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| Rujak the famous fruit salad. Sweet sour and surprising. Fruit maybe washed and maybe not...which water...oh well let's try anyway. It was beautifull and so refreshing on such a HOT day. 10 -15 October 2010 Island on the East coast of Sumatra on the Java Sea Belitung Anchorage at Tanjung Klayang Regency of Belitung-known for pepper and tin. 02 degrees 30 South and 107 degrees 40 East. Distance travelled Kumai Belitung 250NM Heterogeneous environment pluralism in ethnicity and religion has made Belitung interesting. Religions- Chinese Javanese Sudanese Balinese Hindu and so on… This was the final chapter of our journey in Indonesia and it was also a place we were welcomed and expected. Everything was organized. The beach where we anchored was set up like a carnival with lots of food stalls, dinghy boys, our personal guides that spoke English and couldn’t do more to please us, tour cars, tour busses and people everywhere happy to see us interact with us and make our stay here really pleasant. We visited the city centre which was busy and unbearably hot. Had coffee at the local Coffee House which was an experience not to be forgotten (see video and photos)We went to the local market and met so many colorful characters friendly happy cheeky. The banana lady the petrol lady the banana cat little kid eating his or her food with abandon in the midst of the hustle and bustle(no place here for airplane spoons and encouragement to eat…ha…ha)bikes everywhere chickens with heads half cut (definitely fresh) little merchants selling home ware and piece the resistance – little baby deers ready for soup cooking. We saw a Bali village in Belitung(the village was moved here from Bali due to natural disaster) we have learned about Hinduism from the local Hindu priest. According to him Hindu definitely came before Buddhism. We even visited the local orphanage which turned out to be well let’s say not exactly an orphanage. The Gala Dinner was also great with many speeches just as many as choices of food which was all great. My personal favorite-jelly Robert’s…hmmm undecided. Oh we as a group had time to present during the evening “There is a hole in the bucket” was not everyone’s idea of entertainment and it will be a joke for a long time… We will always have great memories from Belitung. We chose Belitung to be our final destination in Indonesia as we were really looking forward to reaching Singapore. By making this choice it meant that we were given a few days by the Indonesian Customs to remain in Indonesian waters just as long as we did not step on land again. |
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| Belitung is famous for this rock that lookslike a bird and it has so many different faces at different times of day.... |
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| The dinghy boys waiting to help us with the dinghys. Luxury and they did not ask for anything in return. This town made us really welcomed they lined flags out on the streets... how lovely |
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| The local Coffee Shop...what an amazing experience that was. It is a card club a place to voice one's opinions meet new friends and drink "KOPI" which comes in a glass with condensed milk. It is yummmy |
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| Oh well seats have many uses here....all part of the charm |
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| Bikes...this place is full of bikes.Trere are cheap to buy and safety for the baby is not of utmost importance here. This picture was taken at the local market in 40+ degrees celcius.... |
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| Well this still at the market was something else. I was being asked to buy this baby deer and cook a soup. They even gave me the recipie...well no thanks |
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| Market still. Not cooking oil!!!! Selling petrol with a difference. |
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| Yet another Amazing Grace moment...splendid. This remainded me of gold velvet the way it looked and moved... Taken on the way to Belitung. |
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| On arrival in Belitung...we were late almost got lost and made it safely |
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| That beautiful bird again...can't help but take pictures of it |
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| The locals welcoming us at the beach....lovely and there was so much police presence. Also watch the fencing between us and them |
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Our Last “Gala Dinner” and we have had a few of these the menu ranging from different variables of dried fish and rice + burned fish…We will most certainly not be having any fish in a hurry. I was also warned not to even contemplate to cook rice on board by the captain. We will always have a great laugh about “Gala Dinners” |
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| More police presence and more happy faces looking for one of us to talk to...to practice english. This was the best place we visited and felt so welcomed!!!! THANK YOU BELITUNG!!!!!     |
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