Phew, it’s been ages since my last post here. I’m sorry for taking such a long break, but thankfully I finally had another vacation and this time I will show you the mesmerizing Belitung! Ever since I watched the movie Laskar Pelangi (translated as Rainbow Troops in US), I’ve been wanting to visit Belitung, a place where the movie was shot. Thanks to my friends Cippy and Kenari, I finally set foot on this lovely place.
We used tour agency service for this trip, Sunburst Adventure (www.sunburstadventure.com). We took the first flight to Tanjung Pandan which departed around 6 am from Jakarta. The flight only took an hour. When we arrived at Tanjung Pandan, the first thing that caught my attention was how quiet and deserted the town was. I was near 8 am yet it didn’t show any hustle and bustle. The travel time is precisely the time needed to cover a certain distance, unlike Jakarta in which most of the travel time is due to traffic jam. It’s a good thing that we were using tour agency because apparently, there is no public transportation in Belitung. People mostly travel by motorcycle and the only means of transportation for visitors is by renting a car.
It was five to eight am in the morning, and we were hungry so the first stop was the signature Belitung’s noodle at Sriwijaya Street, Mie Atep (2). It opens at eight am sharp but there were people already queuing in front of the restaurant waiting for it to open. Eight am sharp and the restaurant was open. The noodle has thick broth, not too spicy and a bit on the sweet side but it has perfect harmony (1). The serving size is for breakfast so it’s a bit small but you can always ask for second. The signature drink there is jeruk kunci, a variety of orange with a size of a small lime. To visit the restaurant, you have to book in advance so make sure you do before you drop by.
With a full belly we headed to our hotel, Mindanau Belitung Hotel at East Siburik Street. Just in the opposite road of the hotel, there is a must visit coffee shop for breakfast, Warung Kopi Kong Djie (5). It was established in 1943 and the interior is still very traditional (3). It opens from quarter past five am until ten or eleven am. The coffee there has distinct chocolate flavor which I love so much. If you love less milk, than you can order ordinary white coffee but you can always ask for more milk if you think the coffee is too bitter. Small glass of coffee cost five thousand rupiah while the medium glass cost eight thousand. What I love most of this coffee shop other than the coffee is the morning snacks (4). My favorite is the mung bean fried bread, traditional doughnut, peanut sugar filled bun, and bika bread and each snack only cost thousand rupiah.
For foodies enthusiast
Moving on to the cultural side of Belitung, we went to Traditional House in the city center. Typical traditional house in Sumatera, it has stilts that support the house (7). The main attraction of this house is the wedding’s offerings display (6, 8). Too bad overall, the house is not really well kept. There are parts of the house that is used by the keepers thus reducing its authenticity.
Next destination is Kwan Im Monastery (9) in East Belitung. It takes two hours to reach East Belitung from the city center. The monastery was under renovation so it’s a bit untidy with tools lying here and there. There are several gazebos in the area and at the main hall (10) there is a fortune teller that can read your fortune, be it in financial, education, and even love life.
In East Belitung, you can also visit the first literary museum in Indonesia, Andrea Hirata Museum (12, 13). Andrea Hirata is the author of Laskar Pelangi novel and he grew up in Belitung. Inside the museum you can find information regarding achievements of Andrea Hirata and Laskar Pelangi novel that has been translated in 30 languages on 100 countries. There are also snippets of the novel contents. There were some parts of the museum that were closed due to renovation though. The museum is free of charge and it sells souvenirs related to Laskar Pelangi such as tote bags, shirts, hats, etc. At the back of the museum, there is small coffee shop (11). I didn’t visit it so I don’t know the price and what it offers.
Just few minutes drive from Andrea Hirata Museum, there is one of the filming sites of Laskar Pelangi, the elementary school building. The building looks old and in a severe condition. What’s interesting here is the soil in that area is white sand. It is said to contain tin since Belitung is a major tin producer.
Cultural Side of Belitung
Talking about Belitung, it’s incomplete without the natural rocky beach. One beautiful spot in East Belitung is Bukit Batu (16, 17). The natural big rocks gather in several spots creating a breathtaking view. Not to mention the lovely sand that is soft to your sole. Don’t hesitate to walk barefoot because the wet sand beneath you gives some soothing effect. Although Belitung is famous for rocky beach, there is one beach that is free from rocks, Pantai Burung Mandi (14, 15). It’s a typical beach with clean water and sand but for me, it’s not as breathtaking as Bukit Batu.
There are several small islands near Belitung and our destination on the second day is to visit some. It only took less than half an hour from the hotel to reach Tanjung Kelayang. We will board a wooden boat to reach the small islands around. Too bad they don’t really develop the place for tourism. The only bathroom/shower room available is below standard in my opinion. They could actually get extra income by building some decent shower room and charge it for guests that have returned from the day trip on the sea. Too bad they haven’t thought far ahead.
Anyway, the first island we visited was Batu Berlayar Island (20). There are big rocks in this island similar to Bukit Batu. This island is pretty small though. Then we made a quick stop at Pasir Island. It’s just a mound of sand with nothing on it but the water is so clear around it plus there are easily seen big starfish lying around. The beautiful sea blue water and clean sand just tempt you to take a dip there and I did 🙂 Half an hour from there, we stopped at Burung Island (19). Named after after the fact that there are lots of birds in the island even though I saw none when I was there. The sand is not as smooth as Pasir Island but there are some photo spot worth it.
Another half an hour trip from there we arrived at Lengkuas Island (21), a relatively bigger island that houses a lighthouse. There are eighteen staircase levels in which each level consists of around 20 ladder steps to reach the top. The view from above is beautiful but the space is pretty limited. There is entrance fee of five thousand rupiah even though they call it fee to wash your feet so the lighthouse won’t be dirtied by the beach sand from the guests feet. This island is pretty lively. People are sitting on the picnic cloth and simply enjoying lunch/snacks. The island also has some entertaining water sport such as jet ski, banana boat and snorkeling. Rental fee for snorkeling equipment is only thirty thousand rupiah. The view under water is so breathtaking. It was my first snorkeling experience and I’m grateful to have the ability to swim because the water is pretty deep and despite the life jacket, it’s still pretty intimidating to the non-swimmer. Forty minutes was too short to enjoy the beauty but there is one other destination for the day so we took the long trip back to Tanjung Kelayang.
We took the land route from there to Tanjung Tinggi (22) to visit another filming site of Laskar Pelangi. The rocks are naturally arranged to form a narrow pathways in between. Too bad the sun was almost set so instead of those narrow pathways, we focused on the setting sun. Again, the rocks there provides challenging courses for the braves. There are restaurants lining up along the shore there and they have the delicious young coconut fruit for ten thousand rupiah only.
Beautiful Beaches in Belitung
With full stomach we set to the last destination for today, souvenir shop at Pattimura Street. OK Shop sells signature snacks such as the famous telur cumi chips, squid crackers, fish crackers, and also packed food like fish floss, coffee, honey, and the famous shrimp paste. The shop also sells souvenirs like shirts, key chain, and other handy craft made of sea shells. The price is pretty reasonable. I got beautiful key chain for ten thousand rupiah and there are cheaper selections also.
A must buy signature snack of Belitung is fish dumpling or what they call cakian. It’s a fish cake wrapped by bean curd sheet and eaten with a thin sauce of vinegar and chili. The size is pretty small, only 3 cm x 2 cm and it’s so yummy I can’t get enough!
All in all, the trip to Belitung is so worth it and next time I go there, I want to take a longer time snorkeling and maybe swimming in the lovely blue sea water. Belitung, it is indeed mesmerizing ^_^
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