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Title: Lucky Number 30
Location: Maxwell Trail, Fraser's Hill, Pahang, Malaysia
Date: 24 July 2009, 12:35pm
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/5.3, ISO Equiv.: 200

An aluminium tree tag for identification purpose. The number was nailed into the tree trunk.


I just returned from a three hours forest hike in Fraser’s Hill, Pahang. Earlier this year, I had successfully completed eight hours of forest hiking in Pine Tree Trail. The overall length of Pine Tree Trail was nearly 11 km. The trek was challenging and insane. I barely made it out alive!

Today’s forest trekking was easy, short and fun. It was a 3.6 km jungle trek. The weather in Pahang was SUPERB! The sky was ocean blue and the wind was strong.

Halfway trekking deep into the jungle, I saw loads of creepy looking leeches on the forest floor. There were HUNDREDS of them! These leeches were intelligent. Initially there were crawling and wriggling like some harmless worms. The moment they sensed movement or perhaps body heat, the innocent looking creature will ‘stand erected’ wobbling left and right repeatedly; trying to stick to the ‘host’.

I ignored them because I was wearing long pants and I pulled up my stockings. I felt nothing until I returned to my house. When I changed my clothes, I saw a bloody fat leech hiding in between of my belt and my waist, a small leech on my tummy and two medium sized leeches on my feet. YUCKS, ALL TIME!

I took a bath and removed all the blood suckers. Blood was oozing for one hour after these leeches were removed. Leech bite mark seems to last forever. The bite marks I got from my trip to Commonwealth Forest Park are still visible today - ugly dark coloured marks :(

Remember to follow Part 2 for more pictures and details!

7 comments

  1. Roger Says:
  2. Reminds me to take them seriously. Seems they can even launch themselves from trees to feed on passing trekkers. Your post gives me ideas of trekking destinations.

     
  3. Roger Says:
  4. Is the Pine Tree Trail properly signposted? If not a guide is needed, isn't it? I'd like to try it out. This should be more challenging than the Cameron Highlands trails which are poorly signposted but popular with western backpackers.

     
  5. shloke Says:
  6. @Roger,

    There are signboards informing trekkers about the distance they achieved from the main entrance. Other than that, the trekking trail is narrow but clear enough to indicate the correct way to the peak of the the trail.

    You may want to read these blog post:

    a) http://penguin-r2.blogspot.com/search/label/Trekking%20-%20Pine%20Tree (from KC & The Sunshine Runners)

    b) http://myloismylife.blogspot.com/search/label/%5BPahang%5D%20Pine%20Tree%20Trail%20Hiking (from my own blog posting)

    c) http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g303992-d1154828-r19704612-Pine_Tree_Trail-Bukit_Fraser_Pahang.html (review from footboyMalaysia TripAdvisor)

    First time knowing leech ability to launch from trees. Have to be more careful next time.

    Cheers!
    mylo

     
  7. AdeYing Says:
  8. omg!! u've been attacked like mad!! shud have just put on some fern leaves all over you :P seems that it can help to repel off leeches. gosh..i freak out when it comes to leeches- i even screamed like nobody business when i saw two of em trying to get hold on me when i sat on a bench on a grassy, wet area somewhere near the jungle for some mosquito catching session. manage to shoo it off though. CRAZY@@

     
  9. shloke Says:
  10. @AdeYing,

    Fern leaves???? But how??? Got to try it out next time :)

    Credit goes to leeches. These blood suckers able to creep to human body and suck-all-you-can before dropping from the host.

    Gosh....I still got these itchy sensations on those bite marks.

    Cheers!
    mylo

     
  11. AdeYing Says:
  12. I used to jungle track alot when I was in secondary school with the "badan beruniform". and my teacher used to pluck some fern leaves and stuck it in between his shoes and socks. He never got bitten by leeches miraculously.I guess is its smell that repel off the bloody sucking thingy. Try it out and let me know if it works :P Always bring along salt and also cigarette lighter in case these creatures got hold on you.

    btw, you should have snap some pictures of the leeches and the bites.It would be nice to look at.:P:P:P

     
  13. shloke Says:
  14. Seems like some 'tradisi turun-temurun'. Hmmmm....I'm not convinced about that. Stuffing fern leaves might as well create some space for leech to hide. But, I'll still give it a try next time.

    Normally, I just use a sharp piece of stone to destroy the leech. But then again, the leech is one good sucker. Lighter is one good solution. BURN IT!!!!

    It was so bloody that time. Don't wanna taint my camera :)

    Cheers!
    mylo

     
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shloke
Traveling & photography are the most rewarding & enriching experiences in my life. Photography is all about discovery, enjoying myself, having adventure, learning people & nature. The greatest experience for me is the connection I felt with NATURE. If you haven’t seen Malaysia, you haven’t seen the world! My photography works are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported.
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