Mixing Culture with Adventure on Bintan Island, Indonesia

About a 75 minute ferry ride from Singapore lies Bintan Island, home to (it seems) as many Chinese and Singaporeans as Indonesians, simply due to geography. And to be honest, even though I was expecting rural, after only a few days in Jakarta I was still taken aback at the contrast from the big city.

Driving from the airport showed a completely different side of Indonesia I did not expect (but probably should have). The earth was a rich red, not unlike outback Australia. The township was very rustic, old, and full of square, concrete buildings with very minimal infrastructure.

Senggarang Village

Our bus dropped us at what seemed to be a random intersection in a dusty neighbourhood. We walked past dilapidated fences with graffiti art and out along a pier filled with parked scooters and bikes, flanked by boats and other stilted structures.

In Indonesia, the unwritten rule is: if you can walk there, you can ride a scooter there, and this pier no exception.

 

A few hundred meters later we boarded a ferry to take us across the Harbour to Senggarang Village: a Chinese village above the water, built on stilts. A maze of colourful, wooden houses built in the simplest form possible.

In what might be the most unfair example of the century, Senggarang Village reminded me to some degree of a poor mans Venice. Instead of canals they had wooden and concrete paths separating houses, shops and temples; Instead of gondolas they had scooters riding down the piers (though no one offered me a ride).

I actually was able to walk through one of the houses in the hunt for a “bathroom”.

If I thought I had had interesting toilet experiences before, this one certainly tops the list. Our guide asked a local if we could use their bathroom, which she graciously obliged. Firstly, the house was very simple, a living room with some Lino  and out the back was a deck with a sink and a rack for dishes overlooking the Harbour. Quite a decent view actually, but simple living.

The toilet was a timber room built on the deck. At first when I walked in I was confused. It took me a couple of laps to work out where to “go”. There were 3 big drums and a bucket, all full of water. I thought, well it can’t really be any of these, that would be super weird.

Then I noticed a missing plank that opened out to the ocean. It looked as close to a toilet as I could see: sure enough that was it…let’s move on.

The village is very beautiful to photograph. So much texture and character escapes from every corner.

On we walked, stopping for photos, saying hi to the locals until we reached Banyan Temple. The temple is named such because the banyan tree has grown around and through the temple for over 200 years so that now one can’t survive without the other.

Vihara Avalokitesvara

After a refreshing coconut – freshly cracked – we visited the the Vihara Avalokitesvara. Roughly translated, this means “a big Buddhist temple and a great place for Bintang”. We didn’t actually spend a lot of time here, but I included it because I wanted to share this hilarious photo.

Eating with the Locals

One of the things I look forward to most when visiting other countries is eating how the locals eat. I was treated to what I would call a fine dining experience at the Rimba Foodcourt, an honest to goodness highlight of my 11 day tour of Indonesia. This was authentic Indonesian street food at its finest.

Rimba foodcourt is a large outdoor, open aired foodcourt with dozens of vendors selling a wide variety of foods.

After doing a lap of the stalls I was feeling very overwhelmed. I still had no idea where to begin but thankfully one of the Indonesia bloggers, Valiant, said he ordered some fish, which was exactly what I wanted. It was a safe option and I knew it would be fresh.

The stall  holder opened a styrofoam cooler filled with fish on ice and I pointed to the one I wished to eat. The lady weighed it and the man grilled it on a barbecue. It came with the standard vege plate plus rice and I bought an iced tea. The meal was enormous, and only cost me 89,000 rupiah, or about USD$9 and the tea was 5,000 (about $0.50).

Phoebe (of Little Grey Box fame) and I walked around and had a peek at the markets. They were pretty disappointing but I did lash out and try some ice cream, which tasted exactly like ice cream (6,000 rupiah). Phoebe bought some fried banana for 10,000 rp. With some chocolate and condensed milk drizzled it was mind blowing, I’m not sure how we survived.

At 15,000 rupiah, the beers were also flowing like a river, which was perfect preparation for a 90 minute bus ride to our accommodation: Bintan Lagoon Resort.

Mangrove Tour on the Sebung River

The next morning’s activity was a boat tour through the Bintan Mangroves. Boats holding about 12 sped us through the river and down narrow waterways lined with mangrove trees, a few of which also housed poisonous mangrove snakes who were perched on branches. Even though the water was filthy (thanks to all the boats trudging up and down it every day), the scenery was really pretty. The canopy filled the sky with green, and the water – at times – was very still.

I love boats so zooming through the river, taking Go Pro footage is my idea of fun, but when the boats slowed down for the mangrove creeks, the beauty of the area became the focus in stark contrast. We drifted past other boats, past exposed mangrove tree roots and under about 4 mangrove snakes. A few girls on our tour were none too happy about that.

ATV Tour through the bush and beach

Lunch was yet another buffet and was served at the hotel restaurant, after which we were back into it straight away with a beach and bush ATV ride. We all teamed up so we were able to have a longer run. It started and finished on the beach, and wound our way through a number of bush tracks, dodging roots and ridges as we went. It’s been years since I’ve been on a quad and this was a lot of fun.

Pool Beers in the Swim up Bar

There’s nothing more relaxing than beers from a swim up bar. The Bintan Lagoon Resort is named for it’s enormous lagoon pool. After our ATV ride we had a couple of hours to ourselves and I couldn’t think of any better way to spend it than kicking back in the sun, shooting a few hoops from the water, all with Bintang in hand.

Watch the Sun set over the Doulos Phos

The Doulos Phos was, until recently, the world’s oldest active cruise ship. It has since been taken out of action (and the water) and will soon be converted into a luxury hotel resort. The gargantuan structure sits on dry land and provides the perfect foreground for watching the sunset.

Dinner at Kelong Seafood Restaurant

I’ve talked about my favourite dining experience above, but this is a close second. We were bused back to where we boarded for the mangrove tour, then boats took us down the river to Kelong Seafood Restaurant.

They had lined up 5 woks at the front, and 5 groups of 2 were chosen as representatives to cook part of the meal. Our designated cooks were preparing gonggong (sea snails) with spring onion, regular onion, chilli paste and a few other spices.

Dinner was a veritable seafood feast, as course after course of seafood was brought out to our tables just as we were beginning to think it would end. We enjoyed crab, prawns, gonggong (obviously), mussels in this delightful chilli sauce, fresh fish, and the obligatory sautéed vegetables.

How to Get to Bintan Island

Being so close to Singapore, there are an absurd number of ferries that can get you there, including some that will drop you at Bintan Lagoon Resort if you choose to stay there.

If you are already in Indonesia, you can also fly to Bintan with local airlines such as Garuda offering very affordable flights.

Where to Stay

I stayed at the Bintan Lagoon Resort and was very happy there. My room was modern and spacious, the pool is so big I can’t imagine anyone getting in your way – even in busy times – and I’ve never seen so many people cooking food at the breakfast buffet. There are also plenty of activities to do at the resort including ATV rides, jet ski hire, kayaking, archery, and golf.

The price is also very reasonable with queen rooms starting around $135/night and villas starting around $320/night.

My stay in Bintan was hosted by Indonesia Travel, but all opinions remain my own.

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