Total Solar Eclipse 2016 or TSE go over the only mainland in few places in Indonesia on 9 March 2016, the rest of the TSE view can only be seen in the ocean, it means Indonesia is the one and only country that can enjoy the Total Solar Eclipse this year, oh well it is an amazing experience one this year.
Since January 2016 I am busy to search which place that I can catch do the trip for experiencing the TSE 2016. i pick Belitung island simply because not too much cost to fly there as this place is close to Jakarta and absolutely because I never been there !! and the last one is Belitung is a perfect place to viit for sun worshiper haha..I am not a sun worshiper but I like beach and the culture.
Oh wait that is all about Belitung Island and where is it on the globe map ? here is the info I took from Wiki. Belitung (or in English, Billiton) is an island on the east coast of Sumatra, Indonesia in the Java Sea. It covers 4,800.6 km2(1,853.5 sq mi), and had a population of 271,868 in 2014. Administratively, it forms part of the province of Bangka-Belitung Islands. The island is known for its pepper and for its tin. It was in the possession of the United Kingdom from 1812 until Britain ceded control of the island to the Netherlands in the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824. Its main town is Tanjung Pandan.
Demography:
The population was 262,357 at the 2010 Census;[1] the latest official estimate (as at 2014) is 271,868. The population is centred in several small towns; the largest are Tanjung Pandan in the west and Manggar in the east, which are the respective capitals of the two Regencies (Belitung and Belitung Timur) into which the island is administratively divided. While ethnic Malays people make up the largest percentage along with Chinese people, Belitung has significant populations of Bugis, Sundanese, and Javanese people who formerly worked for the Dutch, mining tin. There is also a small population of Madurese who were settled there in the Suharto era transmigration.
Economy:
Belitung is a source of tin, clay, iron ore and silica sands. The Dutch mining company NV Billiton Maatschappij derives its name from the island's name. Billiton merged with BHP in 2001 to form the largest diversified resources company, BHP Billiton.
The island is also a producer of fishery products, pepper, coconut, and palm oil. People work as farmers, fishermen and miners. The island is easily accessible with eight daily 1-hour flights from Jakarta and 2 daily flights, with duration of 30 minutes and 50 minutes each, fromPangkal Pinang. The white sand beaches and offshore islands are helping tourism to become a larger part of the economy.
Geographical::
It is a medium-sized island of about 1,840 square miles (4,800 km2); it consists of moderately rugged terrain with several hills. The highest one is Mount Tajam with a height of less than 500 metres (1,600 ft). Belitung is bordered by the Gaspar Strait, the South China Sea and the Java Sea. Its turquoise blue sea is moderately calm and shallow, making for great sailing, snorkelling and swimming. Belitung is popular for its abstract granite boulders and brilliant white sand beaches in Tanjung Tinggi, Tanjung Kelayang, Tanjung Binga and Lengkuas island.
Well, without any doubt in the final week of January I purchased my ticket and hotel voucher to this place. Also in the meantime I still look for the option of using tour package from travel agency or doing it by my own. I am aware that I am a type of fan of being adventureous while on the road, I know myself so deeply, so I decided to arrange the itinerary by myself. Only need to find the information about the car rental, the boat rental and recommended places to see and to eat. I gather all infos from varioous sources. So here is my 3 days itineraries and follow by the trick and tips:
Day One, 8 March 2016
Arrive safely by Sriwijaya Ar flight SJ 052 at 4.30pm at Tanjung Pandan, flight was delayed about 30 mins. But everything is fine, almost all passenger on the flight were TSE tourists, (Turis Gerhana in Bahasa). I had a pleasent 55mins flight for sure. First time in a new city always make me happy and feel different, I am not a local, I am not a tourist either but I am a Traveler !!! (smileee), i am ready to explore the new place. Haha...Tanjung Pandan airport'sname is not too famiiar to my ear that is called H. AS. HANANDJOEDDIN Airport. At recent time this airport not yet an International one but the local government and the government of Indonesia have a perfect plan to develop it to the International one in 2017, hope it happens !! Hmm...it is a very small and exactly like the one in Manokwari, West Papua airport (been here too so I can give my opinion). Move out from the airport we are going to Kaolin Lake, the lake is not too far from the airport and ohh I feel so de javu through the road from the airport, why ?? because it reminds me of my home town, Ambon - Maluku Province, yes exactly I am not wrong to feel that way, hmmm seems this place will be my relugarly visit in the future hmmmm
Well, from the Hannadjoedin Airport, we directly go to Kaolin Lake. It is actually the former mining of an authentic soil called Kaolin, it is a white color clay. It is a stunning view, here you can make dozens of picts, don't miss it.
After feels the amazing view of Kaolin Lake, we went to Tanjung Pendam Beach in Tanjung Pandan town for sunset viewing. It's cool to be here though it's not a beach like in Kuta, means that I don't see people swim here but at the time I was there the beach in a low tide, very nice view here too. After taking dozens of pictures here then we moved again, Ohh here if you want to enjoy the sunset there are plenty of Warung (local eatires) here, you can have coffee here too
Moving forward to local famous restaurant Mie Atep at Jl. Siriwjaya. Mie Belitung (Belitung Noddle) is a signature food from Belitung, it is a shrimp soup noodle conist of bolied shrimp, slices of potatoes, melinjo crackers and bean sprouts, hmmm yummy and it is a perfect dinner for me. We then moved to go shopping of local snacks / food / beverages / tshirt / pin / key chain, etc at Toko Oleh Oleh, there are some kind of crackers here other than shrimp, there are squid crackers, crab crackers, fish crackers and also other than sea crackers such as jackfruit crackers, banana crackers, etc, it seems they provide good snack quality here. For the beverages this shop sells local honey as well as the local lemon, it is called Jeruk Kunci in bahasa. Well, the tshirt is nice, the refrigator's pin is also in avery good choices. We shoped a lot here because we will not going back to the shop again as the schedule here is too tight as a tse tourist, smileee...
After shopping our needs to bring back to Jakarta, we go to the local Coffee shop to try the local coffee, Kong Djie coffee shop. Here for the first time i must confess that the black coffee with milk is the best one, usually I do not like the black coffee powder but this one is different, exactly it can beat the starbuck one. Hmmm very good experience here. And like other coffee shop here in Belitung they only sell bread with various filling. But try the ice Jeruk Junci is so fresh one too and one more thing is we can actually mingle with locals here. So let's plan to come back here again tomorrow or before leaving this town.
From Kong Djie Coofee Shop (Warung Kopi as called in Bahasa), we were in a hurry moving ourseleves to the Street Foodies, a very well known for all Indonesian, it is called Martabak or local called it Hoklopan, what is that food ? It is a stuffed pancake or pan-fried bread which is commonly found in Saudi Arabia (especially the Tihamah and the Hejaz regions), Yemen, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei andThailand. Depending on the location, the name and ingredients can significantly vary. The name mutabbaq (or sometimes mutabbag) in Arabic means "folded" (source from WIki). This Martabak or Hoklopan we wish to buy is the Sweet one, filling with cheese, chocolate sprinkle, nut sprinkle, the taste is soooo yummy. According to the driver, this martabak is delicious one, own by a chinese couple. We need this for our heavy snack early morning tomorrow as it will be the longest day for us.
The last place we have to 'visit' today is our HOTEL, phewww...finally after the 'long' journey, we arrived at Mustika 2 Hotel Tanjung Pandan, Belitung Island. It is just a small hotel run by a family business, the owner is a young man, he is very kind and helpfull, very attentive to his guests. He also helped me to book the car and the driver as well as the boat. Thanks to Mr. Elrod for the kind service he delivered to us. I will recommend first timer visitor who like an adventouring to stay in this hotel, you still get a local touch, Elrod's father will come and approach the guest for a chit chat. Oh well, it is 9.30pm already, that not yet as late but we have to prepare ourselves for tomorrow early morning. We have to get the rest soon and the most important thing is we have to turn on our alarm !! haha...
First day today was running as expected, well done. See you tomorrow.
