Friday, December 6, 2013

The Worlds Largest Flower

Rafflesia is the name of the world’s largest flower. It grows only in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand and it’s the flower of a humble vine. It has been known to be as big as 1 meter (3 feet) in diameter. We started our Cameron Highlands exploration by going in the search of this puppy.

 

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After a grueling hike in the jungle, in thick moist air and mist, we found it! Here it is - a 3 day old rafflesia. This one is 86 cm in diameter and in full bloom.

 

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How big is a 86 cm flower? Well here we are for reference. Tada!

 

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Afterwards we stopped to talk to some locals. The Orang Asli natives used to hunt with blow pipes and poison darts. They hunt anything from squirrels to big game and have a couple hundred yards of lethal range. After a quick tutorial they let us shoot the pipes. I did ok, but Ali is a talented squirrel hunter.

 

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Strange bugs abound in these wild jungles. We found this little guy on a hike.

 

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We hiked to the top of the nearest hill with our new Canadian friends, Wendy and Jim, eh.

 

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That night we stumbled upon a car show. Anime and comics are definitely the theme around here. I bet my baby sis could identify all the characters on these cars.

 

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Who says a little bling, bling doesn’t make your car go faster?  Note the jewel encrusted engine covers.

 

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The next day we went to a tea plantation. The weather was gloomy and our driver left us stranded at the plantation. We sure enjoyed the tour until we noticed our predicament.

 

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Any questions?

 

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The innocence, still not knowing we had been abandoned and we would have to hitch a ride back.

 

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The beautiful vista while we sipped our tea. Once we were done and figured our driver was not coming back we hitched a ride from this cute Malay couple that was visiting the plantation. Our driver and our money was never to be seen again. The next day we would head out to Penang.

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