It was a great coincidence (or not) that we had a long weekend for Hari Raya (end of Ramadan) just before my and my daughter's 30 day social visit passes were due. (My daughter received her student pass the other day, though - yahoo!) We decided to go to an island called Bintan in Indonesia, and we did not stay in the luxury resort where most visitors typically stay.
We arrived at the ferry terminal in Bintan in the dark and, after getting an Indonesia stamp (yay!), we went in search for our taxi. Drivers were lined up for the Club Med, Cabana, and other resorts of that nature... but nobody from our little beach resort. We easily found the taxi stand and booked our return ride as well (turns out we could have gotten a better deal had we not done that). Then off we went for a ride in the dark.
One would think an hour taxi ride in the dark on an island would not bring the same advantages of a daytime ride. Not so! It was the last day of Ramadan and celebrations were all over the place! We first saw a procession of vehicles - trucks with groups sat in the back and many motorbikes with 1-3 people aboard - drive slowly with lights flashing... I thought it was a funeral. But then we heard shouts and singing and music and horns beeping... the taxi driver said it was a 'victory', and indeed it should be. We saw two or three of these parade-like celebrations. Many of the roads were also lined with poles about five feet high and a fire burning on top. It was a spectacle and we felt honored to have seen it.. and feel the celebratory mood to kick off our weekend.
When we arrived at our resort, we were the only visitors there. Mr. Beach Boy - self-named and the manager of the resort (who is from Singapore and spends two weeks at a time at this resort because he loves beach life) - took care of us. Mr. Beach Boy, who later became known as 'boy', was always trying to save us money. He was highly disappointed that we'd already booked our return taxi ride because he found us a deal, and he told us how we could save money on transportation the next time we visit. He also asked how much we paid for our meals at other resorts because he was concerned (we think genuinely) about us getting ripped off. He was the entrepreneurial type, renting everything from bikes to snorkling gear to a deck of cards.
The first sight of our room was a bit of a shock for us all - yes, even Terry (my partner for those that don't know... I've decided to give him a name:). We had the best beach house on the resort! Waves gently splashed under the small wooden structure built on stilts, and we had our own private veranda that looked out over the ocean. We also had two single beds for the three of us, a bathroom that provided a non-flush toilet and cold shower sprinkler and friendly cockroaches as co-inhabitants in the night. I actually didn't see the cockroaches until our final night there. I definitely practiced mind over matter that night. We did have a mosquito net over the beds, but it was useless since it had numerous holes in it!
Our eating area was also camp-like with gecko-looking creatures crawling all over the walls. Occasionally, one fell off. My daughter and I were prepared for a glorified camping trip and that's what we got. However, Terry was a bit disappointed with our accommodations and worried we wouldn't be able to handle it... he was mistaken:)
Straight out from our beach house into the ocean, about 20-30 lights shone in the night. On our night of arrival, I thought we had a view of a little island... Terry thought they were boats; however, they were structures that floated in the water with a net beneath it that lowered and caught fish. People owned them and made a living fishing from them.
Throughout the weekend we were immersed in Indonesian culture. We grew a bit of a friendship with the owners, who cooked our authentic Indonesian dishes, served us Indonesian coffee and snacks, taught us some of the Bahasa Indonesian language (my best word was 'terima kasi' - 'thank-you'), and told us local stories. It turns out business in Indonesia is not so different from Canada - some customers do not pay, some customers make a mess or cause a fuss, and groups need to lobby government for change sometimes. The tourist resorts have joined forces and are curently fighting against the high VISA charge to enter Bintan - it's $25 US or S$40 per person and a deterrent for short visits to the island.
One day we rented bikes and rode through the village. Kids and youth smiled at us and yelled, "Hello Mister!" Almost everyone waved as we passed - we waved back feeling like celebrities. Young people giggled - I'm not sure if they were laughing at us being so 'white' or at themselves for practicing their English... or maybe my bangs (still looking pretty awful). But it was truly a magnificent experience. Houses are small and colorful there. Doors are left open and we could see families gathered together sitting on the floor. It's hot and humid, and many families are poor, so many homes seem run down and dirty. Even the larger, well maintained homes are difficult to keep clean because of the humidity.
We also snorkled a few times, swam in the South China Ocean, witnessed a crazy storm, walked along the beach siting crab holes, ate at a few restaurants (I found my hot ginger again!), saw turtles, and lazed around reading. My daughter was doing her homework on the beach one day and got swarmed by a group of children. Three girls her age asked her lots of questions and each of the seven or eight kids got a photo taken with her. She was pleased as punch. Apparently, sometimes students are encouraged by their teacher to talk to an English person if they see one.
We had a fellow visitor one night - Bulek. He lived/worked in Singapore but was from India. He shared some stories about his culture while Terry asked lots of questions and my daughter and I mostly listened intently... and laughed because he shared some funny stories. Bulek is getting married soon. He told us about the importance of astrology in picking your mate and your wedding date. People skilled at astrology will analyze 30+ traits you have as a result of your time and place of birth. You must have a minimum number in common with your mate in order for the marriage to be accepted by family and religion. He did mention that there are some 'experts' who, for the low price of $500, will find the minimum number of common traits required:) Bulek was also told by an expert astrologer when he was a young boy to stay away from water. He came snorkling with us the next day.
The Indonesian people we met were a fair bit conservative (by our standards) about some things. Girls wore their t-shirts and shorts while swimming, while boys could wear trunks. I was giving Terry a hug at one point and three teen girls were staring at us like we'd just removed our clothes! We stopped hugging of course. It's interesting to see how people from other parts of the world view us Westerners. We were an anomaly where we stayed, and people seemed to be quite intrigued with us. A French couple arrived one day and left within a couple of hours requesting their money back. Westerners do not stay in this place very often. That all said, people were incredibly friendly and smiled a lot. There was a language barrier, but it didn't impact the friendly gestures. One family gave Terry cookies - as he says, it was instant karma because he returned to the beach house to get my sunglasses for me:)
Life is pretty laid back in Bintan, even though people work hard - typically six days a week. And although there were language barriers, it always seemed to be fun to find ways to communicate... by the way, it's mineral water and not bottled water. We tried our best to attempt the language, and they were persistant in helping us learn it... or at the least to understand each other.
On our final day, a large group of locals invaded the beach and took over our private veranda. Our hosts gave us free coconuts, and later coffee and watermelon, to compensate. We really didn't mind, but they insisted. My daughter and I could not drink the coconut milk... I did try it but it's the first thing I honestly can't take. Terry didn't like it either, but drank and ate some of it nevertheless.
The locals are very close with their families and it was warming to see families having so much fun swimming, cooking and hanging out together. Parents do not hover over young children. At three and four years old, they swim with the older kids, splashing around as if on land without risk of drowning. Very young children ride on motorbikes either in front of the driver or in between the driver and passenger (no helmets and usually shorts and tank tops or t-shirts with no protective gear whatsoever). Our host's youngest son was four - Adey. He is a handful... one of our first introductions to him was with a huge knife in his hand as he wandered from the kitchen. All three of us tried to ease it away until Mom helped. Adey climbed up on a motorbike by himself, threw a lighter to the ground making it explode, and hauled off his drawers when he felt like being free! He got scolded for that one. He provided some entertainment, that's for sure.
We drove back to the ferry terminal in daylight. The taxi driver thought we were Australian, but that's all he said in English. The jungle was thick and at times reminded me of the forest at home with palm trees added in. Some trees were bare from leaves falling... reminding me of my favorite season at home... Fall. Mangy dogs ran along the sides of the road. Colorful houses with people sitting around them clustered in small villages. The low tides boasted about a kilometer of wet, muddy sand. And driving was cracked! Cars pass motorbikes and nearly scrape the motorbike drivers' elbows. On a two lane, narrow road, there can be three or four lines of traffic with passing or impatience. It was common to be driving facing another vehicle driving towards us. Somehow we arrived at the ferry terminal in one piece and enjoyed a relaxing hour on the ocean again.
When we arrived back in Singapore, it did feel like we'd returned home from vacation. Singapore is mostly a metropolis - pretty opposite to Bintan. And when we arrived at our apartment, we had a little visitor in our kitchen - a gecko-like creature was hanging out on the wall to welcome us home.
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