Belitung trip day 4

On our fourth day we took another 1,5 hour trip to Membalong, south area of Belitung. We went to see some more beautiful beaches. 

On the way we noticed there were some Durian sellers. Jones, our guide, told us that those fruits are from the sellers backyard so it is acceptable if we got a bad durian and return it. The size of it is similar to a rockmellon, not too big. Though it has a distinctive and strong smell, it taste good and sweet. Well, probably I'm bias since I'm a fan! Each durian costs IDR 25,000.

A point of interest that we passed by on our to the beach was Batu Baginde. It is a giant beach located on top of a hill. It should take you 30 minutes to hike up there. We just took some picture from the road.

Our first beach stop was Teluk Gembira. It is actually a bay but since the wind was kind of strong, the wave was relatively big and strong.

Then finally we got to this beach named Pantai Penyabong or also known as Pantai Batu Lubang. It literary took my breath away. Very beautiful! Magnificent!

The water was calm and warm. Picturesque. The rocks were gigantic and spread across the shore. I think I'll let the picture to tell the rest.

Totally a must visit beach in Belitung!

Belitung trip day 2

Our second day was Belitung island hopping day!!

We took a boat from Pantai Tanjung Kelayang. We arrived at 9ish. We wore our life jacket and hopped on the boat and went straight to Pulau Lengkuas. It is the furthest island and took us almost 45 minutes.

This island is characterised by its lighthouse. It has 18 floors to reach the top. I was too excited to see the clear water and giant rocks. As we reached the shore, we bought coconuts and find a spot under the tree. The kids built sand castle accompanied with Jones, while hubby and I took off to take pictures (ha!).

The next thing we did was diving. It was our first time and we were blown with our own eyes seeing the under water beauty. And this is not even the under water finest.

Then we moved to see Batu Garuda. It is a group of rocks and one of them shaped like the head of Burung Garuda.

As lunch time had come, we headed to the largest island named Pulau Kepayang. Yummy grilled fish, shellfish satay, calamari, and fish stew (drooling!) was waiting for us. After lunch we walked about 500 metres to the tortoise breeding. They are so cute!

Next was another beach time! We head to nearby beach and played. But there were lots of seaweed floating around.

Then we went to Pulau Batu Berlayar. Since it was a tiny island and other boats already docked, we just circled around with the boat and went to look for starfish.

We got 2 starfishes!

We head to Pulau Pasir. It is a unique island as it only appears when the sea is low tide. We went there almost 3 PM and the water is on knee level so it would be too late if we wanted to wait until it the island actually appears.

The final island we visited was Pulau Kelayang. It was beautiful, the water was calm and warm.

It was a beautiful scenery to end the island hopping day.

Belitung trip day 1

Happy New Year 2016

Hi! 

I know it's been a few days but hey keep up the spirit, right?

Just before New Year we took a trip to Belitung. It is only an hour flight from Jakarta so it was really convinient. 

We had arranged our trip from the help of JelajahPulau.com (totally recommend it!)

We took the first flight with Garuda Indonesia which was 06.50AM. Our guide/driver, named Jones, was ready at the airport as we landed. It only took us 20 minutes from airport to downtown. Since it was too early for hotel check-in, we had breakfast at Mie Atep, local noodle cuisine.

Our first stop was Danau Kaolin. It is a lake in the city created from an active kaolin mining. The lake has very clear water that the color is just as blue as the sky. It literaly took my breath away.

The land part are built from sand so it is easily erode as you walk areas that are wet. So careful!

Next stop was 1,5 hours away. It is the shooting place of Laskar Pelangi or Rainbow Troops. We went to the school shooting scene. Then nearby is the house of Andrea Hirata, the novel writer of the movie.

The house has became Indonesia's first literary museum named "Museum Kata Andrea Hirata". The main house showcases memoribilia from the movie also with other publications that the novel and writer received. The left wing of the house has a small area of self-expression stage (Panggung Ekspresi) and colorful bench area where most of the interior made from doors.

Then we moved to Kampung Ahok. Ahok is Jakarta's governor who came from Belitung. Well there is nothing much to see so you might not spend a lot of time here.

As noon approached we went to Pantai Serdang that is 30 minutes away. Pantai Serdang is known with its colorful Perahu Kater. Another nearby beach that characterized with this boat is Pantai Burong Mandi. Across the beach there are  seafood restaurants. The food is tasty and fresh but sometimes takes awhile to get served.

Belitung is also known as "1001 warung kopi" (or coffee stalls). This was started because as the fishermans docked their boat, they take rest and warm themselves at nearby coffee stalls. Even more on at the alley to the wet market, there are coffee stalls all the way until the end. Interestingly, they specializes on the traditional way of brewing the coffee and get the beans from elsewhere.

Last visit of the day was Vihara Dewi Kwan Im or Goddess Kwan Im Temple. It is one of the oldest and biggest temple in Belitung. People still use it for their holy celebrations prayer. At the time, they are building the statue of the Goddess which is 12 metres tall (babelpos.co.id).

Finally evening set in, we checked in at Billiton Hotel and Club. Time to unpack and pack for island hopping on the next day! Yeay!