Sunday, September 18, 2011

World Biggest Flower Rafflesia @ Mount Kinabalu

@Kundasang






If you have driven all the way to Kundasang and Mount Kinabalu. It would be a waste and of course quite stupid la hahahaa to missed the BIGGEST FLOWER IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD! Which is the Rafflesia XD haha

So let me tell you what is Rafflesia first?
Rafflesia is a genus of parasitic flowering plants. It contains approximately 28 species (including four incompletely characterized species as recognized by Willem Meijer in 1997), all found in southeastern Asia, on the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Sumatra, Thailand and the Philippines.

Rafflesia was found in the Indonesian rain forest by an Indonesian guide working for Dr. Joseph Arnold in 1818, and named after Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, the leader of the expedition. The plant has no stems, leaves or true roots. The flower may be over 100 centimetres (39 in) in diameter, and weigh up to 10 kilograms. The flowers look and smell like rotting flesh, hence its local names which translate to "corpse flower" or "meat flower". The vile smell attracts insects such as flies, which transport pollen from male to female flowers.




What is so special about this Rafflesia?
This flower begin blooming at night and begin to decompose only 2–3 days after blooming, this after a 6–9 month budding period. Male and female flowers must be open simultaneously for pollination to occur, hence successful pollination is quite rare and some species may be endangered.




Meaning if you're around Mount Kinabalu, and you saw there is sign on the road saying that there a blooming Rafflesia, please don't hesitate! Just go for it!


As for me, I was traveling to the Hot Spring, and I saw sign board saying that there is a blooming Rafflesia. Without thinking that much, I went for it although need to RM20 for it...oh well....
This is the tent where you need to pay 20 bucks and register yourself of course, which I do not what is it for...anyways....


Let me introduce you to my tour guide!

Yes,the kids were out tour guide to the Rafflesia =S




It's around 30 minutes walk from the tent itself.....
where you go by this place below....

and this...

and this...

and thisss....

and this.....




THEN....waaalaaaaa!!!!
The World Biggest Flower, Rafflesia

no kidding you....it was seriously quite smelly....before we actually reach to the flower itself, I could already smell some strange smell from far =S

mua with the flower....oh yeah, they didn't allow us to touch it...."PROTECTED" kononnya =/

mua with the tour guide(s) and the floweerrrr




oh ya! after the viewing of Rafflesia, you would have a "monkey" show just the special tour guides!
Check out the pictures below!
LMAO!!! XD


and Terima Kasih!






World Biggest Flower?
it's stinky! but it's big!
XD

5 comments:

Caroline said...

ahar! well actually there's few places u can see the rafflesia! :D n only certain season dat u can see the fully bloom! :D

:: - LoLLy - :: said...

Haha hope to travel there in one day too!! =D

Nikel Khor said...

Nice experience! i never see this before..

Unknown said...

yeap...seeing rafflesia is quite a rip off...been there done that...haihzz

Hilda Milda™ said...

I've only seen a fake one during my trip to KK :P