Liao ………..

                 That was the catch phrase you will frequently hear during the expedition. The 4187 feet high Gunung Ledang set aside lush primary jungles and cascading waterfalls, serviced as the backdrop for an adventurous group of 12 NPCC cadets and 20 Girl Guides, led by Mr Chia, Mr Anwar and Miss low.

                Before the expedition, these hyperactive students spent a few hours hiking at Bukit Timah.

                On 4^th June, the expedition, the team assembled in school at sunset. We set off on a coach. We stopped at Yong Peng for a short break and continued the journey. At night, we were given a short briefing about Gunung Ledang by one of the tour guides. On 5^th June, the expedition team took their very first step to conquer Gunung Ledang. The cool mountain air and the shade provided by the canopies of trees, some reaching 100 meters in height, gave respite to our aching quadriceps and quick pumping hearts as we trek on.

                We rest every now and then to restore our energy. There are many obstacles along the way. Our boys demonstrated their team spirit by helping the less agile ones carrying their haversack and often shouting encouraging words.

                After sometime, we successfully descended from the second hill and head towards the river (checkpoint) for lunch. Many of our cadets fall back to seek help from the guides. They were given medication that will loosen their muscles.

                During the journey, the guides encouraged us to move on and their leader ran up and down to ensure that nothing goes wrong. We moved on prepared to face the unexpected. The unexpected came in the form of steeper inclines and slippery, eroded footpaths exposing a complicated and confusing network of twisting and curling root systems that must have taken decades to grow and developed. We huffed and puffed for all we were worth and came to Botak Hill.

                Finally there are rope obstacles. We couldn’t wait to climb these rocks using ropes. This was one of the easiest part to overcome throughout the hike.

                We climbed and reached the top of Botak Hill, 3650 feet above sea level. That was also our checkpoint. We could feel the extreme cool air. The best thing was that they could even reach the clouds.

                One of the guides led some boys to refill their waterbottles while the others move on. We trek and realized that there were more obstacles ahead. In between every obstacle, there would at least have a guide to help us through. By 1800hrs, we were already able to see the peak. We climbed up the steep rocky path. After 8 hrs of hike, we were finally at the summit. A simple 1-meter high stone structure confirmed that we were already at the top of the 1276meters high Gunung Ledang.

                Standing at the top of Gunung Ledang was quite an experience, notwithstanding the fact that many of us felt weak in the knees and butterflies in our stomachs, on a clear day, we were told, we could see Malacca Town in the distance. We didn’t see Malacca that day because of the cloud which cover it but we did see a distant mountain peak with a tall telecommunication transmitting tower on it.

                Without the help of our wonderful tour guides, I think that we may not be able to reach the peak. Many of us realized that we had to stretch ourselves to know our limit.

                We descended in a jeep and headed back to the resort for a feast.

STATION INSPECTOR: CHENG YU YIN