This is an awesome journey. Take a ferry to Batam and do a 160km roundtrip of eight islands. There are a total of seven bridges, the first six are normal tarred roads. The last one, a much simpler bridge, is not easy to find. You will certainly not be disappointed by the panoramic scenes throughout the journey. Normally you will take a ferry from Harbourfront in Singapore to either Sekupang or Batam Centre. If you disembark at Sekupang, the directions should be pretty clear. But if you are taking a ferry to Batam Centre, it is advisable to download a map, waterproof it, and remember the directions beforehand. Still, the locals are friendly in giving directions when u ask where is "Barelang" (the name is a combination of Batam, Rempang and Galang islands)
You will definitely need to know basic Malay. Unlike in Malaysia, there are very few Chinese especially once you leave Batam Island. The locals that know English can only speak a smattering of it.
Basic Bahasa Indonesia:
Jambatan - Bridge
Satu - One
Dua - Two
Tiga - Three
Ampat - Four
Lima - Five
Enam - Six
Tujuh - Seven
(e.g. Jambatan Dua = second bridge)
Teksi -Taxi
Basikal - Bicycle
Hotel - Rumah Tumpangan
Food - makanan
Tolong - please / (call for) help
Saya orang Singapura - I am from Singapore
Feri ke Singapura - ferry to Singapore
Harga - price
Terima Kasih - Thank you
Links:
1. Jan Boonstra describes his amazing discovery in 1999 (Updated Dec 2005)
http://user.chollian.net/~hwayon/sing/batam.htm
2. Martin Schmidt describes his journey from Singapore to Barelang to Bintan and back
http://www.kutu.com/indo/riau/6bridges.htm
3. Kevin Lee writes on his journey in February 2004
http://home.pacific.net.sg/~kevkblee/bikelog28-29Feb04.html
4. Pictures of Rempang and Galang island. Note that these pictures were taken on a car trip.
http://nedbatam.com/daytrips/rempang/rempang.htm
http://nedbatam.com/daytrips/galang/galang.htm
5. Wikitravel site, with links to ferry companies
http://wikitravel.org/en/Batam
6. Map of Barelang, including pictures of bridges
http://www.batam-center.web.id/images/map_barelang.jpg
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1 comment:
a bit of revision about the translation above:
Teksi -Taxi >>>> Taksi
Basikal - Bicycle>>>> sepeda, basikal is malay language, not indonesia
Hotel - Rumah Tumpangan >> just say hotel..everybody will understand. if u say rumah tumpangan..ppl will think that u need to stay in one of the ppl's house there.
second bridge >>> jemabatan kedua
the rest are ok :p
cheers
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