I am currently in the Belum Valley, an area in the north of peninsular Malaysia at the border with Thailand. The valley features one of the last virgin rainforests in the peninsula and can be visited navigating Tasik Temenggor, a huge artificial lake created in the 1970s. Nature lovers come to this area to explore the forest and to watch the wide range of animals that gather in the salt licks scattered around the lake.

Belum is famous for the Rafflesia. Named after a Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, leader of the expedition who first discovered it in 1818, Rafflesia is a rare parasite plant which can be found only in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. The plant has no stems, leaves or roots but grows on vines of specific trees in the form of buds that blossom into beautiful flowers with five petals. Rafflesia is also famed for the strong smell which resembles that of rotting flesh (hence local names which translate to “corpse flower” or “meat flower”).

Belum hosts three of the 27 species that exist in southeast Asia. Today I had the privilege of admiring a blossomed Rafflesia Cantleyi which takes about nine months to blossom and features beautifully shaped red petals (photo above). If you are wondering, I did not smell rotting flesh…