“If I start running in the jungle don’t ask; just follow” -Mike
Today is the day we are climbing the mountain! The sunburn on my back from snorkeling really f**king hurts but wearing a lightweight camel-bak made it a lot better. We had another breakfast at the hotel (where I had about 10 hashbrowns) then headed out on the bus. On the way we were able to stop at this beautiful overlook and take some pictures as well as look at this cute market where I paid a ringgit to use a bathroom and get 2 squares of toilet paper. Like always there are stray dogs everywhere that sleep in the middle of the road which makes me very nervous since they just do not have a care in the world when a car is driving directly at them. At the market I got some fun pants and tried some of the fruits Dawn bought. Once at the mountain the first stop was to go to the bathroom and bug spray up. The weather, even before we started climbing, was much cooler than in KK, which was amazing because I could not have handled hiking if it was that hot - I would definitely have passed out.
Once on the trail it was so amazingly beautiful with more species of plants than I could imagine. There were rushing rivers, vines appearing to hang from the sky and the chatter of insects in a calming constant buzz. Soon after we started walking it starting raining hard which was great because it cooled us down but did make everything very slippery. Mike said whoever fell first had to buy everyone ice cream. Lets just say there were multiple times I was about to have to buy everyone ice cream but I somehow managed to catch myself. Mike also pointed out all these different plants and trees that can tell you how high above sea level we are since they only grow on certain regions of the mountain. Dawn also mentioned how incredibly fast vegetation is having to climb up the mountain with the higher rates of climate change deeming detrimental to the species.
LEECHES! They are everywhere! Luckily they are pretty small but ewww it is still very gross to have little blood sucking worm things in your shoes and they bite! Due to the leeches there was a lot of noise coming from our group which I think scared off any chance there was of seeing a lot of wildlife though we definitely got to see a plentiful supply of insects. The hike was just so beautiful and a good workout since at times it was very strenuous. After the hike we headed to the town for a HUGE meal which had this great naan like bread with a sweet chile sauce. Then we went on a flower hunt! 30 ringgits and a pick up truck ride later we saw the Rafflesia under an umbrella. It was really amazing to see the pride and profit people have from the Rafflesia. Like Nick said, people need to have an incentive to conserve. With the rafflesia being a huge flower with thick vines, it could be an annoyance to the people but by the local families being able to reap profit from it they will do everything it their power to protect it. It was so big and beautiful it looked fake. Then we headed to the Tea Garden to check out our home for the next few days. We are staying in a longhouse which is a traditional style house with an open roof between rooms, mosquito nets over the beds, and millions of rhino beetles that fly at your face. Oh the joys of the jungle!
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