Gunung Panti is located just a few kilometres north of Kota Tinggi in Johor. The mountain is part of the Gunung Panti Recreational Forest – a protected secondary forest (although from other online sources, it seems that the forest is not really that well protected after all, with the presence of logging and quarrying activities). At 531 metres high, the mountain is considered a good training ground for those who aspire to climb higher peaks such as Mount Kinabalu, Mount Rinjani, etc. Other activities in the area include birdwatching at the Panti Bird Sanctuary and waterfall trekking at Kota Tinggi and Pelepah Falls.
We embarked on a day trip to visit the following places in Kota Tinggi:
- Gunung Panti
- Kota Tinggi Waterfall
- Taman Buaya (Crocodile Farm)
- Firefly river cruise
The above attractions are all located within about an hour’s drive of one another, and we had a vehicle at our disposal. In order to cover all the attractions, we planned for an early start and a late return.
6.30 am: Boarded a chartered minibus for Gunung Panti from the taxi stand beside Serangoon NEX Shopping Mall
8.30 am: Reached the mountain base of Gunung Panti
8.45 am: Started the ascent
11.00 am: Reached the summit
11.30 am: Started the descent
1.30 pm: Reached the mountain base and drove to Kota Tinggi Waterfall Resort
1.45 – 3.45 pm: Sightseeing and shower at Kota Tinggi Waterfall Resort
3.45 – 4.45 pm: Drove to Teluk Sengat to visit Taman Buaya (Crocodile Farm)
4.45 – 5.45 pm: Visited Taman Buaya
5.45 – 6.45 pm: Dinner at a local restaurant
6.45 – 7.45 pm: Drove back to Kota Tinggi for the firefly boat ride
8.00 – 8.45 pm: Firefly boat ride
9.00 – 10.30 pm: Drove back to Singapore. Home Sweet Home.
We made some preparations prior to the trip and arranged for a freelance Malaysian guide to meet us at the foot of the mountain and bring us up. Unfortunately, our driver was unfamiliar with the area, and the lack of directional signage certainly did not help. As a result, we ended up going round in circles for about half an hour until the driver finally called the guide for help. We met the guide at the entrance of Kota Tinggi Waterfall Resort and followed his 4WD to the starting point of the trail, which was approximately ten minutes away. A dirt road off the main road led us to the entrance at the mountain base. There was no way we would have known the way ourselves, as it was a nondescript area with no directional signs. This was why we had to rely on our guide.
I was pretty amazed by the survival skills of these bloodsuckers. Upon sensing the movements of hikers, these creatures would straighten their bodies vertically upwards and start swinging themselves to and fro, attempting to hook themselves onto their victims’ bodies. The last 15 minutes of the trail were spent scaling a huge, almost vertical rock boulder. There were some fixed ropes to assist us with the steep ascent. As Gunung Panti is only 531 m high, the summit view was not as impressive as that of Gunung Ledang or Gunung Belumut, both of which are more than 1,000 m high.
The summit of Gunung Panti is a huge and flat open area, with ample space for camping. Upon reaching the summit, the first thing we did was to check our bodies for leeches. We took a quick bite for lunch and soon embarked on our descent, as the sky was starting to turn dark. It started raining cats and dogs not long after we left the summit. The sky had looked clear in the morning, and I thought that it would not rain, so I left my poncho in the vehicle. I ended up drenched and cold because of my laziness to carry an additional 400 g for the hike. All of us were soaked to the skin. Our guide gave us a ride in his 4WD to Kota Tinggi Waterfall Resort, which was just a 10-minute drive away. We did not take our chartered minibus so as not to dirty it with our muddy shoes and wet clothes.
The waterfall was located within the resort. To enter the resort, we had to pay an entrance fee of RM10 per person, plus another RM10 for the vehicle. Actually, we were not that interested in the waterfall. We just wanted to use the toilets inside the resort for showering. It was quite expensive; the entrance fee to a Singapore public swimming pool was only S$1.30 on weekends. The waterfall, which consists of two tiers, was quite powerful. However, the tourist crowds, stalls and litter around the area greatly spoilt its natural beauty. The toilets were quite disappointing too (actually, we expected that). The water pressure from the shower was weak, and there was actually no proper shower head. The water simply came out of an open-ended pipe above our heads.
After bathing, our driver drove us straight to Taman Buaya (Crocodile Farm) in Teluk Sengat – a small town situated along the bank of the Johor River. The farm was really very big, with hundreds of crocodiles of different sizes. The entrance fee was RM10 per person. We paid an additional RM10 for three chickens so that we could watch the crocodile feeding. RM10 for three chickens! I thought it was a good deal until I saw the chickens. They were real dead chickens – smelly and almost rotten. A tip from me: if you visit the farm, let other groups buy the chickens so that you can watch the crocodile feeding for free =) Don’t be like me; I paid for everyone else to watch as well. See all those people in the photo? I didn’t even know them. Visitors were not allowed to feed the crocodiles themselves. All feeding was done by the farm workers. There were also many very old crocodiles. One of them, which had almost no teeth left, was said to be about 125 years old.
We spent about an hour at the farm, after which we went to a local restaurant for dinner. We patronised a restaurant recommended by a staff member of the farm – an English-speaking Chinese aunty in her early sixties. She claimed that it was the best zi char in town. Later, it turned out to be a halal restaurant disguised as a Chinese zi char stall. The restaurant was run by Malays and the cooks were all Malay. The food was so-so, definitely not the best in town. We were even more shocked when the same Chinese aunty turned up to collect the dinner bill from us. Hmm… if you happen to visit the farm, remember to look out for this “entrepreneur” aunty. After dinner, we rushed back to Kota Tinggi town for the firefly river cruise.
There are a number of firefly river cruise operators in Kota Tinggi town. All of them are located along the bank of the Johor River. The cruise is quite popular, so it is advisable to make a telephone booking a few days in advance. The first cruise departed at around 7.30 pm. It lasted for about 45 minutes and cost RM20 per person. The boat had a seating capacity of around 40 passengers. The boat ventured upstream into the mangrove swamp areas where the fireflies lived. Upon reaching the firefly zone, the boatman throttled down the engine and cruised slowly around the area. From a distance, the fireflies looked like miniature flashing LEDs on the mangrove trees, producing a Christmas-tree effect. We ended our trip with the firefly river cruise and reached Singapore Customs at around 10.30 pm.
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