today : 25 
Total Visitor : 15617 
visitors Online: 2
Riau
One of the best kept secrets of Indonesia, and situated Singapore, the Riau province covers not only Lingga Archipelago, but also a huge chunk of the Sumatra mainland of around 94,561 sq km.
Riau comprises 3,214 islands and four largest rivers of Sumatra, hundreds of vital sea lanes teeming with fish, and thousands of kilometers of sparsely inhabited coast lines and a few hundred remote islands lying in the South China Sea to the north Borneo, the Natuna, Anambas, Serasan and Tambelan groups. Riau also contains the most productive oil fields in Indonesia pumping half the nation crude, some 650,000 barrels per day.
Riau mainland is a densely jungle lowland formed over many millennia by alluvial deposits brought by the Rokan, Siak, Kamparand Indragiri Rivers all of which begin high in the western Bukit Barisan range and meander some 300 to 550 km eastward to the coast. The lowlands are poorly drained, however, and are not particularly suitable for agriculture.
About 4 million people Malays and migrants from Java and Kalimantan inhabit small settlements along the rivers. For the traveler this is not a particularly exciting area, as the sights are few and far between and facilities are still primitive.
Also parts of Riau, the islands of Batam and Bintan, currently the scene of a multibillion dollar investment fever that will undoubtedly spill over to nearby islands, are easy to reach from Singapore on fast and comfortable hydrofoils, with good facilities and beaches.
For romantic excursions Batam and Bintan are nice for slow passengers ferry, chartered fishing boat or private yacht to a for the processing of timber, rubber, palm oil, tin, bauxite, petroleum, and other Sumatran resources. Reservoirs and water treatment plants are in place, and an excellent network of roads crisscrosses the island.
The jewel in the crown, however, is the ‘New Town’ at Batam Center an entire city with office blocks, markets, shopping centers and suburban residential neighborhoods that is springing up around the beautiful bay of Teluk Tering, facing across to Singapore. This will be the island’s administrative hub, with a polytechnic institute and training center.
Meanwhile, Batam is already becoming a popular tourist gateway. In 1990, more than half a million Singaporeans took the ferry across to Batam to relax, shop, eat and buy duty free liquor and cigarettes. The figure in 1993 has exceeded 700,000. The island’s northeast coast around Nongsa is earmarked as a massive, 350 ha tourist resort that will transform it, along with nearby Bintan, into Singapore’s playground. Dozen or more luxury hotels and four golf courses have been developed in the island.
Batam’s main attraction is its unspoiled beaches, but the long style seafood restaurants built on stilts over the ocean are also popular. Batam’s best known attraction, however, is Radio Ramako a pop station whose 24 hour ‘Amazing Zoo’ and Coast 100 broadcasts are much beloved by Singaporeans. Their blend of fast music and faster talking Disk Jockeys has indeed given Singapore’s staid, state controlled radio station a run for their advertisers’ money, and the latter has been forced to counter with a similar 24 hour pop station called ‘Perfect Ten’. More than 100 loyal listeners troop into Radio Ramako everyday to meet the Disk Jockeys and tour the modest facilities.
Apart from the beaches and the seafood restaurants there is really not much to see and do on Batam. Nevertheless it is interesting to drive through the rough jungles, visit the coastal Malay kampongs, and imagine what these places will look like in a few years.
A good starting point is at the ferry landing in Nagoya formerly known as Lubuk Bajak (‘Pirates’ Waterhouse) and today a busy trading town largely populated by Chinese. It is impossible to get lost here, as there are only 3 main streets. Have a quick look around at the shops and the market, and then stop in at Vihara Budhi Bhakti Buddhist temple on the eastern outskirts of town, where busloads of Singaporean worshippers fill the air each day with the pungent smoke of incense.
A few km to the southeast of Nagoya is Batam Center, site of a massive commercial and residential development. A drive around this beautiful bay will give you an idea of the scale of things to come. Continue on to the northeast coast at Batu Besar for a seafood lunch. This is a pleasant Malay fishing village set on a sandy beach, with several seafood restaurants built on long piers out over the water. The food is excellent though the prices are strictly Singaporean. The airport is close by and jets roar past every few minutes. After lunch, walk down the coast through swaying palms past typical Malay style houses on tilts.
After lunch, weather permitted, head north to Nongsa for a swim on the safe, sandy beach by the new luxury hotels. At Nongsa Beach Hotel you can hire jet scooters, and most of the others rent snorkeling equipment. The waters are crystal clear and there is plenty of shade.
Late in the afternoon, head for the ferry terminal at Sekupang on the northwest coast. If you have time, loop south across the island past the 100 year old banyan tree just opposite the Batam Industrial Park construction site. Your final stop could be Batam’s Radio Ramako station just outside Selalpang, which welcome visitors but leave a bit of time before boarding the ferry for Sekupang’s excellent duty free shops. Here you can buy practically everything from Swiss Cherry Brandy to dried salted anchovies (ikan bilis).
Like neighboring Batam, Bintan is now the focus of multi billion dollar development schemes that are designed to drag the island into the 21st century within the next several years. These include a huge industrial park and a mega resort with 20 luxury hotels and 10 golf courses. Direct jetfoil services from Singapore has started since 1992, meaning that the commute across the straits is cut in half to about 45 minutes. At the moment, however all of this is but a gleam in the eyes of planners and investors, and the Bintan you see today is much as ii has been for centuries a rustic and sparsely inhabited island with a few scattered fishing villages and several old Chinese trading settlements on the coast.
The largest town and main point of entry on Bintan is Tanjung Pinang (‘Areca Palir Cape’) a picturesque, predominantly Chinese trading community that spreads across low hills bordering a sheltered bay on the island’s southwestern shore. This is a delightful place to visit, if only on a weekend jaunt from Singapore. You can make a leisurely inspection of the town on foot starting from the clock tower in the middle of Jl Merdeka, Tanjung Pinang’s main street.
Shipping agents, goldsmiths, restaurants and cassette shops line both sides of this broad and busy avenue. Directly opposite the clock tower is Vihara Bhatra Sasana temple, featuring a statue of Kuan Yin the Chinese goddess of mercy in the central altar. From the temple, walk north along Jl Pasar past the central market place. Villagers come in from the country side on weekends to sell pots of wild honey here advertized cages full of angry, buzzing bees as well as seasonal fruits and vegetables. Sometime fire eaters selling patent medicines will put on a show for the crowd.
Pasar Baru, the New Market, is where tiny stalls sell clothes and plastic household goods. At the back, next to the water’s edge, is a huge fish market where boats unload their daily catch of swordfish, sharks, groupers, squids, prawns, shellfish and dark, plump mangrove crabs.
Heading further north on Jl Pasar, the street becomes and elevated walkway leading through amaze of wooden houses and shops built on stilts out over the mouth of the Riau River. Little gangways lead to off to scores of houses on either side, and at high tide the sea rushes in so that you are standing just above the surface of the water. On both sides are small provision sloops and food stalls selling dried salted fish, prawns, crackers, clothing and steaming bowls of Chinese noodles. At the end of the walkway is Pelantar II pier.
Just before the end, duck down a narrow gangway to your left that leads to a small Chinese temple. Color photographs of visiting trance mediums piercing themselves with swords and spikes balls cover one wall of the temple. Just in front is an open air theater for Chinese opera performances that perches out over the harbor. Beneath the opera stage you can see brightly painted dragon boats that are brought out once a year for the midsummer festival.
At the end of the main pier (Pelantar II), you can catch a sampan or motorboat across the wide mouth of the Riau River to Senggarang, visible just opposite. You disembark here at the end of a long jetty in Kampung Cina leading to long walkways that run for several km and connect hundreds of houses built on stilts above the water. Most of the houses are inhabited by Teochew Chinese. You can peek in and see the family altars as you walk gingerly down the long and rotting planks to a number of shops at the end.
Once onto dry land, turn left and follow a concrete pathway to the Aw clan house the ruins of a 2 story temple whose crumbling walls are completely suspended in mid air held there by the aerial roots of an ancient banyan tree. Set directly beneath the ruins is a new concrete box structure that has been erected by a wealth Aw clansman from Medan to house the ancestral altar.
Continue along this same path past a salt ware house to Vihara Dharma Sasana, a complex of three temples set side by side facing the estuary. The temple in the middle has an ornate root crowned by a pair of dragons and is said to be 200 years old. Unfortunately, its beautiful wooden doors have been crudely painted during a recent restoration. In the hallway is a tank of live turtles, and a stone tiger leaps out of the wall. The temple has an air of austere serenity, in contrast to the newer and more cluttered temple to its right. The smallest of the three shrines is dedicated to Toa Pek Kong, the deity of the soil who is synonymous with luck. People come here to make offerings before building a house.
A short ride to the eastern edge of Tanjung Pinang brings you to the Kandil Riau Museum on Jl Katamso a privately owned establishment with a dark, dusty interior housing a rich collection of local artifacts and memorabilia from the 18th and 19th centuries.
Among the things you will see here is part of a Chinese junk from the Ming period, a Malay cannon, wind instruments and ceremonial drums (nobat) formerly used to install the Bugis viceroys, and a dinner plate owned by Raja Haji a local Bugis leader who was killed fighting the Dutch at Malacca in 1784. Old swords and paintings of the Bugis Malay rulers adorn the wall.
Several km further east you can stop in Kampung Melayu (km 6) and pay homage to the grave of Sultan Sulaiman, the first ruler of the restored 18th century Bugis Malay kingdom. From here you can walk down to the water’s edge and hire a sampan to take you up the Riau River to the graves of Daeng Marewahand Daeng Cellak Bugis brothers from Sulawesi who helped re capture the kingdomfrom Raja Kecil, a Minangkabau adventurer. The boatmen know all the sites, stop along the way at Kota Piring (‘Plate Fort’) on a tiny island in midstream built in the 18th century by the Bug is ruler, Raja Haji. The popular name derives from the many Chinese plates that were once set into the walls. Little remains today apart from a few broken embankments. Bring hats, drink and sun block.
About two hours 60 km east of Tanjung Pinang are the white sands of Trikora Beach. Stretching for 10 km up and down the western coast of Bintan, this series of lovely beaches is as yet undiscovered by Western tourists, though there is a small hotel here and much bigger ones are planned nearby. During the week the beaches are completely deserted. On Saturday afternoons groups of noisy Singaporeans troop in, followed on Sunday mornings by the local crowd from Tanjung Pinang. By early Sunday afternoon, however, the crowds disperse and the beach is tranquil for another week.
Trikora actually has four main beaches that are numbered from south to north. Of these, Trikora Four the last one as you traveled up the coast is particularly recommended. After lunching at the Trikora Beach restaurant (Rumah Makan Pantai Trikora) in Telukbakau, continue up the main road until you reach a sweeping, sandy white shore line stretching as far as the eye can see framed by swaying palms and foaming breakers. Wonderfully safe for children, the bottom slopes out very gradually so that 30 feet from shore you are only in up to your waist.
Small stalls by the creek sell fresh coconuts, snacks and fruits, as well as simple meals on weekends. Pick your way over a mountain of trash and swim well away from the creek, as it empties raw sewage into the ocean. The main drawback though is sand fleas, which can leave bites lasting for days but a smelly concoction of coconut oil and onions is said to keep them (and your companions) at bay. With more time on your hands, you can continue along this road to Segiling Beach on the north coast. This where you can see and enjoy a huge, multibillion dollar beach resort.
On the way back, cut inland via the main road, which skirts around Mt. Bintan Besar the island’s highest point at 371 m. Several historical and legendary figures are believed buried here, including Wan Empok and Wan Malini two old widows whose rice harvest turned to gold when the first Malay ruler descended a top the hill. Hang Nadim, the famous 15th century Malay admiral, is also said to be buried here. A guide can be hired locally, if you want to climb the hill, which is overgrown with secondary jungle and has a trail that is difficult to follow. The ascent takes about an hour if you are fit. Legend has it that a dragon awaits on the summit.
Pulau Penyengat (‘Wasp Island’) is a sliver of an island out in the bay just opposite Tanjung Pinang. About 2,000 Malays now live on Penyengat, many of them tracing their ancestry back to the Bugis Malay nobility of the 18th and 19th centuries. This a fascinating place to visit not only to view the lovely mosque and the remains of several 19th century colonial style mansions that reflect the prosperity of the island’s former rulers, but also to breathe in the relaxed air of aristocratic Malay village, life. A network of paved pathways crisscrosses the island, and with a bit of imagination you may think you have stepped into a time warp as you stroll around the island.
There are two main piers of Penyengat ask to be dropped at the one to the left (east). At the end of the pier, a path to the right leads through an attractive kampong bordering the shoreline. Unfortunately, many of the charming wooden houses are now being replaced by whitewashed concrete ones. A few hundred meters down on the left is a path leading to the covered grave of Engku Puteri, also known as Raja Hamidah the original Bugis ‘owner’ of Pulau Penyengat. Her grave is considered keramat (miracle working) and is visited by people who ask for help or make a wish by tying a yellow cloth over the headstone (yellow is the color of Malay royalty).
Buried outside the mausoleum is the 19th century scholar and historian, Raja Ali Haji, a grandson of Raja Haji and author of the Tuhfatal Nafis (The Precious Gift), a comprehensive history of the Malay world from the 17th to the 19th centuries that served to justify the usurpation of the Malay throne by his Bugis ancestors. He is also well known on Penyengat for his gurindam duabelas (12 short poems of Islamic inspiration).
Return to the main path and continue on past the ruins of the court physician’s house (only the outer wall remains). Turn left here onto a path, which leads across the island and left again to climb up Bukit Kursi (‘Chair Hill’). On top of the hill is the grave of raja Haji, who controlled this area in the 18th century but was killed at Malacca by the Dutch in 1784. His remains were allowed to be brought back for burial in the 19th century, on condition that the grave was not to become a pilgrimage site. The grave of a revered Muslim scholar, Habib Syaik, was therefore placed alongside it so that Raja Haji’s grave could be visited without arousing suspicion. Near the tomb is an authentic 18th century Bugis gravestone shaped like a huge egg.
The stately palace of Raja Ali further down this path has fallen into ruin and been overgrown by jungle, but is slowly being restored. The southern entrance has a splendid split gate with huge swirls faintly visible on the sides incorporating European, Arabic, Javanese and Indonesian motifs. A canal once lead up here from the sea but was filled in to prevent mosquitoes. You can climb around the grounds and up the guard tower for a view, but be careful not to fall into the royal.
Walk out of the gates and on to the yellow and green Royal Mosque at the end of the lane. Completed in 1884, the mosque is supported inside (in the Javanese style) by four huge pillars and has four Moghul minarets, reached by steeply winding staircases. The roof has 13 cupolas that look like they belong on a European castle, and from a distance the entire complex looks a bit like the palace of Snow White at Disneyland.
Walk furthers up the hill to a large cemetery and look for the tomb of Raja Abdurrahman, the 5th Yarntuan Muda (Bugis viceroy), who originally commissioned the building of the mosque. Continue up the steps on the ;left hand side of the cemetery and you arrive at an impressive stone fort. This was built in the late 18th century by Raja Haji to fend off a Dutch attack on the Riau River in 1873. Two cannons found during the recent restorations greet the visitor. The fort offers a splendid view of Bintan and the straits to the east. From here it is a short walk back to the pier by the mosque, for the 13 minute boat trip back to Tanjung Pinang.
Tanjung Balai is the main entry point a pleasant little town on the southeastern tip of the island. Like many other trading towns in the Riau Islands, if is largely populated by Teochew Chinese. The island’s main road runs west of here along the coast past a secluded cove to Moral, site of an imposing Chinese clan house, now crumbling with age.
From Meral, the road continues to Pantai Pelawan, a sandy beach on the West Coast, through scattered village settlements and clove gardens set in rolling, forest clad hills. Carpets of clove are 1 aid out to dry in the sun by the roadside and their sweet smell hangs in the air. The cloves vary in color from lime green to rust brown, depending on the stage of drying. As Karimun guards the southern entrance to Asia’s most important waterway, it is not surprising that an ancient Sanskrit inscription has been found. The inscription is carved on large granite outcropping at Pasir Tanjung on the island’s northwest coast, and i
Riau comprises 3,214 islands and four largest rivers of Sumatra, hundreds of vital sea lanes teeming with fish, and thousands of kilometers of sparsely inhabited coast lines and a few hundred remote islands lying in the South China Sea to the north Borneo, the Natuna, Anambas, Serasan and Tambelan groups. Riau also contains the most productive oil fields in Indonesia pumping half the nation crude, some 650,000 barrels per day.
Riau mainland is a densely jungle lowland formed over many millennia by alluvial deposits brought by the Rokan, Siak, Kamparand Indragiri Rivers all of which begin high in the western Bukit Barisan range and meander some 300 to 550 km eastward to the coast. The lowlands are poorly drained, however, and are not particularly suitable for agriculture.
About 4 million people Malays and migrants from Java and Kalimantan inhabit small settlements along the rivers. For the traveler this is not a particularly exciting area, as the sights are few and far between and facilities are still primitive.
Also parts of Riau, the islands of Batam and Bintan, currently the scene of a multibillion dollar investment fever that will undoubtedly spill over to nearby islands, are easy to reach from Singapore on fast and comfortable hydrofoils, with good facilities and beaches.
For romantic excursions Batam and Bintan are nice for slow passengers ferry, chartered fishing boat or private yacht to a for the processing of timber, rubber, palm oil, tin, bauxite, petroleum, and other Sumatran resources. Reservoirs and water treatment plants are in place, and an excellent network of roads crisscrosses the island.
The jewel in the crown, however, is the ‘New Town’ at Batam Center an entire city with office blocks, markets, shopping centers and suburban residential neighborhoods that is springing up around the beautiful bay of Teluk Tering, facing across to Singapore. This will be the island’s administrative hub, with a polytechnic institute and training center.
Meanwhile, Batam is already becoming a popular tourist gateway. In 1990, more than half a million Singaporeans took the ferry across to Batam to relax, shop, eat and buy duty free liquor and cigarettes. The figure in 1993 has exceeded 700,000. The island’s northeast coast around Nongsa is earmarked as a massive, 350 ha tourist resort that will transform it, along with nearby Bintan, into Singapore’s playground. Dozen or more luxury hotels and four golf courses have been developed in the island.
Batam’s main attraction is its unspoiled beaches, but the long style seafood restaurants built on stilts over the ocean are also popular. Batam’s best known attraction, however, is Radio Ramako a pop station whose 24 hour ‘Amazing Zoo’ and Coast 100 broadcasts are much beloved by Singaporeans. Their blend of fast music and faster talking Disk Jockeys has indeed given Singapore’s staid, state controlled radio station a run for their advertisers’ money, and the latter has been forced to counter with a similar 24 hour pop station called ‘Perfect Ten’. More than 100 loyal listeners troop into Radio Ramako everyday to meet the Disk Jockeys and tour the modest facilities.
Apart from the beaches and the seafood restaurants there is really not much to see and do on Batam. Nevertheless it is interesting to drive through the rough jungles, visit the coastal Malay kampongs, and imagine what these places will look like in a few years.
A good starting point is at the ferry landing in Nagoya formerly known as Lubuk Bajak (‘Pirates’ Waterhouse) and today a busy trading town largely populated by Chinese. It is impossible to get lost here, as there are only 3 main streets. Have a quick look around at the shops and the market, and then stop in at Vihara Budhi Bhakti Buddhist temple on the eastern outskirts of town, where busloads of Singaporean worshippers fill the air each day with the pungent smoke of incense.
A few km to the southeast of Nagoya is Batam Center, site of a massive commercial and residential development. A drive around this beautiful bay will give you an idea of the scale of things to come. Continue on to the northeast coast at Batu Besar for a seafood lunch. This is a pleasant Malay fishing village set on a sandy beach, with several seafood restaurants built on long piers out over the water. The food is excellent though the prices are strictly Singaporean. The airport is close by and jets roar past every few minutes. After lunch, walk down the coast through swaying palms past typical Malay style houses on tilts.
After lunch, weather permitted, head north to Nongsa for a swim on the safe, sandy beach by the new luxury hotels. At Nongsa Beach Hotel you can hire jet scooters, and most of the others rent snorkeling equipment. The waters are crystal clear and there is plenty of shade.
Late in the afternoon, head for the ferry terminal at Sekupang on the northwest coast. If you have time, loop south across the island past the 100 year old banyan tree just opposite the Batam Industrial Park construction site. Your final stop could be Batam’s Radio Ramako station just outside Selalpang, which welcome visitors but leave a bit of time before boarding the ferry for Sekupang’s excellent duty free shops. Here you can buy practically everything from Swiss Cherry Brandy to dried salted anchovies (ikan bilis).
- BINTAN
Like neighboring Batam, Bintan is now the focus of multi billion dollar development schemes that are designed to drag the island into the 21st century within the next several years. These include a huge industrial park and a mega resort with 20 luxury hotels and 10 golf courses. Direct jetfoil services from Singapore has started since 1992, meaning that the commute across the straits is cut in half to about 45 minutes. At the moment, however all of this is but a gleam in the eyes of planners and investors, and the Bintan you see today is much as ii has been for centuries a rustic and sparsely inhabited island with a few scattered fishing villages and several old Chinese trading settlements on the coast.The largest town and main point of entry on Bintan is Tanjung Pinang (‘Areca Palir Cape’) a picturesque, predominantly Chinese trading community that spreads across low hills bordering a sheltered bay on the island’s southwestern shore. This is a delightful place to visit, if only on a weekend jaunt from Singapore. You can make a leisurely inspection of the town on foot starting from the clock tower in the middle of Jl Merdeka, Tanjung Pinang’s main street.
Shipping agents, goldsmiths, restaurants and cassette shops line both sides of this broad and busy avenue. Directly opposite the clock tower is Vihara Bhatra Sasana temple, featuring a statue of Kuan Yin the Chinese goddess of mercy in the central altar. From the temple, walk north along Jl Pasar past the central market place. Villagers come in from the country side on weekends to sell pots of wild honey here advertized cages full of angry, buzzing bees as well as seasonal fruits and vegetables. Sometime fire eaters selling patent medicines will put on a show for the crowd.
Pasar Baru, the New Market, is where tiny stalls sell clothes and plastic household goods. At the back, next to the water’s edge, is a huge fish market where boats unload their daily catch of swordfish, sharks, groupers, squids, prawns, shellfish and dark, plump mangrove crabs.
Heading further north on Jl Pasar, the street becomes and elevated walkway leading through amaze of wooden houses and shops built on stilts out over the mouth of the Riau River. Little gangways lead to off to scores of houses on either side, and at high tide the sea rushes in so that you are standing just above the surface of the water. On both sides are small provision sloops and food stalls selling dried salted fish, prawns, crackers, clothing and steaming bowls of Chinese noodles. At the end of the walkway is Pelantar II pier.
Just before the end, duck down a narrow gangway to your left that leads to a small Chinese temple. Color photographs of visiting trance mediums piercing themselves with swords and spikes balls cover one wall of the temple. Just in front is an open air theater for Chinese opera performances that perches out over the harbor. Beneath the opera stage you can see brightly painted dragon boats that are brought out once a year for the midsummer festival.
At the end of the main pier (Pelantar II), you can catch a sampan or motorboat across the wide mouth of the Riau River to Senggarang, visible just opposite. You disembark here at the end of a long jetty in Kampung Cina leading to long walkways that run for several km and connect hundreds of houses built on stilts above the water. Most of the houses are inhabited by Teochew Chinese. You can peek in and see the family altars as you walk gingerly down the long and rotting planks to a number of shops at the end.
Once onto dry land, turn left and follow a concrete pathway to the Aw clan house the ruins of a 2 story temple whose crumbling walls are completely suspended in mid air held there by the aerial roots of an ancient banyan tree. Set directly beneath the ruins is a new concrete box structure that has been erected by a wealth Aw clansman from Medan to house the ancestral altar.
Continue along this same path past a salt ware house to Vihara Dharma Sasana, a complex of three temples set side by side facing the estuary. The temple in the middle has an ornate root crowned by a pair of dragons and is said to be 200 years old. Unfortunately, its beautiful wooden doors have been crudely painted during a recent restoration. In the hallway is a tank of live turtles, and a stone tiger leaps out of the wall. The temple has an air of austere serenity, in contrast to the newer and more cluttered temple to its right. The smallest of the three shrines is dedicated to Toa Pek Kong, the deity of the soil who is synonymous with luck. People come here to make offerings before building a house.
- TANJUNG PINANG
A short ride to the eastern edge of Tanjung Pinang brings you to the Kandil Riau Museum on Jl Katamso a privately owned establishment with a dark, dusty interior housing a rich collection of local artifacts and memorabilia from the 18th and 19th centuries.
Among the things you will see here is part of a Chinese junk from the Ming period, a Malay cannon, wind instruments and ceremonial drums (nobat) formerly used to install the Bugis viceroys, and a dinner plate owned by Raja Haji a local Bugis leader who was killed fighting the Dutch at Malacca in 1784. Old swords and paintings of the Bugis Malay rulers adorn the wall.
Several km further east you can stop in Kampung Melayu (km 6) and pay homage to the grave of Sultan Sulaiman, the first ruler of the restored 18th century Bugis Malay kingdom. From here you can walk down to the water’s edge and hire a sampan to take you up the Riau River to the graves of Daeng Marewahand Daeng Cellak Bugis brothers from Sulawesi who helped re capture the kingdomfrom Raja Kecil, a Minangkabau adventurer. The boatmen know all the sites, stop along the way at Kota Piring (‘Plate Fort’) on a tiny island in midstream built in the 18th century by the Bug is ruler, Raja Haji. The popular name derives from the many Chinese plates that were once set into the walls. Little remains today apart from a few broken embankments. Bring hats, drink and sun block.
About two hours 60 km east of Tanjung Pinang are the white sands of Trikora Beach. Stretching for 10 km up and down the western coast of Bintan, this series of lovely beaches is as yet undiscovered by Western tourists, though there is a small hotel here and much bigger ones are planned nearby. During the week the beaches are completely deserted. On Saturday afternoons groups of noisy Singaporeans troop in, followed on Sunday mornings by the local crowd from Tanjung Pinang. By early Sunday afternoon, however, the crowds disperse and the beach is tranquil for another week.
Trikora actually has four main beaches that are numbered from south to north. Of these, Trikora Four the last one as you traveled up the coast is particularly recommended. After lunching at the Trikora Beach restaurant (Rumah Makan Pantai Trikora) in Telukbakau, continue up the main road until you reach a sweeping, sandy white shore line stretching as far as the eye can see framed by swaying palms and foaming breakers. Wonderfully safe for children, the bottom slopes out very gradually so that 30 feet from shore you are only in up to your waist.
Small stalls by the creek sell fresh coconuts, snacks and fruits, as well as simple meals on weekends. Pick your way over a mountain of trash and swim well away from the creek, as it empties raw sewage into the ocean. The main drawback though is sand fleas, which can leave bites lasting for days but a smelly concoction of coconut oil and onions is said to keep them (and your companions) at bay. With more time on your hands, you can continue along this road to Segiling Beach on the north coast. This where you can see and enjoy a huge, multibillion dollar beach resort.
On the way back, cut inland via the main road, which skirts around Mt. Bintan Besar the island’s highest point at 371 m. Several historical and legendary figures are believed buried here, including Wan Empok and Wan Malini two old widows whose rice harvest turned to gold when the first Malay ruler descended a top the hill. Hang Nadim, the famous 15th century Malay admiral, is also said to be buried here. A guide can be hired locally, if you want to climb the hill, which is overgrown with secondary jungle and has a trail that is difficult to follow. The ascent takes about an hour if you are fit. Legend has it that a dragon awaits on the summit.
- SIDETRIPS FROM TANJUNG PINANG
Pulau Penyengat (‘Wasp Island’) is a sliver of an island out in the bay just opposite Tanjung Pinang. About 2,000 Malays now live on Penyengat, many of them tracing their ancestry back to the Bugis Malay nobility of the 18th and 19th centuries. This a fascinating place to visit not only to view the lovely mosque and the remains of several 19th century colonial style mansions that reflect the prosperity of the island’s former rulers, but also to breathe in the relaxed air of aristocratic Malay village, life. A network of paved pathways crisscrosses the island, and with a bit of imagination you may think you have stepped into a time warp as you stroll around the island.
There are two main piers of Penyengat ask to be dropped at the one to the left (east). At the end of the pier, a path to the right leads through an attractive kampong bordering the shoreline. Unfortunately, many of the charming wooden houses are now being replaced by whitewashed concrete ones. A few hundred meters down on the left is a path leading to the covered grave of Engku Puteri, also known as Raja Hamidah the original Bugis ‘owner’ of Pulau Penyengat. Her grave is considered keramat (miracle working) and is visited by people who ask for help or make a wish by tying a yellow cloth over the headstone (yellow is the color of Malay royalty).
Buried outside the mausoleum is the 19th century scholar and historian, Raja Ali Haji, a grandson of Raja Haji and author of the Tuhfatal Nafis (The Precious Gift), a comprehensive history of the Malay world from the 17th to the 19th centuries that served to justify the usurpation of the Malay throne by his Bugis ancestors. He is also well known on Penyengat for his gurindam duabelas (12 short poems of Islamic inspiration).
Return to the main path and continue on past the ruins of the court physician’s house (only the outer wall remains). Turn left here onto a path, which leads across the island and left again to climb up Bukit Kursi (‘Chair Hill’). On top of the hill is the grave of raja Haji, who controlled this area in the 18th century but was killed at Malacca by the Dutch in 1784. His remains were allowed to be brought back for burial in the 19th century, on condition that the grave was not to become a pilgrimage site. The grave of a revered Muslim scholar, Habib Syaik, was therefore placed alongside it so that Raja Haji’s grave could be visited without arousing suspicion. Near the tomb is an authentic 18th century Bugis gravestone shaped like a huge egg.
The stately palace of Raja Ali further down this path has fallen into ruin and been overgrown by jungle, but is slowly being restored. The southern entrance has a splendid split gate with huge swirls faintly visible on the sides incorporating European, Arabic, Javanese and Indonesian motifs. A canal once lead up here from the sea but was filled in to prevent mosquitoes. You can climb around the grounds and up the guard tower for a view, but be careful not to fall into the royal.
Walk out of the gates and on to the yellow and green Royal Mosque at the end of the lane. Completed in 1884, the mosque is supported inside (in the Javanese style) by four huge pillars and has four Moghul minarets, reached by steeply winding staircases. The roof has 13 cupolas that look like they belong on a European castle, and from a distance the entire complex looks a bit like the palace of Snow White at Disneyland.
Walk furthers up the hill to a large cemetery and look for the tomb of Raja Abdurrahman, the 5th Yarntuan Muda (Bugis viceroy), who originally commissioned the building of the mosque. Continue up the steps on the ;left hand side of the cemetery and you arrive at an impressive stone fort. This was built in the late 18th century by Raja Haji to fend off a Dutch attack on the Riau River in 1873. Two cannons found during the recent restorations greet the visitor. The fort offers a splendid view of Bintan and the straits to the east. From here it is a short walk back to the pier by the mosque, for the 13 minute boat trip back to Tanjung Pinang.
- KARIMUN
Tanjung Balai is the main entry point a pleasant little town on the southeastern tip of the island. Like many other trading towns in the Riau Islands, if is largely populated by Teochew Chinese. The island’s main road runs west of here along the coast past a secluded cove to Moral, site of an imposing Chinese clan house, now crumbling with age.
From Meral, the road continues to Pantai Pelawan, a sandy beach on the West Coast, through scattered village settlements and clove gardens set in rolling, forest clad hills. Carpets of clove are 1 aid out to dry in the sun by the roadside and their sweet smell hangs in the air. The cloves vary in color from lime green to rust brown, depending on the stage of drying. As Karimun guards the southern entrance to Asia’s most important waterway, it is not surprising that an ancient Sanskrit inscription has been found. The inscription is carved on large granite outcropping at Pasir Tanjung on the island’s northwest coast, and i