IT could be the introduction to an Indiana Jones movie. Before the titles, before the theme tune, there are just the muted calls of birds and the low hum of insects as a boat putters its way along a winding river.
At times the water is so low the boatman hops out to push, and the bends of the Sungei Pahang are so frequent and tortuous that after five minutes or so the passengers are disorientated, adrift in one of the oldest jungles in Asia which is even now leaning over to threaten them in its magnificence.
But instead of launching an attack, the natives - aboriginals from the Jakun tribe - wave passively, and nothing larger than a monitor lizard scuttles along the banks, nothing fiercer than a kingfisher darts out of the trees.
In time the forest parts and Tasik Chini reveals itself at the end of this enchanting water taxi ride - a glorious aquatic retreat 50 kilometres from Kuantan on the east coast of Malaysia.
The 150-hectare network of a dozen lakes is at its most spectacular in July and August, when pink lotus flowers carpet the waters in a riot of colour.
But it is what lurks beneath the surface of the waters which draws many of Tasik Chini's visitors and provides day-to-day sustenance for the Jakun, who once roamed all this region but now keep mostly to their villages, welcoming tourists and flaunting their blow-pipes.