I’ve always loved islands (which is why I’ve chosen to live on one) and, with 18,307 islands making up the Indonesian archipelago, there are plenty more to explore. This week I visited Belitung Island off the east coast of Sumatra
It’s a quick 45-minute plane ride from Jakarta, making it a popular weekend destination for Jakarta residents.
Belitung is roughly the same size as Bali yet the population is only one-sixteenth the size of Bali’s. I loved the big empty roads and white-sand beaches, turquoise waters and extraordinary granite stone formations along the shallow shores.
Peter Piper picked a peck of Belitung pepper. The island is known for its pepper plantations (nice to be back on the spice trail). I later visited the traditional market in Tanjung Pandan and brought back two huge bags of piquant black and white peppercorns.
There’s even a Balinese village
A gremlin-like tarsier; each eyeball is as large as its entire brain
Some of the accommodation was a tad dilapidated
A refreshing dip in a cool river pool
A chilled-out boatman
Follow
