A wet holiday to remember - Part 1

From the bay, we chose the lake as the next destination.

For Day 2 of our holiday at Kuantan, instead of going to the water theme park, we decided to start the day with a visit to Tasik Chini, 80 km from BGRC.  With no maps or GPS in hand, we adventurously followed the road sign and set out to our destination, taking us slightly more than an hour.  

Being our first visit to the lake and not having much information about it except that this is one of the largest lake in Malaysia, we didn't know what to expect.  All we knew was that we had to travel quite deep to reach the lake.  What surprised us was that the place, being a tourist destination, was too quiet.  There wasn't any economic activities, not to mention crowd.  From the picture at the entrance here, what you see is what you get.  There were hardly any souls except the few of us.  

After much anticipation, we quickly snapped a photo as memorabilia 

The jetty at Tasik Chini

Daddy suggested to take a 30 minute-boat ride on the lake, much to the kids' pleasure.  It was kind of eerie when we didn't see any other tourists or visitors until we reached the end of the jetty.  A family of about four were waiting for their boat to come.

An orang asli house on the top left. On the top right: Quite a gloomy view from the boat. Both the kids obligingly posing for the camera. 

We passed by the orang asli settlement. At one point, the rower told us that there used to be quick sand under the lake. That kept us, especially the kids, in awe for a while.

Dad and Wyng, enjoying the breezy boat ride.

Along most part of the lake, there are lots of mengkuang (screw pine leaves) plant (as can be seen in the video) which is used to weave mats.  The plants grow in such abundance that they seem to slowly dominate the lake. 

Not wanting to leave the lake yet, the kids and Dad fed the fish with bananas at the jetty.  Due to the monsoon, the water has risen. Notice the water level at the steps leading from the jetty on the top right? During drier season, the water doesn't reach that high.

Abundant mengkuang plants dotting the lakeside, as can be seen in the pictures.

Our prayers seem to be heard when the sun finally came out by the time we intended to leave the lake. We headed back to BGRC promptly.  As it was already going to be noon, we checked out from our hotel and drove straight to the water theme park which was just a stone's throw away.