Bintan is an island near Batam Indonesia. One of the Riau Islands. It should not be confused with nearby Batam, it is a different island a short ferry ride away from either Singapore or Batam. While other destinations are well covered, Bintan has not been mentioned much, if at all here. Since I am always looking for something different and favor the sleazier type of scene, I figured I would check the place out and see what I could see. This is hardly a definitive guide. In fact I will be the first to loudly state that there very much that I do not know about the scene in this place. I have spent a total of 2 days and 4 nights on two seperate trips there, don't speak the language, was very drunk most of the time, did not have a map, and was probably more than a little bit reckless and lucky. This should be viewed as one guy’s incomplete report given because there is a complete absence of any other information about the place here. It’s given with the hopes others with more time to waste than I do will add to it. It is starter feed for intrepid explorers not a how to guide.

This report is based on my collective observations from a trip December 2004 and a second trip July 2005. The scene there seems fairly static and not rapidly changing so I assume it is still current

WHY BINTAN?

Well for starters there are brothel villages with 50,000 Rupia short time. That is about US$5 and I am pretty sure I was overpaying at that. In some ways it is like a Cambodian chicken farm but with an Indonesian flavor. More "third world" than Batam. Sancho country.

There is also a lively fishbowl scene and a good freelancer scene. Prices WITH taxi commission are on par with prices WITHOUT taxi commission on Batam and once you figure out how to find some booking joints on your own you can get prices 1/2 to 2/3 what you would pay on Batam. The scene is fairly decent sized but smaller and a little harder to navigate than Batam.

HOW TO GET THERE.

There are two ways. Either by ferry from Singapore or by ferry from Batam. You want to go to the city of "TANJUNG PINANG", NOT to "Bintan island". If you just say "Bintan", you may end up on the north side of the island where there are squeaky clean family orientated resorts located far away from any action. You want the sleazy, seedy city of Tanjung Pinang on the south side of the island.

Both times I went, I came from Batam. From Batam take a taxi to Talaga Pungar ferry terminal. This is not the ferry terminal where you arrive in Batam from Singapore. Nowhere near it. This is well away from Nagoya on the south east side of Batam and will take about 30 minutes in a taxi. The first time I got a Taxi for 15,000 Rupia pretty easy. Second time the driver wouldn't go below 25,000 Rupia and I was in a hurry so I paid it. Either way it is pretty cheap for a 30 minute taxi ride. The Talaga Pungar ferry terminal is a little more chaotic than Batam center. The term clusterfuck comes to mind. At least by the second time they had a sign that said Tanjung Pinang on the ticket office and had made MAJOR improvement so they are working on it. Ferry ticket is 20,000 Rupia. Boats seem to leave "often" so timing of departure can be left to chance. After you get the ticket you pay a 250 Rupia departure tax to the guy in the uniform, walk out to the dock and look lost until someone hustles you onto an unmarked boat. No one speaks English at all so you just have to say "Tanjung Pinang, Bintan?????, Tanjung Pinang, Bintan?????" and hope someone points you in the right direction. Just to be safe it is a good idea to try to push and shove your way onto any boat that comes along. If it is the wrong boat they will shoo you away, if it is the right boat they accept your ticket. The first time I went I got on a really bad, small boat. Hardly even a ferry. More of a large motorboat. The second time they had a more or less marginally proper, small ferry boat.

From Singapore you would go to Tanhan Merah Ferry Terminal NOT to WTC/Harborfront where you catch the ferries to Batam. This is near Changi airport. Again, it is VERY important you specify Tanjung Pinang, NOT Bintan island. I have never come directly from Singapore but that is how you would do it if you did. The ferry is about 2 hours from Singapore. I 'think' visa on arrival is available at Tanjung Pinang but I only got my visas at Batam Center so it would be wise to verify visa availability before showing up at Tanjung Pinang without one.

ARRIVAL IN TANJUNG PINANG.

It should go without saying you will be accosted by aggressive taxi touts on arrival. It is preferable to call ahead to your hotel as soon as you know what ferry you will be on and have them send a driver to meet you at the jetty when your ferry arrives. Hotels do this for free here since they do not want to "loose" a paying guest between the ferry jetty and the hotel. My second trip I took this route and it worked well. My first trip I did not have the phone number for a hotel so I just closed a deal with the touts on arrival. I had read NEVER to do this since bad things happen to people who take taxies from the jetty but I did it anyway. They ask some crazy amount for a fare but I had ask a friendly English speaking local on the ferry what he thought was a fair rate was and he candidly said I will have to pay more since I am a bule but he thought 25,000 Rupia was a good price for a bule. I countered the touts offer with 25,000 and he jumped on it right away even though it was quite a bit lower than his opening offer so I suspect I should have gone lower. I was led to a white minivan with another driver and the tout got in with me which kind of spooked me a little and I considered declining to get in with the two of them but then I realized it was simply because the tout spoke English and the driver didn't. He simply wanted to continue his tout job and probably collect his cut from the driver after I paid for the ride. On the way to the hotel he offered guide services and to take me to ladies. For commissions of course. But not a hard sell and nothing to bad after some of the horror stories I had read about the perils of taking taxies from the jetty. I declined the guide service and they took me to the hotel I requested without hassles. Still calling ahead for a hotel driver is free and certainly safer and less hassle so that is the preferred method of getting into town from the jetty. Also if the touts get to thick and aggressive you can shake them off by saying "OK, OK, hotel taxi, OK".

WHERE TO STAY.

I stayed in different hotels on both of my trips. First time it was Hotel Rainbow Pelangi. This was a pretty decent hotel for the local. 2-3 star. Asian style rooms. Populated by old Singaporean businessmen with drop dead stunner Indo 'girlfriends' of the moment. Nice free breakfast buffet. Pool and all the basic amenities. There is a free driver for rides into town and OF COURSE he will take you to all the best booking joints for free ;-). In actuality you pay 50,000 Rupia commissions any place the driver takes you but it is actually worth it for the peace of mind and safety plus the driver from Rainbow Pelangi took me to much higher quality places than I was finding on my own. Someone with more time would do well to eat commissions with a hotel driver for a day or two until you learn where all the places are. Then go on your own. I will also say that all of the staff at Hotel Rainbow Pelangi were perhaps some of the most genuinely warm friendly people I have met in Asia. It was clear they rarely got an American there and they just went out of there way at every opportunity to make me feel welcome. I can not say enough nice things about the staff there. From the bellhop, to the counter girl, the maids and the kitchen staff they were without exception some of the nicest people I have ever met.

My second trip I stayed at Hotel Kartika. I chose it because I saw it from a large freelancer disco on my first trip so I knew it was close to action and there is a large beer garden, food court and booking joints within an easy walk from there. The location is good but it is run down. In fact many would say it is a dump. I found it just fine though and it was very cheap. Staff was a little surlier than the Hotel Rainbow Pelangi staff but no problems. Other than excessive wear and tear on a dumpy older building, no major complaints. One MAJOR selling point is the shower. Hands down the BEST hotel shower I have ever encountered in my entire life. Better than showers in 5 star hotels in Bangkok. What could make it so great you ask? Between the bathroom shower and the rest of the hotel room is a floor to ceiling glass wall. There is a shower curtain for privacy which of course I removed and hid in the closet immediately meaning the entire shower and bathroom is one giant peep show. NO privacy whatsoever to be found in that room. No "me shy" ladies. You can sit on your bed and watch the lady squat and wash her pussy on the other side of the glass. I get off on that. Also no ladies going through your stuff while you are in the shower since you can watch the whole hotel room from the bathroom. Not a bad thing. Kartika also has a free driver but he was busy when I needed him so they fixed me up with an ojek that was known to them.

I'd say Rainbow Pelangi is good for you if you want a nicer place and more civilized surroundings. Kartika is good if you want a cheap dumpy but well located place close to more action. There are other places that may be as good or better. This is not a comprehensive list of hotel options. Just the two places I stayed. More information on other hotels would be useful.

Hotel Kartika
Telephone #s (0771) 22446, 23389, 24579 (which ever one works)
+62 771 XXXX from international
Bad English spoken but good enough to arrange a driver to meet you.
Satellite TV, AC, hot water, ok bed, basic Asian style hotel room.
$26 SGD per night.

Hotel Rainbow Pelangi
Telephone # (0771) 21982 , +62 771 21982 from international
Good English spoken
Satellite TV, AC, hot water, ok bed, Asian style hotel room, free Breakfast buffet, pool, very professional and friendly staff.
$45 SGD per night

MONEY.

Sing Dollars are widely accepted. In fact all hotel prices are in Sing Dollars, not Rupia. Rupia is preferred for most other transactions. Brothel village ladies ONLY knew the value of Rupia, not other currencies. US dollars are more of a problem. They are not accepted most places including hotels and exchange places are sometimes hard to find and are closed at night. For convenience exchange before you get there or else exchange enough to last you for awhile when you arrive. If you are at the hotel you will likely need to have the hotel driver take you someplace to exchange and surely this must involve a commission. If you run out of Rupia and Sing dollars at night you are fucked and the hotel cannot help you exchanging US dollars if the exchange places are closed. I did not notice any ATM's but they may exist. There were banks that can do cash advances.

SAFETY

I am not sure I have a good handle on the level of danger here. I never felt threatened or endangered but I think I received more friendly warnings to watch my ass here than anyplace else I have ever been. "Be careful your money", "be careful nothing happen you", "aren't you afraid to be here at night, most foreigners are", "before I have customer Singapore, he get robbed by men with knife, they take everything", "keep money phone front pocket", "always lock up you stuff when you have lady in room".......bla, bla, bla,.... I received ALLOT of friendly warnings here. Some places were very dark at night and there were surly looking guys around. I also encountered my first blatant hatred of America by a Moslem here. Most Moslems have actually been very friendly to me but "Al Qaeda beer girl" told me strait up she hated America, would never consider even visiting America but would happily go to Iraq and Saddam Hussein could be her president....... but she liked me. She was actually quite friendly but the scary part is the anti-American rhetoric she was spewing was far to complex to have been formulated in her own pretty but empty little head. Some other element around there has been putting some pretty radical ideas into an otherwise nice lady’s head. Myself, I went any place I wanted any time I wanted. I walked alone or with lady at night in dark places. I took some pretty sketchy looking taxies and ojeks from some pretty sketchy places at some ungodly hours. I had no problems at all. Dumb luck and bravado??? probably... Who knows? I am not convinced the place is completely safe but I came out OK. The safe option would be to stick with the hotel driver and let him worry about your safety. Pay a few commissions for peace of mind. Or at least go with a friend or two. I'd hate to see someone hurt emulating my foolish behavior. A couple of old Sing guys I was talking with were convinced I was a reckless idiot. Possibly Sing guys are just overly cautious by nature, or possibly they were right. They did have better looking ladies than I did. ;-)

TRANSPORTATION

Sticking with the hotel driver is always the safe option. He is "free" and while you pay commissions, he is probably worth the expense. I used ojeks out to the brothel village and back as well as a really sketchy car "taxi" and a couple of minivans. In one case a well off Malay guy who was enjoying a night with the ladies just as I was, befriended me and even bought me a beer so I know he was not trying to get anything from me. When it was time for me to go he negotiated with the taxi driver on my behalf. The price quadrupled when the driver determined I was the passenger not the Malay guy. Still pretty cheap but bargain hard. There are also white minivans plying apparently semi-regular routes. I observed locals hail these vans and get on and off much like you would on a songtaew in Thailand or a jeepny in PI. I assume they are very cheap but I did not try to ride one this way. This would be a good thing for someone else to investigate further. They can also be hired as a taxi and I did do that but I bet it cost next to nothing if you use them like the locals do.

LADIES!!!!

Yes this is why you would go there. Ladies come in various formats and venues. In town there are numerous fish bowel style booking joints much like Batam. Ranging from low quality to quite good quality. The old Sing guys in Hotel Rainbow Pelangi were getting some drop dead stunners from somewhere. I saw some very good quality but I think the Sing guys had grabbed the best of the best early on since what I saw with old guys in the halls of the hotel was better than what I saw in fish bowels. I ask them where they got them and they just said have the hotel driver take you... Prices WITH commission ranged from 110,000 Rupia to 160,000 Rupia for ST. WITHOUT taxi I was paying 60,000 Rupia (~US$6) in some of the lower quality fish bowels in town. At one place I was quoted 110,000 Rupia, I said "no taxi" and the price immediately dropped to 60,000 Rupia so now I know what the taxi commission was. To be fair though the places the hotel drivers took me were always much better quality than the places I found on my own. Where are the booking joints? Various places. I was a little disorientated riding around with the hotel drivers. I could not find those places again on my own if I had to let alone tell someone else how to get there. If someone else goes, or if I go again a smart move would be to get a map somewhere and try to maintain a sense of bearing and mark where some places are. On my own, from hotel Kartika if you go right, down the main street in front of hotel Kartika and go down a block or so there is "Bintang Plaza" which has a large beer garden, pujisaria, and is surrounded by businesses. Most of the booking joints there are unmarked. Just look for heavy metal storm door open a few feet and light on inside. Stick your head in and see if there is a fish bowel. I found about 6-8 booking joints this way in the surrounding areas. This area seemed quite sketchy late at night though. I'd advise more caution than I exercised when walking around there at night. More exploration needs to be done in the booking joint area. This is what I found. Others need to build on this info.

There is also a large freelancer scene. The disco by Hotel Kartika (I forget the name) was well populated by freelancers late in the evening. There are two other discos with freelancers I know of and maybe more. I only checked out two of the discos but saw a third. I even scored ST with a VERY beautiful freelancer at the breakfast buffet at Hotel Rainbow Palangi. Only a half hour after my overnight lady wanted to leave at the crack of dawn this other lady and some friends just wandered in as I was eating breakfast. At the beer garden there were beer ladies who were a little more direct than is usually the case in Batam. They ask me for drinks which are only 5,000 Rupias and they sit and flirt with you and let you get touchy feely a little. Some will surely go with you but the beer garden format seems more of a flirting venue than a pickup venue. Actually a somewhat different experience than beer gardens in Batam. This is also where I met "Al Qaeda, beer girl". I liked her but she said she was a good Moslem and prayed 5 times a day and all so she just sold beer and talked to customers. Her friend was definitely freelancing though but I went to a booking joint instead.

Then there are the brothel villages. This is really what brought me to Bintan. Probably a bit too third world for allot of you wusses but I love the hell out of spending allot of time hanging out in these kind of places. In many ways it is like a chicken farm in Cambodia but very distinctly Indonesian. I love it out there but it's not for everyone. I went to the village at km24. There is supposed to be a smaller one at km16 and maybe a couple of others. I only hit km24 both times. Not surprisingly it is 24 kilometers from the center of town on the main road. Then there is a turnoff that kind of goes up to a little village. It is kind of on a hill. A village with maybe fifty to a hundred or so houses and buildings arranged along a road that kind of loops around and back to the entrance. I always took ojeks out there but hotel taxi is probably smarter. I doubt the hotel driver is free to here since they theoretically give free shuttle service to and from town or the jetty but are more than happy to drive you around to booking joints since they get commissions there. No profit for them to drive you to the brothel village so I assume you would have to negotiate a fare instead of free rides. Ojek drivers always just dropped me off on the road and just left so I am sure commissions are not paid there. I never succeeded in being able to verbalize where I wanted to go to an ojek driver. Obviously they do not understand km24 and English is often nonexistent on Bintan. I read that the correct Indonesian name is "Batu Dua Pulu Empat" but try as I might I never succeeded in anything more than confusing the ojek driver with that phrase. I assume I am WAY off on the pronunciation some how. I resorted to handing them a note that said "km24" and then smiled and said "boom boom lady". Usually this was returned by a smile and starting the motor scooter. Negotiate price by holding up fingers or writing notes. They usually opened by asking 15,000 Rupia and I was paying 10,000 Rupia (ten fingers) but suspect it should be less.

In the brothel village, just walk around the loop. There are houses with from 2 to 15 ladies sitting around on the porch. Bules are apparently rare there so you will get some funny looks if you are a white guy. Mostly everyone was very friendly and the rare person that speaks English will want to talk to you more out of curiosity than touting anything. Surprisingly little hustling was going on there. I got the impressions people were more surprised and confused to see me than drooling over the riches in my billfold. I also saw a few well off locals come around in shiny SUV’s and one of them spoke English and we had a beer and talked. I got along real well with everyone. It seemed safe in that the police control the place (there is an office of the brothel police right at the entrance to the village) and it is so small that if anyone harmed the bulie everyone would know who did it. A few of the local customers seemed sketchier than the people who lived and worked there. But some of them were surprisingly friendly too. At night it was a little creepy but mostly just a fun party atmosphere with local guys drinking and having a good time. I felt safer here at night than I did in town.

The ladies in the brothel village universally speak NO English. NOT a word. Almost all are fairly new arrivals, probably from Java. Sign language is all you have for everything. Hold up fingers to negotiate prices. I subscribed to a payment schedule of 50,000 Rupia. (5 fingers) 60,000 absolute max only in rare cases where I REALLY wanted that particular lady. Often they ask for 100,000 which I countered with 50,000 and said bye bye if they did not accept. Almost all accepted 50,000. 60,000was the max I ever paid. Several did let me walk away at 60,000 though. Also a couple of ladies retreated behind mami and mami pointed me towards the other ladies. I assume this was the ladies way of saying bules are scary and unfamiliar to her and she would like to stick to familiar Asian type guys. I usually tipped 10,000 rupia for basic service and 20,000 rupia for very good service. Close the deal and the lady leads you back inside to the room.

Short time rooms were basic and not real great. Better than a Cambodian chicken farm but not by much. Lack of air-conditioning was the biggest issue. Some had a fan, some were just sweltering hot boxes. Hard as a rock foam mat on a wooden platform Asian style beds. I saw some warnings to beware secret holes in the walls where hands come in and go through your pants pockets while you are boffing your lady. I never encountered this but I did keep money and phone locked in a lockable fanny pack in clear view. Service was usually OK but not great. I think there is a lower experience level than Batam booking joints. Ladies were a little on the passive side in bed and most did not want to even give a blow job without a fair amount of pressure. Still, friendly and sweet in bed. They were universally willing to go bareback but since I am a reborn Christian now I brought along two cases of condoms and used 18 condoms per lady. In fact you should bring several cases of condoms because I never even saw one on the whole island. As far as I can tell they are not even available ;-) I had fun and loved the ladies there.

Not much else to do. ST, go and drink beer, ST, go and drink beer, repeat.....repeatedly. There are several open front "places" that sell food and beer. Not really a bar or a restaurant just places that sell food and beer. I met a few local guys who spoke English and were very friendly and anxious to have a conversation. I never met one lady who spoke a word of English. In one funny exchange I was hanging out with a Malay speaking local guy who also spoke English. Apparently I offended my last ST lady because I was out of Rupia so I generously tipped her 5 Sing dollars. I think she did not know what Sing dollars were worth so she closed the session perplexed and later maybe someone told her Sing dollars are worthless or something because she came up to me and my Malay speaking buddy and unloaded a furious torrent of some kind of Indonesian language. We chuckled and she stomped away then the local guy ask me "do you know what she just said to you?", I said "No. What did she say?" He said he had no idea either, she was not speaking any kind of local language he knew. So not even the locals can understand the ladies. You are not at a disadvantage on the language issue.

I also understand longtime is available IN THE BROTHEL. You sleep in the ladies room. Not sure what it costs and apparently you must register with the local police and pay a small police fee. But it’s probably not a bad thing to have the police know where you are. Less chance of waking up dead if the police know what brothel you were sleeping in. I'm not sure this is even my speed but it might be a hoot sometime. I found the venue most suitable for serial short time sessions. I'm not sure if takeout long time is available or not but I got the impression that is not the norm here.

Coming back to town, the smart way would probably be to call your hotel driver on your cell phone and pay him or call and have the hotel send a taxi for you. I of course did not do this. I took taxies or ojeks. Where the road in the village loops back around and meets itself, drivers and/or ojeks will come by there. I always had to wait for a driver to come by late at night. Believe it or not there is a place in Indonesia where you cannot find a cab. To be perfectly honest coming back late at night in a car you get out there may not be real bright. The road is REALY dark, deserted and bad things could happen real anonymous like. On top of that I had to wait 30 minutes one time for a cab and when a really beat up car finally did come I had to share it with two grungy looking locals who were also waiting. 3 guys, one car in the last half hour, no choice but to share the cab but it did not seem like where you want to be on a dark deserted road outnumbered 3 to 1 by guys who look like terrorists at 2:00am. Nothing bad happened but the whole scenario spooked me a little and I am not a guy who spooks easily. Other times ojeks came around so at least it was 1-1 odds if he tried anything on the road. That road back to town did concern me at night due to its darkness and remoteness. You will be price gouged too but not to bad. For the shared cab ride I paid 25,000 Rupia. I suspect the two locals I shared the cab with paid around 3,000 each. Fair?.. no. Do you have any choice? Not really, when it is 2:00am and the car is the only one you have seen for the last half hour. The drivers kind of know they have all the leverage there. Still even if it is almost 10 fold what it should be. 25,000 Rupia is about $2.50 so who gives a shit.


GETTING BACK HOME

Both times I returned strait to Singapore. Just have your hotel buy your ferry ticket for you the day before you leave. No need to go to the ticket office. They will get it for you and put it on your bill. The ferries to Singapore are nice and comfortable. Your hotel driver will drop you at the jetty at the right time for free (tips as always are appreciated). Tanjung Pinang to Singapore is ~2 hours and again they arrive at Tanhan Merah Ferry Terminal NOT at WTC/Harborfront.


That’s about it. This should most definitely NOT be counted on as a definitive guide. I bumbled my way through twice, had a great time. Got laid allot for cheap. Didn't get myself killed. There is ALLOT I do not know about this place and I did not spend the time needed to find out. I had to rely heavily on the hotel drivers in town and paid the price for my lack of knowledge in commissions. A fair trade but I'd prefer to avoid it in the future. This is intended as a starter seed of knowledge about someplace different. Go at your own risk, have a great time but don’t blame me if you get killed or find it to sleazy for your liking.

IAS, a very nice intrepid sexcursion:-)

Thanks for sharing all your info, and your re-birth too. LOL

Bahasa Indo is the easiest language to learn in this world. Especially if you speak Spanish. Very little grammer.

Bagus!

Entertaining details that will cause this place to be put on my " to go " list. That warning about watching your stuff while youre ST banging is good for Indo and Cambo. I had no problem with pics in Batam. Given the language barrier what would be your thoughts on pics at this locale?

Sancho, you are one brave trailblazer. Thanks for the info, I may get to use it one day soon, although I'll probably skip the brothel villages (I don't like hard beds).

Damn, you are willing to go places I would never try. I am too big of a chicken. Good report. You are monger version of the Lonely Planet.

Great post, I'm visiting Batam/Singapore early next year so I might pop over to Bintan and check it out.

Sancho: A little more details on the ladies would be nice. The ones in the village. How old...what did they look like...etc.

radio

Sancho, thanks for the great info. Was the quality of the gals in Bintam on par with Batam (I've been to the latter). Definitely piqued my curiosity and may try to swing by next time I'm in Singapore.

Super writeup. As usual blazing new trails for us less intrepid types.

I really admire how you are willing to just plunge into places like that headfirst. You, admittedly, are aware that you may be flirting with disaster, but something as trivial as a violent robbery or worse does not deter you.

BIG thumbs up...

I loved this report Sancho! I wish I was there-but not necessarily alone.

Sancho, any idea about the times the ferries start from Batam and when's the last ferry back?

IAS...awesome report as usual. This is the kinda stuff I love to hear about...the out of the way places. I always look forward to reading your reports. Will for sure use this info when I get to Indo later this year.

Like Radioman I would like to hear a bit more re the ladies looks and attitude.

Any thoughts as to renting a motorbike/scooter there?

I know you like travelling alone but anytime you want a wingman I am there!

Let me know if you end up having time to meet in Cartagena...3 weeks to go!

Thanks for a great report!

Kudos Sir Sancho! Sounds like a near perfect retreat-- plenty of brothels and the price is right!

Sancho, is there any part of the world you won't monger in?

Master Bates.

Maybe Ilagan City?

There is another alternative called balai, which is very popular with Singapore locals. Ferries leave Singapore from 6 am and cost about the same. There are 2 brothel villages and you have to get there before 11 before the good stuff gets taken out. Overnight is US$30+ but you can bargain em down. Mostly 5-7 but you might get the 8 who will make it worth your while.