Our tour guide said that he would try to find an opportunity for us to see Rafflesia - the largest flower in the world. Supposedly the largest ever recorded was almost 1 meter in diameter. The flower is a parasite, and could take years before blossom. And the flower would last only a few days. When blossom, the flower would give a foul smell.
Our driver told the tour guide that he knew one Rafflesia was blossoming the day before. A few minutes after we left the park with the canopy walk, we saw a large by simple sign on the roadside advertising the Rafflesia blossom. There was a small van on the road side charging equivalent of HK$45 each person to see the flower. The flower was about 30 meters into the jungle, with a small trail hacked through the trees.
This one was about 50cm in diameter? Compare the size with the bamboo and grasses.
A close up photo of the flower. The small black mushroom like thingy at the top left corner is the bud, we were told.
After seeing the pictures, my dad asked if the flower could be a fake one to fool touists. I guess it could be but with my 20 million pixels resolution digital SLR camers, I could see the very fine details of the flower petal, and I would think this one has too much detailed to be a cheap fake.
Another picture taken by Grace with her digicam.
