PHOTOS COURTESY OF TOURISM MALAYSIA
Gunung Ledang
“It’s More Than Just a Mountain, It’s a Living Legend”
Introduction
With height or 1,276 meters, Gunung Ledang is the highest mountain in Southern Penisular Malaysia. Johor National Park based in Gunung Ledang, located in the district of Muar, Johor. This mountain had been gazetted as a national park on 3rd October 2005, but commenced its operations in July 2003. The size of the park is 8,611 hectares.
A Legend in Brief
Upon the death of her husband, the beautiful princess become a fairy and made her home on the mountain. During the 15th century, the Sultan of Malacca was encaptured by her beauty and proposed marriage.
The wily princess imposed several conditions to evade her royal suitor. He could not fulfill one exceptional request and thus failed in his amorous quest. She is believed to live on the mountain till today and has the power to bestow her blessings upon deserving mortals who visit her fabled home.
In 1854, Alfred Russel Wallace – a contemporary of Charles Darwin and a fellow originator of the theory of evolution – spent a week on Mount Ophir. Like others before him, and in many others to come, he fell under the spell of its hypnotic beauty.
During his visit, Wallace recorded the presence of tigers, rhinoceroses and elephants, as well as a host of plant, insect and bird species. The rhinos have long since been extinct in the area, and the mountain itself is now better known as Gunung Ledang. But the charm and allure of this sub-montane jewe continues to attract visitors by the droves.
Places of Interest
* Puteri waterfall
* Tiga Segi River
* Batu Hampar
* Plateau
* Kolam Gajah
* Puncak Mahligai
* Visitors’ Complex
Getting there
From Kuala Lumpur (KL)/ Johor Bahru (JB)/ Singapore (SIN)
Take the North-South Highway and exit at Tangkak. Head for Tangkak Town, then follow the signboards for Sagil and Segamat. The turn-off to the Park HQ is about 2km after Sagil town. After you get clearance from the guard at the post, drive for another 2.5km along a laterite road that goes through an oil palm plantation, following the small signboards for Taman Hutan Lagenda.
Public Transportation
There is an express bus service from Kuala Lumpur to Tangkak, as well as from Johor Bahru & Singapore to Tangkak. Arrangements can be made at the time of booking with the JNP Head Office for a private van operator to pick you up at Tangkak bus station and ferry you into the park.
