On November
17, 2014 we heaved up anchor and got U/W for Tanjung Pinang (00-56.149 N x 104-26.324’ E) on
Bintan Island. It’s about 32 nm from
Benan Island (00-28.007’ N x 104-26.930).
Benan has nothing special to recommend it. It’s a waterfront village of houses built on
stilts overhanging the water. Since
there are no sanitary facilities in the many villages we have visited, the
easiest way to discharge human waste is into the water. The tidal currents run swiftly in this area
so all is carried away. An interesting
aspect of Benan is that each of the fishermen’s houses has an enclosed area
going out to sea that is completely closed in with nets. We were told that this is a form of fish
farming and replenishment. Everything is
built on wooden stilts including all the walkways that access the houses. This makes it easy to net everything in, for
the fish farming, since the wooden framing is there.
The Eastern
side of the island has some very nice beaches, palm trees and clear water where
it is possible to snorkel and dive. An
attempt has been made to construct four cottages, with more modern facilities,
overlooking the beautiful ocean scene. These are called “Home Stays” but none were
occupied during the time we were there.
The trip to
Tanjung Pinang was uneventful with very light winds so motor sailing was the
order of the day. Upon entering the
southern end of the buoyed channel, we were given an escort boat to show us to
our anchorage. We dropped anchor in the
inner harbor at 1700 hrs in 20’ of water depth with 100’ of chain out. TJ Pinang is a fairly good sized city with
about 200,000 people living in and around it.
It has been a center of Islamic culture and influence for the last eight
hundred years or more. Also, it was the
residence of Rajas and Sultans. To the
West of the city, about one mile away, there is an island called Pulau
Penyengat. It is this island that the
Rajas chose to live on. It has a 600
year old mosque and several beautiful palaces.
There is an active Chinese community and several Buddhist temples. The island is quite beautiful. It is the center of tourism for TJ Pinang.
The Mayor of
TJ Pinang and all the officials chose Penyengat as the place to welcome the
Wonderful Sail2Indonesia Rally participants.
Eleven yachts attended the welcoming ceremony and I was chosen as their
leader and spokesman. Speeches, food,
dancing and a tour of the island completed that ceremony. The local office of tourism in conjunction
with the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Development provided an unforgettable
experience in giving us both land tours and a River tour. Every day they picked us up at 0800 hrs, in
one of their boats, and escorted us to a bus for a tour. There are several tour guides that speak
English and cater to our every need. It
doesn’t get any better than that.
We are now
in a Malay culture. The Chinese
influence is seen everywhere. The other
ethnic group is called Bugis. The
features of the locals are more SE Asian and Chinese than the other places we
have visited. Some of the communities
are predominantly Chinese. We were taken
to an enormous Buddhist temple that was given to the people by the Chinese
government. This temple is awesomely impressive! Inside there is a Buddha that is at least 40
ft high and encased in 24K gold. To the right
and left of the Buddha are, bigger than life sized, Chinese figures from an
ancient past. This is an active Buddhist
monastery and there are a good number of monks in attendance. Surrounding the temple is a dragon fruit
plantation.
Bauxite and
tin mining were extensively pursued on Bintan Island and the bright colored
orange earth reflects the ugly scars that have been left. It was declared illegal to mine them just a
few years ago. Most of the mined Bauxite
and Tin were shipped to Singapore and China.
Bauxite is used in the production of aluminum. It will take many decades to erase the damage
that has been done with this kind of strip mining. Was it a form of compensation that the
Chinese government gave such an elaborate Buddhist temple complex to the people
of Bintan Island?
In all of
our “Welcoming Ceremonies”, by the various Regencies and Local Governments, we
see a great desire of the Indonesian people to bring tourism to their towns and
villages. They look at us as their
ambassadors to spread the word and sing their praises about a beautiful land
and people. At any level, it would be
hard to choose a better place!
We will
depart TJ Pinang on November 21st for Bandar Bintan Telani
(01-10.274’ N x 104-18.571’ E). That
will be our final stop and exit point from Indonesia.
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