Riau/Lingga, Indonesia - dheera.net - Dheera Venkatraman's web site

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Riau/Lingga, Indonesia

Singapore and Singkep are two islands of similar size but in different countries and in different hemispheres. While Singapore is overflowing with technology, modernisation, and economic prosperity, Singkep in the Lingga archipelago of Indonesia, once a tin mining industrial centre, is now a quiet, sleepy island of small huts and slow-paced life, with a few remnants of the industry it once was home to. Its peace, however, is wonderful, and even more fascinating are the literally thousands of tiny undeveloped tropical islands between Singapore and Singkep of the Riau and Lingga archipelagos, the colour-changing waters along the way, the Orang Laut ("sea people") who inhabit the region, and the history and culture of the isolated region that was once home to the seat of the Johor Empire. While most of us are used to life on large land masses spotted with bodies of water that must be crossed, this region is a large body of water with specks of land everywhere. It is the journey beside these islands to Singkep that is worth the most; from Singapore, one must arrive at the busy Riau capital of Tanjung Pinang (either directly or via the industrial island of Batam) and then transfer to another boat to Dabo (and which may stop in Jago in inclement weather, as seen below). The return trip which departs early in the morning from Singkep is even more spectacular.

Singapore - Departing Singapore	Batam - Taxi through Batam to Telaga Punggur (Rp55k)	Mv. Baruna to Tanjung Pinang (Rp32.5k)	Leaving Telaga Punggur...
More traditional Indonesian boats	More traditional-looking boats	Cruising through Selat Riau	Bintan - Former capital and port of Tanjung Pinang
Tanjung Pinang jetty	Market in Tanjung Pinang	Market at Tanjung Pinang	Market at Tanjung Pinang
Thunderstorm hits the straits	Inside the rocking Mv. Superjet to Singkep	More storm	Big waves
Another boat	Cepat - Quick stop at Cepat	Boats and houses at Cepat	Anchored boat at Cepat
Singkep - Arrival in Singkep and heading to Dabo on land	Houses on Singkep	Another house	Fountain and mosque
Almost no cars on this island...	Another view of the mosque	Nice plants	View from a hill
Long road near Dabo	Despite being such an out-of-the-way island, some Chinese have arrived and settled here as well	Channel of water running through Dabo Lama	Another channel of water
Road through Dabo Lama	Coastal scenery of Dabo	Pelabuahan Dabo	Out towards open sea
More of the Dabo coast	Sunrise at Jago on Singkep	Low tides and boats in the morning at Jago	View towards Pulau Penuba
Pulau Penuba in front of the obscured, tall peak of Pulau Lingga	Cruising in the straits between Singkep and Lingga	Many islands of Kepulauan Lingga	Leaving the archipelago...
Pulau Penuba and nice clouds. Hard to believe that Singapore was just another one of theseislands a while ago...	Fishing boat... the only other sign of humans in sight here	Huge Gunung Lingga (1163m) in the background, obscured	Faint view of the base of G. Lingga
Open sea and a random island in the distance	Approaching Cempa, this time on a sunny morning instead of a storm	More view of Cempa	Cempa beach
Houses on stilts at Cempa	Coast, jetty, houses and trees	Anchored boat which was here yesterday	Approaching the dock
Another view	More boats and houses at Cempa	Coast at Cempa	Leaving Cempa... on to Tanjung Pinang
Hundreds of random islands like these pass by...	After the return through Tanjung Pinang and Telaga Punggur, here is the Batam Centre port	Moving forward in time again... soon-to-be "Mega mall" at quickly-developing Batam	New Batam Centre port
More Batam building projects in the back	Approaching Singapore...	Some islands south of Singapore	...and Sentosa
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