Bintan, Indonesia 8/13-15, 2006

The bus leaves Mersing about 11:30 a.m. heading for Singapore.  I sleep all the way to Johor Bahru, the last city in Malaysia before crossing into Singapore, waking up every time the guy's phone next to me goes off.  It was constant.  Getting text I guess.  Prior to arriving at the border Janeen and I had discussed the possibility of going to Indonesia.  I had not planned going to this country on this trip as I had been there before but tell her there are Indonesian islands off Singapore and if she wants to, we can go to one for a few days.  She says she would like to do that.  I had read about Bintan in The Lonely Planet, so that is where we will head to after arriving in Singapore.  We get to the station in Johor about 1:30 changing buses to the border.  Exit Malaysia thru a long line with my pack on my back and then back on another bus labeled the "Causeway Link" or CL in big yellow letters on the side of the bus. Over the river and now off with all our stuff at the immigration building to enter Singapore.  I can't help Janeen and the luggage is with us on the bus thru all of these maneuvers.  Up a huge escalator in a long line.  I don't see the entrance card to fill out and get up to the Singapore immigration counter with no card.  A little embarrassed but the lady gives me a card and I fill it out right there at the beginning of her counter while the other people passed by me and thru immigration.  I'm concerned about Janeen but do see her in the line behind me.  Now I'm thru immigration and take the down escalator, following the kids on our bus not realizing yet that I need to look for the CL yellow signs and ques to board a bus again. It doesn't matter which CL bus you get back on after clearing immigration, the buses just keep coming.  I wait in the que to board a CL bus with my heavy pack on my back and Janeen never comes.  The bus fills up and another one comes.  I'm now at the front of the line and in the path of all the people trying to get on the bus with my pack blocking most of the room.  People have to squeeze by me.  I finally give up, get out of the line and try to find her.  I have been watching the elevators from behind and across the area below the immigration activity above and do not see her come down on the elevators.  She usually seeks out the elevators as she is pulling her 2 cases and the escalator can be difficult for her.  I cannot see people coming down the escalators from where I am in line, only the structure that holds them.  Everything is all open down here also, no walls just open air space.  I walk towards the area the escalator drops you to and there she is standing waiting for me.  I'm a bit miffed.  She doesn't understand that you follow the direction to the bus lines to board again and doesn't realize I cannot see her from where I am.  We go back in the line, now I can't pass by the people waiting for a different bus as I'm taking up too much room with the pack.  It's pretty silly.  The Malaysian women are laughing, I'm laughing.  Finally the bigger Malaysia woman goes ahead out of the line to let me pass.  On the bus I discuss with Janeen what has happened and she sees nothing she has done in error.  She just drives me nuts.  I tell her that if this happens again, I will just go on and wait for her at our established arrival spot, she says she will not do that but instead wait to find me where we have separated from each other.  I just drop it. I did not notice in the morning I had a red wiggly line on my foot moving up from my toes and it itched alot.  We are driving into Singapore now and it is pretty nice.  Very clean large highways with lots of room.  Reminds me a bit of Atlanta.  We are dropped at the bus station and now try to make our way to the ferry to Bintan.  People have told me just to ask a taxi at the bus station to get to the ferry.  We get a taxi and he knows where to go but says it's the direction we came from.  Oh well.  We arrive at this very sophisticated ferry terminal with lots of people, free-port shopping and it's called Bintan Resort Ferries.  I wonder about the name and the upscale appearance of the terminal.  We have our luggage on carts so it's easy here.  Go to the ticket counter and the 17:00 says it's full.  Ask the clerk and she says she can get 2 of us on the ferry.  Buy the round trip-ticket for $52.20.  We check our luggage and we're overweight again but they charge us only $6.50 total.  Get money from the ATM and again I had to use the IN account.  Damn Mercantile FL.  I'll get what I need out of the savings.  Will now need to transfer funds on the IN account.  I think I'll be short.  Go to the duty free and buy 6 beers and then some chocolate and chips.  We board the ferry and it is a new modern catamaran, unlike most ferries in Indonesia.  But, then again we are leaving from Singapore.  The crossing is very quick and easy.  About an hour and we have gained an hour. Duty free here also.  Get in line to pay for a 7-day visa, $10 American dollars.  Then go thru immigration and into Indonesia.  The ferry service has the form all filled out and ready.  Came with the boarding passes.  Singapore is not the third world and we are in the Singapore version of Indonesia.  I discover this after arriving.  The Bintan I read about in The Lonely Planet was the other side of the island and is Indonesia.  Where we are is the Singapore version and they have leased the land from Indonesia and developed this resort town very popular to the Singaporeans and promoted heavily by the government.  The ferry that takes you to the old part of Bintan that I had read about was actually a different terminal and older with the old ferries typical of Indonesia.  Janeen will really not see the true country.  The Lonely Planet has failed us a bit in not noting the difference!  Probably because we have an older book.   Their small paragraph does not make you aware of how to get to this lovely fishing village they talk about.  The first time in the entire trip the information is not clear.  I buy a bottle of vodka at the duty-free store and also more chocolate.  I have my priorities in line, liquor and chocolates!!!  We buy our round trip bus ticket to Mana Mana, the cheapest resort on the island.  In town, the true Indonesia,  would be an exception but it's expensive to get a taxi there and they don't speak English and you need rupiahs.  We're OK here for 2 days @ S90 ($57.32) a day split between us.  We arrive at the resort by minibus.  It's dark so we haven't really seen what the island looks like from the ferry station to the resort.  I go to the bar for cranberry juice.  A bottle is S25 ($15.92) and a pitcher is S15 ($9.55) which is what I buy, same as the bottle of vodka I bought at the terminal!  Captured market here on booze!!!  The bar tender tells me the bottle of vodka here is S120 ($76.43).  Glad I bought it at the ferry terminal.  He gives me a bag of ice, 3 limes and 4 plastic glasses.  I'm all set.  The room is very nice.  A little cottage with 2 rooms to the building.  We have a very nice bathroom and refig, TV, twin beds and a nice deck with stools and table.  I make a Cosmo without cointreau  It's good, have another and then tell Janeen we'll have to go to dinner as I'm getting looped!  The restaurant and bar are all open-air.  Very nice.  I have lamb chops and split a salad with Janeen.  I have a chop and small salad to take away.  There was a small salad that came with the plate.  It's quite good, but no mashed potatoes as the menu had said.  I was disappointed.  Oh well, back to our cute little room and try to get some news on the TV.  No luck and I'm tired so to sleep.  Up relatively early.  Shower and to breakfast which is included with our room.  Nice selection of food.  Indonesian noodle dish w/hot and sweet sauce, fruit, veggies, tuna salad, juice, coffee and tea, beautiful breads and banana bread.  It's a nice sunny day.  Meet Cheryl, Helen (their young daughter) and Jorgen (Jaan) Bartsch who give us all kinds of tips on Capetown, where their original home was.  Cheryl is so interested in our trip.  Also gives us tips on Singapore.  They are expats living in Singapore and on a holiday here at Bintan and thinking about making their home in Singapore.  To the beach.  Janeen has gone in the middle of breakfast to save us a chair leaving our towels and pillow on the lounge chairs at the beach.  We finish breakfast and are at the beach for pretty much the entire day.  I show Janeen the line on my foot at the beach, as she is a registered nurse.  It is almost to my ankle now.  She doesn't know what it is I ask the guy when I rent the kayak about medical help and show him.  He sprays with vinegar and water and says it's a jelly sting!!!  I don't remember being stung by a jelly.  I rent a kayak for an hour which was great fun.  It's calm and a pretty bay.  I paddle out a ways but can't seem to see too much.  The guy has told me there is a reef from the red buoy in the middle of the bay over to the rocks on the right.  I paddle over to the right where there is a beach and bay on the other side of this beach.  Pull the kayak up and look for shells and beach glass, talk to an Asian guy and an Italian guy who are together, maybe gay.  The Italian is gorgeous.  Paddle back in and have Janeen take my pic and then return the kayak and it has been an hour.  I love kayaking.  Am going to buy one.  I'm hungry now so finish my chop and salad and have a beer.  Still hungry so get the simple salad again this time with French dressing.  There is a service charge of 10% and government tax of 10% on all meals.  Back to the room but do find a snorkel and mask at low tide.  I was looking for shells.  So tomorrow I can snorkel free, no fins but that's OK.  Sit out side on the porch with my shells and have a vodka, think I'll have another, then start talking to the Dutch sisters in the cabin to the left of ours.  They are twins, Yo & Eve.  Their names are more complicated, but that is what they use in English.  I offer them a drink.  They come over and hang with me while Janeen writes the free post cards she has discovered at the reception desk.  She writes everyone and it is quite amusing.  I write about 6 myself the next day.  Yo has 2 beers, Eve 2 vodkas and I have a vodka and a beer.  Time to go to dinner.  I have been smoking with the girls and having conversations about our families.  It was fun.  Go to Mana Mana again for dinner.  Fried snapper, fries and small salad, split an almond butterscotch cake which is quite good and apple pie and ice cream which was good but weird.  It was a small little pie about 2" circumference and I have coffee.  I'm stuffed.  Take half the fish and chips as take away.  Back to the room about 10.  No news again.  I'm laying on the bed in a bit of agony.  Too much food.  Janeen has left her glasses at the beach.  She goes twice to find them with no luck in the dark.  I go to sleep.  Up early.  Read my book in bed.  Have been up 3 times to turn air back on in the night.  Have no idea what that was all about but many times these islands everywhere lose power.  Go to breakfast and then to the beach.  It starts raining very hard.  Back to the room and now the sun comes out.  Back to the beach and I go snorkeling.  The snorkeling is not that good.  Not many fish, not much coral, some plants and the water is full of algae, I guess.  The visibility not real good. All of a sudden I spot a snake below me.  Now I have never seen that.  It scares me a bit because I have been reading the book on Australia, Bill Bryson Down Under.  They have more venomous everything in AU.  It's about 3' long or so and banded yellow and black.  I split.....to the beach....I should have watched him.  He was swimming along the bottom.  Was really dumb of me.  Go in and am writing in the journal and it start to pour.  Pack up and back to the room.  Rudy at the desk gives me an umbrella.  Eat my left overs and drink the beer.  Janeen did get her glasses back.  On the way to breakfast she checked at the reception and some one had turned them in.  Today my foot is better and is not farther up my leg.  Almost not visible now.  Last night I had put some vodka on it as that was all I had.  We're leaving today to go back to Singapore and Rudy says we can stay in the room till 2.  Janeen takes the bus tickets and Indonesian immigration cards to him as requested and he will arrange for our pickup.  I'm sitting here by the sea.  It's lovely.  Overcast but not raining now.  The sea is flat with just a small wave lapping.  A man and his son are playing ping pong on the beach using the volleyball net.  There's kids on the torpedo flotation being pulled by a boat.  I'll go read at the lounge chair.  Bus to pick us up at 4:30.  The minibus pick us up and in the daylight can see the island.  It's not as mountainous and jungley as Tioman.  Get our baggage checked and get a boarding pass for the ferry.  The ride back quick and smooth. It's a big catamaran again and they store our luggage up front.  The sunset was pretty spectacular thru the windshield of the catamaran until it slipped behind clouds and only the pink hue was seen.  Thru customs easily and get a cab to central Singapore......next Singapore.......