Sunday 19 May 2013

Highlander IV: Not a Flower



After spending time in Baguio and Sagada recently, I was happy for another chance to enjoy cool air and pine fragrances when our route east from Kuala Lumpur to the Perhentian Islands was rudely interrupted by the Cameron Highlands.

This was one of my favourite stops in Malaysia the first time, and judging by the disproportionate number of Europeans hanging around here, I can only presume my blogs were successful in boosting its tourism profile. Coming back meant I was able to tick off the final outstanding item on the region's conveyor belt package tour itineraries by trekking deep into the forest to find the world's biggest flower that isn't even a flower and isn't the biggest of these even if it was, which it isn't.

Still, nice walk.


Cameron Highlands



Not a flower: fungus



Not footballs: Rafflesia Jr.



Not UFOs or those egg penny sweets you used to get as a kid: fungus



Not safe to the touch: sharp bamboo



Not enough of a waterfall to justify mentioning in the tour package



Not ants: termites (or the other way round, I haven't actually done any research)



Not a tandoori worm: millipede



Not the way to treat our primate cousins



Not me, clearly



As fake as this photo looks, I was actually there