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| A view of the beach from the lighthouse. Julia is in the water to the right. (Click on the picture to make it bigger) |
The magical island
Where to go on an 11-day vacation? We looked at the map and saw a big island just northwest of Jakarta a mere 45 minute flight away. We couldn't find much information about it and no one we've met has been there, but a quick image search brought back some amazing beach photos - deserted beaches dotted with giant granite boulders, white sand, and clear blue water. We were not disappointed.
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| Having fun playing on the rocks. |
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| I can fix this boat |
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Our free boat ride where we saw a monitor lizard!
This is our captain Fred. The only other English speaker! |
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| Long bike ride, short stroll to cool mountain water |
Exploring
We decided to check out the island. We rented a bike for the week and headed out on the wonderfully traffic-free roads. The coast is lined with beaches, each more beautiful than the next.
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| Plenty of places to explore |
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| View between the rocks |
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| Julia on a deserted beach we found down a dirt road. Some monkeys showed up later. |
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| rocks |
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| A local gas station |
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| Can you find Philip? |
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| He swam all the way out! |
Bukit Berahu (Tanjung Binga)
We heard about this place on a hill. There's a restaurant up top, a pool halfway down, and 5 little cottages on a private beach at the bottom. We ended up staying here for 5 days despite the 100 stairs down to the cottage, then back up. There were only 3 other people staying here the whole time we were. It was like having our own giant villa and beach.
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| A view from our breakfast spot. |
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Philip liked the breakfast and coffee at the
restaurant on top of the hill. |
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| Julia enjoyed the big pool |
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We went tubing down a river in the jungle with some
local guys. |
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| At the river after the tubing |
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| A type of Tarsius Monkey. Indigenous to Belitung. He is only about 6 in. tall. |
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| Fun? This guy pedals his bike and it makes music and it moves |
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Giant grilled shrimp on the beach. I think we ate
shrimp every day. |
The lighthouse
There are many smaller islands around Belitung, so we hired a boat and took a day trip. The highlight was Lengkuas Island and it's lighthouse from 1882. Philip climbed the 18 flights of stairs for the view. From up there you could see the amazing colors of the water.
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| Lengkuas Island complete with steel Dutch lighthouse |
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| A view from the top of the lighthouse (Julia is on the rocks) |
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| Beautiful beaches to relax |
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| View to the beach from inside the lighthouse |
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| Enjoying some more beach time |
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birthday # 33 spent in another exotic locale
a little older and a little balder |
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| A colorful sunset view from our private beach |
