my pack to SuperHumans to go down and bring up water, and soaked in the view! You could see all around you! and I mean 360 degrees, all around, it was awesome!

Apparently, on a clear day, you could see straight out to the Straits of Malacca, and ships sailing. Twas rather cloudy at dusk, so we didn't get much of a sunset. But at night, we had a clear view of Malacca, nearby towns, Segamat, Jementah and Tangkak.

For dinner, we had the most vege dishes i've ever eaten in a single seating. A total of 7 types in 6 dishes! No wonder I needed to heed the call of nature so badly the next day! haha... someone brought up sparklers, and we had a good time playing with it and even waved to campers on Botak Hill. The next day, they told us, they saw our sparklers, and waved back to us with theirs!

After a satisfying dinner, it was good to just lie down and go to sleep. I easily slept through the ruckus in the next tent. they were happily playing bluff. Winds blew so strongly throughout the night. Was quite relieved there were 4 of us gals in the tent, so there was enough weight to hold the tent down. :P our flysheet had already flown off the side! Good thing I didn't sleep outside!

We had another glorious breakfast with Vietnamese Bihun (rice vermicelli), to satisfy our stomachs before packing and making our way down. Needless to say, i volunteered to go down the normal arduous trek. I've had enough excitement for one weekend. :P and missed all EPL matches.

Trek down was much easier in comparison. Like duh! Conquered the rope climbs slightly more easily this time, though i slipped once, at Gua Kambing.

Was glad to be on solid flat ground after awhile, we all then met up and made our way to Tangkak for lunch. The town of Tangkak is famed for cheap cloth and silk especially. But I didn't have the opportunity to venture down the street. Next time, mebbe!

Fear Factor Weekend:

• 1st Challenge - Rope climb up big rock past Gua Kambing. No harness!
• 2nd Challenge - 'Expert' trail up huge rock to the summit! if u fall... *splat*
• 3rd Challenge - Already the default winner.. haha.. I conquered Ledang ! :o)

p/s this was an accomplishment of accomplishments for me. :D