Bintan, Indonesia
This jaw dropping photo is not photoshopped! Literally in the middle of nowhere, there is this beautiful blue lake and desert, far away from where the beaches and tourists are. After many bumpy dirt bike roads and confusing stops, this incredible view shocked me for a while. If you are in Bintan island, I’d recommend visiting to experience the blue blue water and the brown brown desert!
Transportation
This post is going to be pretty short and striaghtforward mainly because there aren’t a lot of options for visitors. Because it is hidden from the main road-probably a good 10 minutes of bumpy bike ride without any signs-you can only get there by a motorbike. The roads are narrow, muddy, rough and unpredictable, and even Google Map doesn’t work! There must be more entrance points than the one we came across but honestly we randomly drove into the area after searching for the right entrance for 10-20 minutes. Wherever you start your journey from, set your destination to Bintan Blue Lake on Google Maps and once you reach anywhere near 1-3 minutes away, you need take any bike trailes from the sandy roadside. With some luck, you’ll be able to see the clear blue water and if you go in more, you’ll eventually see the sand dunes (a.k.a. the Bintan desert). There is no other way to describe this strange pathway, it’s just an adventure from the beginning! Me and my colleague rented a bike from Pujasera, inside Bintan Resorts, then biked for half an hour-got lost for 10 minutes after arriving but it was fun-to finally reach this beautiful scenery of blue waters and sand dunes. I believe you can get a good deal if you rent the bike for more than a day, my colleague rented it for months so I’m not sure how much he paid for it but they do have a standardized price in Pujasera for a day rental.
What to expect
There are more locals than tourists, hence not a lot of English speakers around. There are a few local stores/food stands but I didn’t really try anything. Also there are signs that you can take photos with that charge you a dollar or less, if you are interested. Either than that, this huge chunk of land is filled with sand dunes and lakes, ponds, small huts and bridges that connect these all together.
Just like the photos above, the color of the lakes differ from one another although they are all in the same area. It took an hour for us to explore and take photos, escape from the sudden rain under a hut, and wash our muddy feet afterwards. Make sure you wear shoes that are easily washable as mud will (and when I say will I mean it absolutely will) stick onto them. My leggings was covered in sand/mud and we had to use water from the lake to wash it off afterwards. Despite all the muddy experience, the entire scenery of sand dunes and lakes felt very surreal. Because I was working at a beach resort, I wasn’t aware of such a beautiful destination in Bintan outside the beach!
20 minutes in, it suddenly started pouring and we ran into this small hut to stay under the roof for a while. There was a local guy sitting on the second floor, who saw us and invited us to sit with him. I’m sure he could have charged us, as there were lots of signs that asked for money just to sit down and take a photo. But he didn’t ask for anything, he just gestured to direct us to where he was. We sat with him for a good 10-15 minutes, peacefully listening to the raindrops. It was very nice of him to let us hang out there. I felt like although there are so many tourists in my resort, Bintan is still a small island with welcoming locals. Honestly, that’s the biggest aspect that contributed to how much I loved being in Bintan from other islands, as the locals were so warm and kind hearted. They weren’t taken aback by foreign residents or tourists but rather, opened up their homes and hearts to us and embraced us just the way we were.
Summary
My rainy visit to the blue lake and Bintan desert was such an unpredictable one. It was so rainy on our way back that we ended up speeding in the rain just to get away from it. I can confidently say it was the most dangerous bike ride I’ve ever done. But it was worth the trip, with endless sand dunes and blue lakes that I wouldn’t have experienced otherwise.
-Transportation
Bike from Pujasera: 30-40 minutes
(no other options due to narrow, sandy roads)
-Things to note
No entrance fee
Waterproof shoes (flip flops or plastic sandals are ideal)
Small local shops/food stands but not much to eat
Travel with Mon 