Where to Go Other Than Bali: Belitung Island
August 25, 2019Sea and beaches are always on top of my priority when looking for a getaway destination. Luckily, I live in Indonesia where exotic beaches are practically almost everywhere. My dad was born and grew up in Bangka and I've been there for a few times when I was younger but the city did not impress me. Belitung, on the other hand, had already been in my 'Where to Go Other Than Bali' list since I moved back to Jakarta five months ago.
Belitung is naturally charming. I am so happy that the island is only (even less than) an hour flight from Jakarta, which means I could come back to explore the island anytime I want.
I planned my weekend getaway in Belitung a month prior. This time I travel only with my mom because I thought she deserved a break too! We were travelling during public holiday, Indonesia's Independence Day for three days. We had anticipated the high fares and room rates but, apparently everything was still reasonably affordable in Belitung.
(I did't know why) I went straight to Sriwijaya Airline website to book the flight from Jakarta to Tanjung Pandan. I felt like I heard so many people saying that Sriwijaya was popular with its Bangka-Belitung routes. I don't know. So, I booked the return flights with Sriwijaya without researching or even comparing the rates with any other airlines.
The flights to and from Belitung are very limited. Most of airlines only offer two flights, either early in the morning or in the noon. Since I wanted to have more time to explore the island, I didn't mind at all waking up at 3 AM.
As for hotel, my parents ever stayed in Santika Premier before and they said the hotel was nice as it is located by the beach. However, when I was searching on Google, it showed me a few new other hotels in Belitung with reputable international brand name, such as Swiss-Belresort Tanjung Binga and Fairfield by Marriott Belitung. After browsing all the information and comparing photos of all these resorts, I decided to go with Santika Premier, and the decision was da*m right!
All the planning was done and I was ready to go!
Until two days before our departure, I got a text message from Sriwijaya Airlines stating that my flight was cancelled and I was moved to their second flight which was at noon. This kind of message definitely pissed me off and ruined my itinerary. At first, I thought they did not have many passengers booking the early flight and so to be economical, they moved all passengers and flew them in a single flight at noon. I called their customer service immediately and asked what was the actual issue and solution they offered for me. The staff was saying that I had two options, either sticked with the noon flight or requested for a full refund. I was disappointed and decided to just request for a full refund. I cancelled all my flights with Sriwijaya and booked Garuda Indonesia. All went smoothly with this airline, as always. You know, at the end of the day, you always get what you pay for.
On the next day, my mom went to Sriwijaya office for the refund process - as unfortunately, they could only proceed the refund by wiring the money via bank transfer which takes up to 14 days and the passenger must come to their office and bring all the documents needed. My mom said the process was quick and the staff was helpful. She asked the staff why the flight was cancelled and they answered that there was an error in the aircraft machine and hence, they did not want to risk it. I do not know whether they are saying the fact but I appreciate their safety standard. So, okay, I've forgiven you, Sriwijaya, but lesson learned.
I flew with Garuda Bombardier CRJ1000 which is actually the smallest plane I've ever flown with. I arrived at 7 AM and my tour guide was already waiting at the airport and ready to bring us to a breakfast place. Most of businesses in Belitung are home-based. You would barely see international chain business here. In fact, there are only one A&W and KFC on this entire island and they are located in the city centre. We had yamien (noodle) for breakfast. As I am not really a culinary type of person, I am not going to elaborate more details about my culinary experience here. However, don't get me wrong, the yamien was good!
Since the noodle was located in the city centre, my mom asked the guide to stop by at a nearby Catholic church Regina Pacis Tanjung Pandan to visit and pray to the Mother Mary. My mom is always a prayer and she tries to visit Mother Mary to pray whenever she visits new places. I joined my mom, gave thanks and asked for her blessings to explore the island before we started the adventure.
From the city, we went east to the famous and oldest temple in Belitung, Dewi Kwan Im temple. The place is well known for the gigantic statue of Dewi Kwan Im on the hill facing the ocean. It was so beautiful. Down from the temple, there is a beach called Burung Mandi beach and there was literally nobody, just fisherman boats on the shore. The journey from the city centre to this place was about an hour.
The roads in Belitung were empty most of the time. On the roadsides are either the local houses or forests. I could count the number of transportations we met with one hand. The locals were rarely seen around their neighbourhood. I'm not sure where these people were! The population in Belitung is only 280,000 while the area is around 4,800 km square. The guide told us that the population here is close to the population of Kelapa Gading only (one of the most populated areas in Jakarta). For people who are done and tired of seeing too many humans, you should plan to buy a house here.
We, then, headed back to another city area which, for me, still does not look like a city, called Manggar. We tried one of the oldest coffee places, just like Kong Djie, called Warung Atet. I don't drink coffee so I ordered iced chocolate milk.
From here, we were brought to a local business selling 'real honey' produced by stingless bees called Krisna Stingless Bee Farm. The honey strangely does not taste as sweet as the common honey we've known and is good for stamina and immune, perfect for people with diabetes. We had a chance to try the honey fresh from the beeswax. The business is located in the neighbourhood and it is just impossible for tourists to know this place if they do not go with a local guide. They sell their honey products in gift shops around Belitung but without visiting the farm and directly see how the bees produce the honey, people will not be able to differentiate the product with any other ones which have been in the market.
It was already past noon and we moved to another touristy spots in Belitung: Kampoeng Vivi (used to be 'Kampoeng Ahok') where you could find some goodies all about this epic figure. Usually the place is filled with women, or I should say moms or aunties. I was told that Mr. Basuki himself requested to no longer use his name for the place. He started the business with his sister, and now the place is only run by the sister. Just across Kampoeng Vivi gift shop is Pak Basuki's house.
Next was Museum Kata Andrea Hirata and the replica of SD Muhammadiyah Gantong (from Laskar Pelangi movie/novel by Andrea Hirata). We also stopped by at Dermaga Kirana and Danau Kaolin for some photos. The Instagram-able places oddly did not have many visitors although we visited during public holiday.
Frankly, we did not enter the museum and just took some photos from the front of this colourful house. I thought this place was similar to the real-life Tumblr or Pinterest where you could find beautiful words from the author himself written on the colourful walls. Another touristy spot, which is a must visit while in Belitung, is the one from the touching movie that inspires not only adults but also children at school ages. The replica of this school was made because the actual one has not been in a very good condition. There were only two rooms, one for the class and the other was the teacher room. Outside the room class was a spacious sand field with the flagpole in the centre.
Dermaga Kirana, just like its name 'dermaga' which is dock or pier, there you could see a lake and a couple of boats that locals use. Again, nobody was seen here - only one local who guarded the entrance. In front of the dock, they made rattan houses with round seats which were also made by rattan, usually used for people to rest and hide from the scorching sun for a little while. I could imagine how easy it would be to take a nap inside this rattan house with the wind that sometimes blows from the lake through this place.
It did not stop there. Our car pulled over by an emerald blue lake surrounded by white sands. This was so pretty! The minerals contained by the water made the colour pop up, which was perfect for photos. This area was previously used for mining. I have seen several mining areas in Bangka previously but none of them is as scenic as this one!
We ended the day around 4 PM and headed to the beautiful resort Santika Premier to check-in. Before that, I finally felt hungry and we were brought to a popular seafood restaurant which was famous for its king crab. However, since I do not eat seafood, I order my ultimate favourite: chicken friend rice. My mom who did not have a friend to finish the king crab was ordering something else. So none of us tried their hero menu. Well, yes, so now you know that I am not a perfect travel buddy for your culinary trips: no seafood, no coffee.
Actually, there are a couple of museums that were on the itinerary like Belitung Museum and some others, but because I am not so into history, we decided to skip those so we had more time to relax, rest and get ready for island hopping on the next day.
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My Belitung trip was private. I booked a car that already includes a driver/tour guide/photographer. I only send them photos of places I wanted to visit and they tailored them into my itinerary. The guide was professional and knew what he's doing. Here is the contact if also want to use the same tour which I very recommend: Henry (+62818 555 707 or WhatsApp +62821 821 777 89). My guide named Welly.
Photos on this blog are not edited and/or touched and/or using filters, taken with iPhone 6s and Sony A5000.
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