Loola Adventure Resort
Pulau Bintan, Riau Islands, Indonesia.
12th March 2002 - 13th March 2002
Previous trip to Bintan
We last went to Bintan in 1999. We went to Bintan Resort, a place with many luxurious resorts developed by Singaporean investors, at the northern tip of the island nearer to Singapore. (See Map Link below) The resort is a popular destination for quick weekend getaways from Singapore. We stayed at Mana Mana, one of the cheapest place to stay among the Bintan Resorts. Bintan Resort was OK but if you've been to Phuket or Koh Samui, this place seems dull and cut off from the rest of Bintan and its inhabitants. Mana Mana hosts some Asian Windsurfing Championships every year so it must be a good place for windsurfing at the right time of the year. Other water sports like the catamaran, banana boat, jet ski etc. are available too.
The restaurant at Mana Mana actually prefers you to pay in S$ instead of Rupiah. So don't expect things to be dirt cheap because you get millions of Rupiahs from your Singapore dollar. The resort management knows what to charge you :)
Tanjong Pinang
This time, we decided to try the Loola Adventure Resort (http://loola.net/) we found out on the Internet. I bought ferry tickets with Penguin Ferry. It costs $35 for a return ticket. You can find information on the ferries going to Tanjong Pinang and schedules on Loola's page.
The ride to Tanjong Pinang was quite horrible for me. The sea was choppy and I had a full and oily breakfast of fried noodles, chicken wing and a drink. And if that was not enough to make me sick, the man sitting behind me on the ferry perched his stinking feet on the hand rest of my seat. I ended up in the toilet seat, had diarrhea and vomited into the tiny sink. When I was finished, I had to use toilet paper to remove my vomit choking the sink. But finally we got to T.Pinang and I got better, well enough to be bothered by kids playing with my fishing net while we were waiting to get off the ferry. An Indonesian man from the resort welcomed us and we took his car to the resort.
Loola Adventure Resort
It costs S$85 per person per day (min 2 person and 2 days although we stayed only for one night when we were there) for a hut at the resort. It seems expensive but considering it includes all meals, snacks and most activities they have there, it was OK. The resort consists of several huts perched on wooden stilts on the beach. There is a hut where everybody eats at and another with mattresses and hammocks for chitchatting or just relaxing. We got a hut near to the dining hut. The interior of the hut is quite cool. Neat wooden floorings and walls. A thatched roof sits on top of the walls. The bathroom was cool too, all the water from your shower drains through the gaps of the wooden flooring and into the sea. The weather was rainy and windy the day we got there. At night, I felt the wind blowing right through the hut. It takes a bit getting used to when we're so used to sleeping within 4 concrete walls.
Things to do at Loola
Kayaking
We got there at late afternoon and had our lunch with the rest of the guests already there. The weather restricted the activities we could do. We wanted to do some kayaking but a storm approached. Two guys took off earlier and rowed towards the approaching storm. We decided to stay in bed with the windows open so we could watch and laugh at the guys and their kayaks being eaten by the storm. The storm cleared up a few hours later. We realized how safe it was for the two guys to be kayaking out into the sea in that weather condition; the beach actually stretches quite far out to the islands in view.
Rock Wall Climbing
We decided to do some rock climbing on the climbing walls after the weather got better. When we told one of the staff of our intention. He gathered a few other men and one of their wife to prepare for the climb. I wonder if it was boring watching us climb or we were the highlight of the day at the slow pace of life at the resort. When we had enough, some of the guys tried out the difficult part of the climb and had much fun themselves.
Fishing
When we were having breakfast the next day, one of the staff was fishing with lines in the shallow water below the huts. Amazingly he pulled out one crab after another. We decided to borrow his line. He gave us some cut up squid pieces. I started fishing from the hut and caught 2 crabs after awhile. Michael had no luck when he tried so he decided to be a little more proactive. He climbed out the window and perched himself precariously on the little space outside the window trying to lure the crabs hiding on the stilts. That failed to so he got even more desperate. He put on his sandals and went down UNDER the hut to force the crabs to eat his bait. I decided to have a shower.
Resources
Map of Bintan from Loola Adventure Resort web site
Links
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