Bintan Island
Enormous equatorial island nation
The largest Islamic country in the world, Indonesia spreads across seventeen thousand islands from Singapore to Australia. The biggest chunks of it take the forms of Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi and parts of Borneo and New Guinea. One of the most popular tourist destinations in the country is the resort island of Bali, closely followed by Bintan Island, on which this page is based. Bintan is about three-quarters the size of Oahu in Hawaii, similar in size to Upolu in Samoa, and slightly larger than Scotland‘s Isle of Mull.
My first trip to Indonesia didn’t even come close to scratching the surface – we travelled to Bintan Island just for a day by ferry from Singapore. It was only an hour’s journey, but we still needed to get visas on arrival, and could have stayed for a week, but only stuck around for the day at a nearby resort. I will certainly be back properly to do the country justice, some day.
A giant eagle statue greeted us upon arrival at Bintan ferry terminal, Bandar Bentan Telani. The nameplate states that it represents Garuda, national symbol of Indonesia.
It was a short drive to our resort for the day, at Nirwana Beach. There was a stiff breeze but it was a solid thirty Celsius.
A quick dip in the South China Sea to escape the heat was in order.
The Nirwana Resort Hotel had a beautiful infinity pool, although it wasn’t clear to me if we were allowed to use it or not, being only day guests.
The infinity effect isn’t quite so clear from a high angle, with a strong wind and darkening seas.
A tranquil fountain and watery plants by the Nirwana Beach Club huts.
Bintan boat benches on the peaceful shores of the island. It was refreshingly devoid of punters other than ourselves, which was very pleasant.
The beaches were lovely, with clean sand and blue water, a world away from the hustle and bustle of Singapore.
A small nearby island was accessible by a narrow sand isthmus, which I have since learned is called a tombolo. I had seen a larger and distinctly colder version in Shetland a few years earlier.
As the day wore on the weather closed in, the sky darkened and the wind picked up. It was of course, still boiling hot.
I conclude this page with a poorly photographed pair of Javan rhinoceros sculptures, frantically captured through the bus window. Like its African black rhino cousin, it is critically endangered, but unlike other rhino species it has a shorter and naturally blunt horn. It is one of the rarest large animals in the world and used to be widely distributed throughout Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and all the way up to India. Now they only survive on the far western tip of Java, so I was not going to see it in anything other than statue form.
Created 2009 | Updated 2023
SnapHappyRoss 