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| Gunung Arong's satellite view |
The Planning
One morning in January, while i was at work, I got a message from my sister asking if I will be free on Feb 1 and if I wanted to go climb a mountain in Johore Bahru. I said yes. That same day, 12 other folks confirmed that they're joining. And so the group was formed. If it was a love story, it was what one would call, a whirlwind romance. Short but sweet. Swift but not bereft of beauty.
The Preparation
The first month of 2015 for me was packed with activities. After coming back from my trip, all my weekends have been booked. Even weekdays were planned because I am sitting-in in two classes this semester. Classes are on Wed and Thursday nights, so Mon and Tue nights are usually allotted for assignments. Which leaves me one day, Friday nights, free. Therefore, my preparation for the climb was nil. Oh well, except for the daily use of the stairs up to the 6th floor. For one week.
I havent climbed a real mountain before. The only ones I've been to are hills such as Rangitoto in NZ and Bukit Timah hill here in Singapore. I dont have gadgets. When our hike leader told us to use proper hiking shoes for the climb and sandals for the river crossing, I had to go and buy.
Aside from these, I had no preparations of any sort.
The Hike
We left Singapore at 11pm of Saturday. Instead of sleeping, travel time was spent on endless chatters and laughter. So to ensure that everyone will have enough energy for the hike, we had nasi lemak and teh tarik at Kluang.
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| the entire gang while waiting for the food (photo from Raul) |
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| Bunch of overly excited people waiting to start the trek |
From Kluang, we spent another hour or so traveling. When we're already at Mersing, we saw a mountain from afar and wondered whether that was Arong or not. It was not that tall, so the overconfident us were kidding that should that be Arong, we could have just went to Bukit Timah instead. Little did we know that indeed, that was it.
At the 'base' camp, we prepped up and wore our headlamps and gloves and applied insect repellant. And of course, took photos.
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| repacking (photo from pia) |
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| testing our headlamps (photo from Pia) |
We didnt have a local guide with us but we had two in the group who had been to Arong for a number of times already so we felt relatively safe. We were paired into two and the leader reminded everyone to always look out for one's buddy. And before hiking, we, as a group, uttered a short prayer.
The start of the hike was very easy. We were just walking on a flat paved road. The wind was cold and I personally could feel the adventure that we were going to embark on.
After about 10 minutes or so, we stopped in a sort of "entrance" to the forest, and the leader told us that we are starting the climb which will go on for about 1.5 hours. Bring it on!
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| starting the climb |
It was dark. The only light source that we had were the lamps on our heads. I realized later on that the absence of light helped a bit with the climb because we couldn't see how high or steep or difficult the terrain was. There were difficult areas in the terrain, areas where we had to hold on to a rope to help pull ourselves up because the terrain is too steep. There were times when we would have to stop because one of us felt like he couldn't do it anymore. Times of obligatory rest periods. Nevertheless, we continued. We were climbing slowly and continued doing so without seeing our destination clearly. I guess this is where the philosophical parallelisms between climbing and living comes in. When it's dark, you move towards the direction of the light and you base your move on what you can see. But then again, you keep on going because you believe that eventually, you will reach the peak. Or whatever :)
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| at the summit |
Anyway, after more than an hour of walking in the dark, we finally reached the summit. In the summit was a small hut where climbers can take a rest. It was still dark when we got into the hut and we still had more than an hour to wait before sunrise. So some of us tried to take a nap to recharge and prepare for the descent. Some started cooking breakfast. We had breakfast of instant noodles and eggs.
And then the sun came out. This part was a bit anticlimactic. Since the mountain wasn't that high, we didn't really see the sun slowly coming out from the horizon. It seemed just like a regular day when you would see the sun already up there. It was still good nonetheless since it's not everyday that we get to see the sun from the mountains.
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| sunrise in the mountains |
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the Gunung Arong group
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After taking several photos at the summit, it was time for descent. Descent was fun! My favorite was rappelling down the steep parts. I felt so strong. I also loved the scenery changing from thin leaves to thick covers. And oh, the sweat. I felt like I've lost a few pounds from too much perspiration.
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| Rappelling down |
At the base was the sea. And this is where we took shelter and rested after the descent. We are ready to boulder and cross the river!
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| Resting by the beach |
To go back to the main road, we had to cross some boulders and a river. The rocks were huge. They dont look intimidating in photos but in reality, it made my heart beat faster. I could still recall the combination of thrill and fear that I had while trying to jump from one rock to another knowing that one wrong step or a slip could cause me to hit my head on one of those rocks or fall into the sea. Ok, the water wasnt that high but still...
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| Starting to cross the boulders |
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| Bouldering looks so much simpler in photos |
As part of our preparation for the river crossing, we had to waterproof our belongings. One of our guide-friends said that the water could be waist-deep (or chest-deep, im no longer sure) so we were ready to get wet. But when we got there, the water was knee-deep :) Well, I guess it doesnt hurt to be over prepared.
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| The overestimated river crossing |
On the other side was the shore as wide as this...
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| And that celebratory jump! |
Needless to say, it was the perfect first climb that will make one want to give climbing another try.
Cost of this one-day hike: about RM100 inclusive of lunch and transport.
