Riau Island Touring Ride 17-19th Jul

We were supposed to depart SIN on the 7.30am ferry to Batam. Well, we woke up early to have a slow ride to Harbour Front, but the darn LCT must had a flat and forced me to wait. That was 6am and he only fixed up at 6.30am. By then, we were really late as we were only at Bedok. Seriously thot of hailing down a cab but that darn bunny wanted to cycle. And when I couldn’t catch up, he had the audacity to say: “Very late and you still ride slowly!” -.- When I finally picked up pace to go at 27-30km/hr, that buck-tooth-face BF of mine was sitting at my tail happily drafting down to Harbour Front. -.- We managed to reach there just in time to board the ferry!

After a sardine ferry ride and a black-faced Pam, we managed to reach Batam Sekupang ferry terminal. We rode outta the road to only less than 500m and entered another local ferry terminal. What a great difference it was. All I could say was, that terminal is like a jailhouse! It was nothing like a terminal. Welcome to the SE Asia countryside.

From there, we took another ferry to Karimon. The ferry ride itself was interesting enough. From the way you see those pple load our bikes up, to the interior decorations of the ship, to the manual entertainment and the ‘other’ passengers (if you know what I mean). One thing for sure, they really perfect the timing of the movie screening. So much so that when the ferry hit the dock, the movie finished its story. Well done, they must have screen it many times to have such perfection.

Karimon is a small island. The so-called town is a one lane street, crowded with a lot of motorcyclists and horning local taxis. It is seriously very daunting to cycle, having to dodge traffic from all sort of directions. Since we were hungry as well, we sent Michelle to sniff out the best food. She got one alright from the corner which serves nasi padang. Lotsa different kampong chicken in various curry, and the local potatoe ball that was really yummy. We had our fill and when the bill came, we found out that we kena ‘tipu’! A simple meal like this costed SGD30, that was by local standard, very expensive!

We went to find our accommodation which later one hotel told us that everywhere was fully booked! The hotel owner was kind enough to find a Chinese hotel that could accommodate us. It was at least still stay-able, except for stained bedsheet!

We went out to the beach that was 20km + from the place we stayed. The beach was quite pristine and they served very huge coconuts and not to mentioned very delicious maggie mee goreng. After a long rest at the beach, we decided to check out the one and only waterfall in the island. The road there was killer with lotsa climbs, but good downhill. It has been so long that we rode a tour on knobbies, plus my Snake’s chain went down on me before a steep climb, I lost sight of them for quite a distance.

The waterfall was so-so only, the pool they built in front just destroyed the view. The water inside was also stagnant and turned greenish. We did not linger too long.

The ride back was hell as Mich decided to take another route that was up and down all the way to town. When the sky darkened, I was trying hard not to fall asleep on my bike. Val was behind, looked quite shagged. We were soon led by a friendly local racer to our hotel. It was a mistaken identity, but we were glad he brought us back. Haha.

Dinner was recommended by a young hotel staff which we nicknamed him as the SWAT Team due to his t-shirt. An uncle or his friend were telling us that there were robberies in this place. In which, it prompted Lai Thutt to ask: “Is he in the right mind? Looks like everywhere is unsafe.” The SWAT Team and his mate accompanied us to the restaurant and we all agreed that place served the best seafood and zi-cha at dirt cheap price! Filled our tummy to the brim and ready for another adventure tomorrow.

Woke up early and were surprised that the hotel provided breakfast. Simple fried rice and bee hoon. Communication was a problem, the boat time was changed and delayed until 7.30 and then later. Now we had a taste of the local boat ride. The bikes were stacked on the roof! Lucky nothing went ‘plop’.

We arrived at Selat Belia jetty. Right, we were back in the 50s and before. There was no tall buildings and the road was rough. The pple there were pretty much welcoming and helpful and offered their assistance to hold our bikes etc. Off we went on the main road in search of a Chinese village. After going round in circles, asking countless of villagers for directions, we came back to the same place. We had decided to locate Kampong Asam and to just take the boat off to the nearby island.

Finding Kampong Asam was another feat. After countless of asking for directions, we met a helpful woodcutter on his bicycles. He offered to cycle us there provided we let him unload his chopped timber. Off he went with all of us chasing behind him. This guy despite riding on a single speed old rusty bike, barefooted and with one pedal missing, was going on constant speed even upclimb! After a hell long chase after him, we reached Kampong Asam! He’s too good on his bicycle that he shouldn’t unload his woods! We offered him a pack of cigarettes for his effort.

From Kampong Asam, we take the so-called ‘pomp pomp boat’ over to Pulau Balat. Trying to get down to the boat was a feat. We caused so much amusement to the local and our clumsiness made the boatman shake his head in despair, uttering: “You guys are so troublesome.” Hahaha. Climbing up the other jetty was also another feat for us. This time round, this island was even backward then before. It was practically in the jungle. While trying to get ready, a little puppy came to greet us. It was so cute.

It was offroad action. Geez, we are getting lazier! Decided to push our bikes on the climbs though the terrain was rideable. In the name of engery conservation dude! After a series of true forest singletrack, we reached the so-called Jalan Besar road. This road is actually single track but wider. When we came to a fork, a passing villager told us to use the right route which was a shortcut. The route turned out to be quite scenic. We passed through a road of rubbles, like it was the aftermath of an earthquake. We also cycled past a shady forest village which then led to a series of climbs and downs. Fun but left me completely outta breath. Took a breather in the woods before we finally reach Sebele, a village by the sea. The boat transfer was another saga as we once again provide the villagers amusement on how we got unto the boat.

After a scenic ride, we reached Urung. The choppy waves threaten to smash Mich’s bike onto the concrete. This was finally a more advance town than what we had seen. Had a break by the pier before we headed down to Tanjung Batu town. Finally some nice buildings could be seen but the town is still generally worn down. We stayed at Hotel Prima, which gave us 2 big rooms. Their service was also good and the staff were friendly.

We went for dinner at a nearby open-air restaurant. It was at a back alley near Hotel Wisma. The food wasn’t as good as the one at Karimon, but it was cheap. They had a big screen showing badminton tournament held at Indonesia for our entertainment.

In the mid of the night, I had diarrhea and started vomiting big time. Great, it looked like food poisoning. I had to forgo the next day trip which Mich and the gals went ahead to locate the beach. Making my way back to SIN was terrible, especially with fever and the drowsiness after taking Mich’s pill. All I could remember was, a kid was wailing throughout the boat ride to Batam and while waiting for our ferry from Batam to SIN, I was sleeping on the ground just outside the ferry terminal. Not very glam but I managed to pull through the ordeal and arrived SIN safely.

This sums up the trip, it also gave me the phobia of eating z-cha from now on. The smell of it really makes me puke. More details of the route for Riau Island can be found here.