Ipoh Weekend : Part 2 - What a Sight - The Rafflesia Flower!

Next morning, we began our nature trip to Hutan Simpan Lojing. Drove from Ipoh to Kampung Raja where a 4-wheel drive awaited us! It was quite a short drive. I figured it was about an hour.

A very bumpy 20-minute ride to our destination. The passengers behind were sliding back and forth, left and right.

We stopped at a designated stop for vehicles. Here we are with our native guide, Sata.

Look at the mud that the tyre went through just now.

We walked along a bamboo bridge. It was quite steady actually.

Halfway through the trek, we saw a root - which is used to make oil balm.

Suddenly, Sata came from behind and approached my friend to don a leaf-look alike crown. He made "crowns" for everyone!

After 20 minutes of trekking, we saw the bud of the flower. The Rafflesia flower!

The flower in its form. Actually, this is an average size of half a metre in diameter. This is a six-day old flower. The flower can last for 2 weeks. And it takes 8 months to grow!

Looking closer, I could see thorns inside. I could not smell anything due to blocked nose. But the guide said it smells like public toilets.

From within. Looks magical.

The texture of the flower. Dots everywhere. Kind of rough.

The flower in its last form of dignity. Looks burnt.

The guide found some bamboo for us. Special bamboos too. It contains water which is absorbed from the earth. Everyone had a sip of the water. It was really cooling!

We walked back to the entrance and found additional number of vehicles. There were 5. It is a one-way road only. The arrangement is vehicles go up in the morning and by noon, only vehicles can drive down.

The look-alike crown. The leaves were twisted against one another gently.

We had a look with our own eyes how the 4-wheel drive in front of us had a tough time going through the mud.

Quite an event! A RM55 worth of adventure to see the biggest flower in the world.