Naturebug 2- Gunung Ledang

Gunung ledang is located in Johor bordered to Melaka. I planned to shoot about Gunung Ledang as part of our nature programmes for Taman Negra Johor. But the main reason of shooting Gunung Ledang was the dissappointment after watching 'Putri Gunung Ledang-The movie' which was full of nonsense and confusing the audience for the misintrepretation of the legend that we knew all our lives. I was always been fascinated by the legend which was mentioned in the old 17th century manuscript of Hikayat Sejarah Melayu regarding  a princess of a bunian (fairies) living with her faithful followers on top of the mountain.The Sultan of Malacca at that time, presumably Sultan Mahmud, was so intrigued by the princess that he ordered Tun Mamat to form a party to climb and meet with the princess on behalf of the Sultan for a marriage proposal.
Unfortunately the story was wrongly intepreted in the movie where the princess was said to be originaly from Java and had an affair with Hang Tuah!!! Man what a load of @#xxx!!! All my life, i have never heard such an absurd story. Hang Tuah was supposed to be an old man at that time after serving two previous sultans  and didn't have enough strength for such a task. Infact half way through the journey, he asked Tun Mamat to go ahead without him  as he was too weak to continue.

Well, we got ourself a guide through Taman Negara Johor Gunung Ledang, who lead  us through  the tracks of to the mountain..He wasn't sure if this was the same track Tun Mamat and Hang Tuah used but we managed to go to a cave known as Gua Kambing tht is still use today by some silat organisations  to train silat members and was rumoured to be the place where Hang Tuah got his silat training,   6 centuries ago.

Along the way we arrived at the most difficut and steep terrain which is known as the KFC ( Killing Field Climb(?) ) where a rope is needed in order to help us going up..It was tough n dangerous. One wrong step will  drop you down to your  death!!!I assumed that this was the place where Hang Tuah told Tun Mamat that he no longer has the strength to go further. As we reached up after almost a 20 metres climb, we found ourselves on  a huge flat surface which  resemble a garden with  beautifiul green trees and a cold  windy wind blowing around us. Could this be the garden mentioned in Hikayat Sejarah Melayu???

In Hikayat Hang Tuah, Tun Mamat climbed the mountain alone after the rest of the party found it hard to continue further as the jouney was getting too tough ..According to the story,  Tun Mamat was so tired after a while and  fell asleep. When he woke up the next morning,  he realised that he was in a middle of a beautiul garden with trees and birds singing with the cold wind blowing to the sweet  melody of buluh perindu. Doesn't that sound like where i was at that time??

This was also the place where an old lady appeared and approached Tun Mamat. Tun Mamat told her of the offer made by the Sultan to marry the princess. Tun Mamat was then given a list of conditions as to see the sincerely of the Sultan. The conditions were too imposible for the sultan to meet and as they say...the rest was history!

Ater a few hours of climbing, and resting at 'the bunians garden',  we finally reached the top. It was one of the most beautiful scenery that i have ever seen..On a clear day you can even see the Strait of Melaka!!! They say that during the olden days, ships passing through the Strait of Melaka will look for  Gunung Ledang as  an important landmark to look for.

Well, i finally did the documentary that was shown on TV 1 RTM a few years ago. I was happy with the result although given time i could do more especially regarding the mystical wonders of Gunung Ledang!