BATAM ISLAND: Overnight Trips:
Kundur Island:
Fitness Level: Optional: from easy: e.g. ride motorbike to hard mountain biking.
TJ BATU - KUNDUR ISLAND
The Tj Batu ferry departs Batam Sekupang domestic ferry terminal at 10am and 2pm daily. The trip takes a bit under under 2 hours. For ferry info, try calling Sekupang Marina Batam check in counter 0778 321980 / Tj Batu 0779 21118. Sorry, English is probably not spoken.
One of our friend's Victor Esbensen's original Riau Island maps, drafted in the early 90s. The roads between Tj Batu, Sawang and Urung are now all paved.
To see an image full sized, click on it and press [F11].
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Map from Jan Boosta's Kundur cycling site |
Tanjung Batu is a pleasant spot to chill out if you enjoy motor biking or cycling in a friendly rural environment.
Most of the "action" happens in the southern half of the island, which is quite flat and criss crossed by narrrow little shaded plantation trails, which invite hours of pleasant biking. The island is small enough that you are never more than a few kilometers from one of the island's two main roads.
Best to places to stay are at Kilometer seven (Batu Tujuh) or Kilometer 5 (Batu Lima). The larger Hotel Taman Gembira at Batu 7, has some 300 rooms and nice grounds, including a pool. The smaller and even quieter Hotel 933 is a bit harder to find just near the Lubuk Beach turnoff at km5, the hotel is located off the main road in a peaceful fruit orchard. Bring mozzie repellent. Both hotels are well populated by old Chinese guys from Singapore/Malaysia and their young Indonesian girlfriends. Everything is slow and laid back.
Island scenery from the ferry, just before it arrives at Tj Batu town.
To see an image full sized, click on it and press [F11]. |
Tanjung Batu township from the ferry. The five story building in the photo is the Hotel Gembira (not to be confused with the Hotel Taman Gembira, located at Km7.) |
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EASY SINGLE TRACK BIKING
The easiest way to find those hidden single track trails is simply to start exploring the trails off Kundur's two main roads. If you ever get lost, just ask a local to point you in the direction of "Tanjung" (which is short for Tj Batu). The southern half of Kundur island has two main roads which fork about 2km from the jetty. The west coast road (the right fork) brings you 18km to the half deserted mining town of Urung. The left fork brings you 18km via Batu 5 and 7 to the little town of Sawang. Urung-Sawang are also about 19km apart. If you ride out out to about Batu Four (km4) on the Urung road and take one of the single track off to the left, you will pop out at about km7 or km8 on the Sawang road.
Check out Jan Boostra's excellent Kundur Cycling page.
SUPER SINGLE TRACKS
One of the great single track rides of SE Asia, Belat Island, is reachable from Kundur - take a 20 minute "pompong" (Wooden diesel pwered boat) ride from Urung to Sebele on Belat Island. The Sebele jetty is a couple of km north of Bawang Batang. You can ride 22km from one end of Belat to the other. Belat's scenery and terrain change constantly, making for a great ride. Any skill level can do it, there is nothing technically challenging - just a nice shaded trail. Strong mountain bikers will enjoy the ride the most. If you organise a boat, you can also ride the single track trails of Gunung Papan, Parit and Buru Islands. This will need more than a day. Remember that direction of this area's (strong) tidal currents have a big effect on boat speed.
The best way to see Indonesia, is to turn off the main road onto any little rural track that takes your fancy and simply follow it to wherever it brings you.
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The four photos above show Parit Gantung, which is about 4km from Tj Batu on the Urung Road.
Many of Kundur's single track trails follow man made canals, called "parit" in Bahasa Indonesia.
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Lubuk beach, reachable via either the km5 Sawang Road turnoff or by a network of narrow trails that starts from the center of Tj Batu town.
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BIKE RENTALS
To rent a motorbike, cut a deal with one of the "ojek" drivers at the Hotel Taman Gembira. You can buy a useable mountain bike brand new for under Rp400,000 (USD45) (there is a bike shop in Tj Batu's main street). Only one problem is that they dont have long seat posts, so you may want to visit Gee Hin Chan & Co Pte Ltd. Address: Blk 261 Waterloo Street #01-06 Waterloo Centre Singapore 180261. Tel: 3372948 Fax: 336492 and buy a 1" dia steel seat post about 15" long, with a top diameter of 7/8" to mount a standard low-end clamp-on type bike saddle. When you have finished using the bike, either sell it back to the bike shop or give it to some needy person. You would visit Kundur to either enjoy the rural life and to do nothing in a sleepy hotel very far from Western comforts. (Though all hotels have AC, Chinese food, Singapore TV and maybe even some cold beers).
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Above and below: Images of Sawang beach. |
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* BatamInfo.com * BatamForum.com * Rental Apartments * 12 Daytrip Ideas * Lucy's Oarhouse * PP Banana * NED Team Services * Batam News and Current Affairs * Batam Business Handbook
