On Saturday, March 19th, John and I went golfing at the Palm
Springs Golf and Beach resort located on the
Click on any picture
to see a larger image.
It turns out that there are no “official” rentals in Batam, but our hotel manager was able to scare up a couple of bikes for us. John got a late model Honda 125 cc, while I got a 250 cc Suzuki ‘chopper’. Now, before you get the idea that I got the better deal on the bikes, I should point out that the only instrumentation I had was a gear selector… no odometer (died with 37000 plus kilometers on it), no speedo, no tach… no lights, no signals, no horn. Oh, and no front brake, a minor deal… you may be able to see the hand brake in one of the photos. But, it was a chopper!
Our Saturday afternoon/evening trip took us through a couple of kampongs, the small villages at water’s edge. John shot a few photos of the coast line with islands, island ferries, and fishing boats. These photos were taken 10 kilometers or so from the golf course.
It began to get dark so we turned back towards home. On the way back we stopped at a bar/restaurant in another kampong very close to the golf course... for a beer, naturally. This was definitely the biggest establishment in the kampong. As you can see, it is right on the ocean.
We had two waitresses for the evening. One of them, the one on the left, lives in
This bar/restaurant features a tent that can be rented by
the hour. We didn’t ask why one would
need a tent that can be rented by the hour, and it wasn’t on the menu. We ended up drinking a couple of beers and
eating some of the local food… pretty good food, actually.
We arose on Sunday morning, had breakfast, and hunted down our hotel manager to see about getting some bikes for a Sunday trip. He came through again, and this time I also got a late model 125 cc Yamaha… much better for the distance and kind of riding we were getting ready to do. John had bought a map of Batam, had researched some options, and we decided to ride down the chain of islands know as Barelang. There are six bridges that connect the islands together. The distance down to the tip was about 60 kilometers from the main town and about 110 kilometers from our hotel. Quite a ride on 125 cc motorbikes which pretty much topped out at 80 kph. You can click the map to see a lot more detail.
Our first
stop was at the first bridge, an amazing structure, all the more so because
this huge bridge is pretty much in the middle of no where, with very little
traffic. In fact, there was so little
traffic, the street vendors set up shop on the top of the bridge. I bought only water, but you could buy deep
fried battered prawns, chili crab, ice cream, and much more.
The views from this bridge were absolutely gorgeous… deep blue green water, lush green islands, colorful houses and docks, and lots of fishing boats. There was quite a haze in the sky due to the burning of the forest lands. The right hand photo includes the next bridge we are getting ready to cross.
Stopping in the middle of the next bridge also provided great views. The water was deep blue green, and there was a very swift current (you may be able to see the current). Photos just don’t quite capture the panoramic majesty of it all.
We rode all the way down to the very end of the islands until we hit gravel road. We learned later that we could have followed the gravel road right down to the beach where there was a kampong… so, we have something to do the next time we go down. The pictures show the numerous islands that dot the sea in this area. The entire area is isolated and virtually unpopulated, and it is very easy to see how pirates could live and hide in the area without being discovered.
The rock colors were deep reds and vivid yellows in most places, and there was one place where the rocks were a beautiful purple. I had to get a shot.
The
This temple was a prominent feature on the property. I am not sure what kind it is… very colorful, nonetheless. The last shot is a picture of the interior.
This statue stand in front of the temple.
There were churches and temples of all denominations on the property. The first here is the Catholic church.
Next, the protestant church.
Another church and the Humanity Statue.
Several pictures of the graveyard. There symbols that look like swastikas are actually reversed and are Buddhist symbols, although I do not know what the symbols mean here. If anyone reading this knows the significance, please email me with the details.
Several of the boats used by the refugees to reach
Pictures of the barracks in which the refugees used to live. Most are very seriously deteriorated.
We stopped in at the visitors center. The gentleman who talked to us was one of the people who worked in the camp when it was active. From the pictures on the wall, there were people from all over the world who came to work in the camp.
We wanted to see more… the hospital, the schools, fuel depot, and more living and recreational areas. Unfortunately, we had promised our bikes back at a reasonable hour, and we certainly want these fellows to rent them to us again, so we headed for home. John did get a couple of pictures of a troop of monkeys that was in the area. These little beggars are interesting. As long as one keeps moving on the motorcycle, they pretty much hang around the side of the road watching you go by. As soon as you put a foot down as if stopping, they scatter.
That’s it for now folks… we’re going to go back out again and see more of the sites… many villages and paths to be explored.