Kolam Puteri Gunung Ledang

My mother was born in Muar. Sagil, the nearest town to Gunung Ledang (or Mount Ophir), is where my grandparents used to live. I refer to it as my ‘kampung’. Even though I go to Gunung Ledang waterfall for too many times before, it is only recently I climbed until the top of Kolam Puteri, 900 feet or slightly more than 300m from the base. I climbed there once in August this year and recently, on the 25th.

Legend says that Kolam Puteri was where Puteri Gunung Ledang, the princess who rejected Sultan Mahmud’s proposal, used to take her bath. In the movie of her namesake, it is where she (Tiara Jacquelina) and Hang Tuah (M Nasir) meet (read: date). During the climb, I was more intrigued and fascinated by how the film crews brought up their filming equipment, though.

We departed from JB around 5 am, stopped at RnR Machap for prayer and reached Bukit Gambir toll gate at 7.30 am. We had breakfast at Restoren Al-insyirah Barakah and reached Gunung Ledang Resort gate (Gate A) by 8.15 am. Taman Hutan Lagenda, formerly known as Gate B, is now exclusive for Johor Forestry Department. You go through that gate mainly for hiking to mountain top. I read that there are a few other activities available, but I haven’t explored much.

We were lucky cause the oil palm plantation is under replanting, so we got the full view of Gunung Ledang from the roadside.

Breakfast at Restoren Al-insyirah Barakah, Bukit Gambir. I love the fried yellow noodle.

These signs are everywhere and the trail is obvious. You won’t be lost.

You will see cabins on your left, across the water. I read that you can stay there for RM10 per night. The facilities are basic, with shared bathrooms outside.

You can find a lot of shelters like these by the river and the trail, making it family-friendly.

The trail will start to deviate away from the water at around 50m.

The real climb will only start after around 100m.

After around 200m, we found this beautiful big rock and took our sweet time taking a lot of photos here.

Kolam Puteri i just right beyond the water up there from here.

After you’ve reached the lower tier of Kolam Puteri, you need to cross the water via a bridge to reach the higher tiers.

It gets higher and higher from the first photo until the last one.

You can only get these views from the top if you’re sitting where I am at in the last picture, just at the border of the ‘No Trespassing’ signboard.

The journey going down is also quite a view.

You’ll hear the sound of silver leaf monkeys (lotong) all along the journey. Also, a lot of floras which I don’t even know.

What I like most about waterfalls is the presence of butterflies and dragonflies. But my phone camera is not equipped for such tiny beauty. I did say hello to all I saw, though. Haha.

We went to a site away from the hiking trail further down below and enjoy simple games. Losers got splashed. Ah well… that’s me.

3 Important Notes on Hiking to Kolam Puteri Gunung Ledang

1. I purposely chose to go on Friday.

For some Johoreans, Friday is off day. So people start picnicking on Friday. If you come on Saturday or Sunday morning, the city council would only start to collect rubbish left by visitors the day before. So you can imagine the mess and the smell. We have a long way to go in educating our people in keeping shared spaces clean.

Personally, I’d prefer to eat before and after going here. It’s not that far, anyway. But I do understand families like to enjoy meals during picnic. Better bring all trashes back with you.

The boys, then, went for Friday prayer at Kampung Sagil mosque. The girls stayed at my aunt’s house.

2. Bathrooms

I used the bathrooms near the shop lots outside of the resort gate, because I didn’t want to carry a bag to the top. I just brought my phone and money for entrance fee with me.

3. Fee

Entrance fee is RM1.05 for adults and 50 cents for children. Cars are charged RM2.10 each. The bathroom entry is 50 cents.

Check out some check points towards Kolam Puteri.

I’ve been here countless times my whole life. Each time, I always feel like coming back. We plan to hike all the way up to the top through Taman Hutan Lagenda in February insyaAllah. Stay tuned!