It was mid afternoon when we landed in Belitung, an Island located next to Sumatra, Indonesia. The island is famous for its clear blue sky, its white sand and the big rocks that differentiate Belitung from any other island in Indonesia.
The minute we arrive at the airport we were welcomed with beautiful clouds that are set across the sky and at that very moment we are assured that this island is a magnificent holiday destination.
It was 4.30 pm by the time we are done with our baggage claim, we hurried to meet up with the driver and the car that we’ve rented a few weeks earlier then we go straight directly to our hotel. It’s called “Bunga Pantai”, it’s a small hotel with only 10 rooms but it’s quite nice with a beach view and a reasonable price. Since it was a really small hotel, they treat us like kings. We can ask for anything and they will do it for us. after an hour of unpacking, we decided to try on their local food. So we ask our driver to drive us around the main street and look for souvenirs and local food.
actually we’ve done our homework a few weeks earlier, we’ve googled all of the excitement and the culinary that Belitung has to offer. We have printed out our very own itinerary. We have planned that our first day at belitung will just be side seeing around the city and souvenirs for our love ones.
So our first culinary destination was the famous Belitung noodle called ” Mie Belitung Atep “. It is located on the main street. Aside from this dish we ordered Belitung’s famous drink it’s called “es jeruk kunci”. It’s a type of orange that grows well on that island. It tastes sour but we loved it so we ask for more of the oranges on each glass. After our delicious meal we walked on the main road to feel the warm weather and tastes the lil bit of Belitung atmosphere. We made quick stops at every small shops and the markets to buy souvenirs and Belitung famous crackers.
We are able to bargain at some of the shops but not at the others just because they know that we are tourists. Anyhow it was fun to walk under sparkling lights of Belitung island. After walking around the main road for about an hour or two, we decided to go the beach and just sit, drink and enjoy the full moon of Belitung island. It was funny while we were sitting at the beach, we can’t see the full moon because it was at the back our head. So we just sit there and chat for about an hour until the moon was quite high up above our head. After a view cans of beers and two bags of chips and crackers we’re starting to get hungry and craved for some local seafood. So we ask the driver to take us to restaurant called “Pandan Laut”.
We ordered two kinds crabs, one big grilled fish, large prawns and vegetable. it tasted delicious and we only spent about 350.000 IDR or about 35 USD. it was cheap compared to seafood in Jakarta. The only thing that disappoint us was that it took them about half an hour to take our order and another half an hour until the food was on the table. Well apparently after 4 days In Belitung we’ve learned that this isn’t the only restaurant that take ages to served their food. Maybe it’s kind of their thing hahaha…!!! Well
back to the story, On our way out from the restaurant we captured an unusual thing that we’ve only seen it in Belitung. It was a high chair made of wood with a big tree was place in the middle of it and a diagonal backrest. After 15 minutes of laying around we are ready to go back to the hotel and “recharge our battery” because we know tomorrow will be a long beautiful day.
It took us about an hour to get ready the next morning. We prepared our swim suits and goggles and everything else, we didn’t even have time to have breakfast just a view crackers and a cup of tea but we was really excited to spent the whole day under the blue sky and a taste of the blue ocean. After half an hour of driving, we arrive at the beach, we decided to rent a small boat and snorkeling equipments for one whole day and spent around 90 USD for everything. there was 7 of us by the way so yeah it was quite cheap and off we go…!!! the weather was high in humidity and it was a hot sunny day but that what makes it all perfect!!!
we planned to do “island hopping” to stop at 10 islands but in the end we only managed to stop and enjoy 5 islands. The first island was a small island with an unknown name but it has a magnificent view of the sky, the shimmering ocean and humongous rocks. We were astonished by how big it was and it’s there with different shapes as if someone has put it right there with a perfect angle that in the end it will defines a perfect view for the eye. The sand color was light cream, as if no one has ever been to the island. We saw a lot of starfish and dead shells with tons of colors and different shapes. I found a view big ones and bring it home with me, some of them has been broken because of the waves but some of it was still perfect. After a quick stops and tons of pictures taken we went on to a bigger island, called Lenkuas Island.
They told us that this island is the furthest island on the west side of Belitung. There was a big lighthouse with 18th floor up on that Island. It was build by the dutch on 1882 when they invaded Indonesia. It was so beautiful in its on way. It has this kind of spooky dramatic feeling that makes us wants to know about the island even more. We went snorkle a view hundred meters from the island. It doesn’t have too many fishes but it is enough to reminds you how awesome God is with His creations. I saw this one fish with greenish bluish color with a yellow tail but it has a different kind of fin with a
hint of red on it fins. Then I saw another fish 3 colors of dark blue to light green with one black silver stripes on its body. then there’s another kind of fish with pink and gold covering its whole body. It was astonishingly beautiful. Other than that the ocean has beautiful corals with different shapes and colors. It just makes you wonder how on earth God can think of creating all of this in 7 days. LOL!
After a view hours at Lengkuas, we went on to Babi island and just enjoy the shimmering blue water then we went on to gandur island to find for more sea shells and just lay around and have drinks. Then last but not least we went to an island next to
Babi island that has big rocks on one side and coconut tree jungle on the other side of the island, it’s a small island but it has a great view of sunset. When we arrive there, we met about 20 professional photographers ready to capture the sunset with their cameras. After the whole day under the sun, we decided to enjoy another local seafood next to our hotel. The restaurant is famous for its tenggiri fish, but it was out so we order another local dish called Gangan, it’s a curry soup with Fish head in it. It’s spicy but it tastes good. Well that’s how we spent our second day in Belitung.
The next morning we planned to tour around Belitung. We went to east Belitung to a city called Manggar. It’s famous for its small coffee shops. We was told that the local
people in Belitung likes to hang out in coffee shops and there is where people exchanges news and get to know each other. The news at the coffee shops travels faster than buying local newspaper. Well that was what I was told of.
After an hour of sipping local coffee we planned to go to see the waterfalls but it got cancelled because it was raining the whole day in Belitung and the road to reach there is slippery. The sky was gloomy and it affects the scenery but it doesn’t affect our mood. We got to know Belitung better because of the rain. We went to see a temple,one of the biggest in Belitung. We sat there for about half an hour then we went to a beach in Tanjung Tinggi. That place used to be a movie set 2 years ago. In fact Belitung got famous this pass view years because of this movie.
The beach was quite packed and we decided not to swim because it’s too crowded but anywhow the water is still clear and shiny. It’s still beautiful like a natural swimming pool. We had another seafood dinner near the beach. it was the most delicious meal we had since we arrived on that island. That was our last night in Belitung, we were sad and happy at the same time. On our way back to the hotel we went to the China town of Belitung and found a cart that sell pork noodles. it tastes delicious!!! We took the liberty to take a picture with the cook and
his cart so next time we’re able to find him again. LOL!!! Well that was the last thing we’ve done that night coz the next morning we planned to go to their fresh market to buy their famous kunci orange and grilled pork and bring it home to Jakarta.
It was a great fun, and now after a few days back in Jakarta, all of us still thinks that 4 days in Belitung is just not enough, we plan to go back and enjoy Belitung one more time…!!! The island of Giant Rocks…!!! The island of “Laskar Pelangi”.



