Gunung Panti

After my 4 years of struggle, completing my course, it's time for me to escape for a short trip to Gunung Panti to acclimatize my body before my big trip to Mt. Kinabalu in May. I have always envisioned myself to do some GCS (group conditioning session) with my climbing "kakeez". Towering at 510m-obtained from the internet, (altitude reading from G-Shock Riseman Watch- about 535m), Gunung Panti is a good training ground if you are heading for your major trip to a much higher mountain, example Mt Kinabalu. I'm not sure why Panti is called Gunung (mountain) as it is just 510m whereas a mountain should be above 600m. It should be call Bukit Panti or Panti Hill. Otherwise, it is still a nice place to start my GCS other than my weekly Bt Timah hike.

0650 hrs: Mywife and I arrived at Marsiling MRT station to meet the rest of our "kakeez" and of course Jerry and Joseph, the trip organizer. With some new found friends, we crossed to the neighbouring country for the GCS. Before reaching Panti, we stopped for breakfast to fuel ourselves with energy for the climb.

0940 hrs: We started trekking towards the dense forest lead by Joseph, our pathfinder. We were lost for awhile and had to track back. Finally Joseph found the correct path. He remembered that we had to cross a small stream before meeting the right track. Of course, photos were snapped from every angle within a few minutes interval. As for Sebastian, he was practicing his shots for his upcoming event....Mt Rinjani.
As we moved on, we could see abundance of mushroom covering the floor of Panti forest. Not to forget, the Panti 'vampires' wriggling their way and clinging on to our shoes and climb up to suck healthy Singaporean blood- ‘vampire’ leeches! This is their paradise....

From the skyline of the forest, I realised it was going to rain anytime soon as the sky turns dark abruptly. Soon after, rain droplets start to fall on my face. Continuous downpour through the openings of the tree canopy marred my vision. But we march on....

Jerry pointed me to the rock face ahead of us and said “it will be the summit after we surpass this sets of boulders”. We were excited but due to the wet surface we had to take one step at a time. Finally, at 1215 hrs we reached the summit of Panti with our drenched clothing, delighted with a little disappointment- seeing rubbish flooding the peak. Suhardi, Heikal, Azami, Azaman, Daya, my wife Monggur and me lined up for our ritual photo taking session. Not forgetting Sebastian and our new found friends Sharon, Jerry and Joseph.The shower stopped just enough for us to snap a few photos and it starts again. Cats and dogs......

We managed to have a hasty lunch before declining from the peak. The rain did not help with our descent. The path we trekked up now turns into a small stream. I slipped a few times and almost fell while trekking down. We reached quaint Rainforest Resort at 1445 hrs and had another shower but this time in the toilet. About 1600 hrs, we loaded the van and the driver brought us to a food stall near Kota Tinggi to have our dinner.

1930 hrs: We're back at Marsiling MRT to say goodbye to a wonderful escapade and best 'kakeez' in my outdoor world. It's not the destination that satisfies me but the journey done with the people that surrounds me. Thank you guys......

The start... (seems easy at first)

Photographs of us... there's plenty, these are just some of the best

Our last hurdle... we've go to climb up a steep & slippery rock face.

The refreshing view from above.....

With my climbing Kakeez at the Summit of Gunung Panti....

Cheers to All! Till our next climb....