Wild orchids

[zainal abidin]

I keep a few Platyceriums. superbum, bloomei, willinckii. I use to have many more. I just can't do it all anymore. Thanks for sharing the pictures.

....any tigers??

Hi Cathy actually I'm bit reluctant to talk about this "old man" referring to tigers cause I'm very frequent in and out into the jungle, so far when we were in the deep jungle I can see the fresh footprints but never come to us thanks God which I always pray before going to the forest, at Gunung Telapak Buruk Seremban West Malaysia this "old man" like to playing and sleeping on the road during day time and will give warning sign like growl if we are very close to them or not very happy if he managed to catch wild boar, its happen several times so decided not to go further.
Most of the time I was together with my friends 3 of us sometimes 5. Last December 2010 I was alone took a picture in the jungle I felt so uncomfortable I really saw many wild orchids which I never seen before then suddenly something moving and I quickly moving away,eeeeeeee my heart rate rose up to more than 100 bpm, sweating for a short while than decided to go back. Even I saw fresh trails of Elephant when we were in Pahang but quickly turn around.

[catttan]

Re the post by Zainal above, a little explanation might be in order. We in Malaysia are quite superstitious and our guides usually take great pains to brief us on the taboos before embarking on our jungle treks. A very important one is never to refer to dangerous animals by their names; thus Zainal refers to the 'old man' while my guide in Trengganu called him 'Tok Misai' ( Sir Whiskers ) and the elephant as 'kereta kebal' (a tank, as in Sherman tank).

Also before entering the jungle we are told to ask for permission from the guardians of the forest to enter their domain. Prayers are also offered according to one's faith. Being Buddhist, I recite a little mantra before I start. Also when we take a leak in the jungle we also ask for permission in case we offend some spirit. These may seem ridiculous to outsiders but we and especially our guides take this very seriously. My sifualways advised us that whether we believed in these things or not they always make our guides much happier if we take their advice (or seem to take their advice) seriously.

[zainal abidin]

Thanks Yew for further explanation actually quite interesting, when I was in Sungai Lui Pahang at night roughly around 3 am I was hearing very clear cut conversation between my friend and somebody( but second person without hearing his sounds). He was next to my tent the conversation continuously almost about an hour than suddenly quite, I/m not dare to peep. The next morning I'm asking my friend who did you spoken to last night.He told me one man inviting him to come to his house at the middle of the night luckily he refused to go, imagine in the middle of the jungle at night away from housing area........eeeeee what do you think? Further clarification after out from the jungle than he told me "Bunian" or spirit or Jinn.

[ryanskarma]

That story is amazing. Often people will talk about the things we take for granted in America but hearing that story makes me realize also what we miss out on
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[catttan]

Thanks Yew for further explanation actually quite interesting, when I was in Sungai Lui Pahang at night roughly around 3 am I was hearing very clear cut conversation between my friend and somebody( but second person without hearing his sounds). He was next to my tent the conversation continuously almost about an hour than suddenly quite, I/m not dare to peep. The next morning I'm asking my friend who did you spoken to last night.He told me one man inviting him to come to his house at the middle of the night luckily he refused to go, imagine in the middle of the jungle at night away from housing area........eeeeee what do you think? Further clarification after out from the jungle than he told me "Bunian" or spirit or Jinn.

Hey that's incredible, Zainal. In the jungle you don't discount anything. As I said I always observe the taboos and don't do or say things that are not senonoh . The only inexplicable thing that I have experienced was witnessing a 'display' of shooting lights one night while camping out with some friends near Pedu Dam in Ulu Muda. At around 1 am we witnessed a silent display of shooting lights just above the jungle canopy like a battle of flares ; blue from one side and red from the other - only unlike army flares these were travelling quite fast more like shooting stars. And it was eerily silent. The display was about a quarter mile away from where we were. It must have gone on for about 10 minutes. One of us asked the guide what it was and he just whispered 'Don't ask, just watch,'. I can tell you most of us didn't get much sleep that night, especially since we were not sleeping in a tent but just under a shelter with a tarpaulin stretched over our heads.The next morning the guide still did not throw much light on the event of night beyond saying 'These things happen quite often in the jungle and it's best not to discuss it.' To this day it has remained a mystery to me. Talking to some friends with a scientific bent they suggested it could be swamp gas, methane but that still didn't quite explain the blue and red lights shooting at each other from opposite directions.

[cdayinflorida]

Amazing stories. I love reading them. It is all so interesting. I'm very familiar with superstitions. They are a southern way of life. Don't step on a crack, If a bird flys into your house someone is bound to die, eating black-eyed peas on new years day for luck, scissors and sharp knives are put away in a storm ...the list goes on.
I love this thread!

[zainal abidin]

No wonder most of my friends refused to talk about it especially in the jungle anyway very nice reminder for us for those who like to go for the jungle tracking must be prepared emotionally, mentally physically and equipment accordingly.
Just to sharing with you its happen in ICU one of the staff took a photo using Samsung Galaxy note at night, this photo is not censor at all, please use copy and paste use microsoft picture manager to magnified the photo and observe carefully on the left side. I bag to you all dont spread this photo cause to respect our department. After you copy and paste please delete it. Just to share with you.

[cdayinflorida]

WOW! That is amazing, Zain. That looks like a man of the jungle. I wonder why his spirit is there?

[abiom]

I'm having goosebumps after reading all these posts. I once too heard the growl of pak belang (tiger) during one of the trip. On way driving back, my friend said didnt hear anything. Instead, he told me the reason he insisted to go out because he saw a female like figure with dark head. Thank God, we were safely out.

[Robert]

from the photo i can see, very eerie !