In December 2011, during one of the trail rides in Mandai, I think it was William that suggested to take a trip to Tanjung Pinang over to Indonesia with our bikes and check out some Kelong - Offshore platform built perdominantly with wood by fishermen primarily for fishing purposes (wikipedia) - Riding through the town and country side and stay overnight before heading back to Singapore.

We had a month and a half to plan the trip, getting our bikes ready, arranging transport and accomodation. I would say that this would be a good introductory exercise to people who wants to tour short or long term. Eventually, after much tussle, 7+1 of us responded and we were a group.

Here was the plan:
January 14th 2012
0700hrs - Meet at East Coast Park Lagoon, MacDonalds
0745hrs - Depart to Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal by Bike
0930hrs - Check-In
1030hrs - Depart Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal

1.5hrs Journey by speed boat to Tanjung Pinang, Teluk Bintan Port 

1200hrs (Indonesia time) - Arrive and Prepare to cycle out

January 15th 2012
1100hrs (GMT+7) - Leave Elly's Kelong by Transport
1200hrs (GMT+7) - Arrive, Check in and Lunch
1330hrs (GMT+7) - Depart by speed boat back to Singapore
1600hrs (GMT+8) - Arrive in Singapore and Head Home

We were prepared for a 60 kilometers ride but it was a nice surprise that the entire journey was only 36 kilometers and it took us 3hrs 13 mins and 14 secs (according to Mike's RunKeeper) to reach Elly's Kelong from Teluk Bintan Port.

Meeting Point
Drama started early in the morning even before we set off on our journey, when a flury of message appeared on our group Whatsapp.

[0637] "Going to be late, had to head back to get water bag"

[0638] "If you don't see me at macs by 7.30. I'll meet you at TMFT"

[0642] "<name> just called me, she overslept, and so was I. Will reach mac late"

[0649] "Ok me n James at Mac aleady"

[0655] "READY TO LEAVE THE HSE SIRS"

We all eventually got to macs with enough time to have breakfast, although we did have to rush to finished it before setting off to Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal.

After a short briefing that Rahim made, we packed and set off with everyone predictably out of formation. We took about 30-45 mins to reach Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal.

Checking-In at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal
The check-in process was quite simple, it cost an additional SGD10 to ferry the bicycles. The total cost for a round trip is SGD50 + SGD10. One thing to note is that not all ferrys take bicyles, the ones that we know that does take bicycles are Falcon and Penguin Ferry. You must remember to tip the porters on the Indonesian side. We paid around Rupiah 150,000.00 for the 8 of us.We arrived 1hour earlier to make sure that we sufficient time to check in. Pengiun had it right with their customer engagement as they provided us with ready printed/filled landing cards. Plus one to them.

Arriving at Tanjung Pinang
Being not a very busy port, the traffic at Tanjung Pinang was not too heavy, getting your passport stamped and going through customs would take around 30mins, depending how many people there are on the boat. The porters will roll your bikes outside of the terminal but still within the jetty compound. We took the second ferry across which landed us in Tanjung Pinang at 1pm in the afternoon. If you are hungry at this point, you should eat something, because the other place that we thought would be a good place to stop was at the town of Kawal. There is a restaurant there just before the bridge - Restaurant Cahaya - that serves good Gado Gado and Otak-Otak or also known as Otah-Otah. Kawal is around 25kms from Teluk Bintan Jetty.

The long journey ahead
The journey felt long just because we were unfamiliar with the place. After we got out of the city and the rest of the journey is just one straight road towards Trikora beach. There is just 1 fork around the 18-20km mark where we need to take the road on the right with the road sign telling us where Trikora beach is. Yes there is only 1 road sign to show us the road to Trikora Beach. We took 2 breaks. One to have lunch somewhere along the road and the other at Restaurant Cahaya at Kawal. From there there is about about 10kms to Elly's Kelong. Upon hitting the coastal road and with the change of scenery, we got our second wind and riding with a beautiful sight right next to you just give you a wonderful feeling.

Arriving at Elly Kelong
Not too long after leaving the town Kawal, we hit the coastal road. We had a nice but short coastal road ride. Upon arriving at Elly's kelong, you will first notice is humble arch entrance that says "Restaurant-Kolam Mancing Pantai Trikora" or translated as "Trikora Beach Restaurant and Fishing Pond'. From there you start walking or in our case riding on a the wooden stilt platform. It's like walking into a different world. The world is lifted up on a platform with water all around. Everything is built on the main path, the restaurant, toilets, houses and then you reach the lobby are which then opens up to the fishing enclosure where private homes and holiday resorts are built around. We got our keys, got our roomates, unpacked our load and parked our bikes and off we went exploring the beach nearby. We went around the Kelong first obviously. We saw a beach front across the kelong and wanted to head there. So we went to another Jetty parallel to the kelong and then jumped into the water as it was low tide and walked over to the beach front.

A few of us swam, while Yunos and I walked to the beach front and explored the edge of the island. As it was low tide, lots of snails and crabs appeared out from the sea bed and boats were rested on it's side. The kelongs were standing giants on the beacg. Adi and Shireen joined us a little later while James, June and William being the foodie they are, went to pick the fresh sea food and ordered our food for dinner. We went back not too long after the walk on the beach to freshen up and get ready for dinner before drinking the night away.

The next morning, a few of us, William, Adi, Shireen and myself woke up to catch the sunrise. Amidst a little cloudy it was a lovely sunrise.

Heading back to Singapore
From Elly's Kelong, we asked Elly to arranged transport for us and our bikes. We would not be able to make it as a group back to the Jetty on time unless we leave very early in the morning. This gave us a little more time to spend on the kelong as well. We barely made it back to the Jetty even with the transport. There was an exit tax to be paid at the jetty. Do remember to bring extra Indonesia Rupiah before departing. The porters loaded our bikes and we jetted back to Singapore.

It's a great experience with great sights, good coverage of what a bicycle tour might be like if you are interested to experience it. Looking forward to the next adventure...

Video coming up next... watch this space

- Mikefoong