2
You can use a boat to either, Batam or Bintan.No "g". Lots of Singaporeans have 2nd wives on either island, or go for "it".
Lots of people do it over the weekend.
Easy as buying a tix to get a seat, and you are done.
Not sure about the cost, but the trip by fast ferry should take no longer than an hour and a bit.
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There are also cheap tours that take you by bus and boat to Bukittingi, West Sumatra.5
Hi,To get into Idonesia from Singapore, first go to Harbour Front in Singapore (there is a MRT station there). From here catch a ferry (Batamfast or Penguin) to Batam, takes about 40 minutes - you have a choice of either Batam Cantre or Sekupang Port. Sekupang is where the Pelni ship 'Kelud' docks. This ship covers the route from Belawan (Medan) in Sumatra - Palau Balai - Batam - Tanjung Priok (Jakarta Port). Heading South to Jakarta, it is scheduled to arrive Batam every Wednesday at 12 midday. Heading North to Medan, it arrives in Batam at 10am every Saturday. To Buy tickets, go direct to the PELNI office in Batam, convienetly located within walking distance of Sekupang so you can avoid the comission grabbing touts outside the terminal building!!(leaving the international terminal in Sekupang, cross the car park to the main road, turn right, then take the next left up the hill. The office is on the left just off the road.) I did this trip from Batam to Jakarta early September, travelled 'Ekonomi no seat' (just camp out on deck!) and it cost me 255,000 Rupiah, it takes about 27 hours. If you're feeling flush, you can go first class for about 800,000Rp, or maybe compromise and go second class for around 450,000, IIRC.
Another option is to take the local ferry from Batam to Bintan (you may have to go to Batam centre for this I'm not sure, or there might be direct ferries to Bintan fron Singapore, I haven.t checked this out yet - I'm actually doing this myself later this week, I'm in Singapore now!), and take the PELNI ship from Kijiang Port to Pontianak in west Kalimantan. This ship ('Bukit Raya') covers the route between Bintan - Letung (Anambas Islands) - Tarempa - Natuna - Midai - Pontianak - Surabaya - Sampit (South Kalimantan).
I have the full PELNI scedule for 2008 if you need any further info on exact times and dates etc. - but I think its always best to double check with the local PELNI office as well.
There are also fast ferries to Buton (for Pekanbaru) and Dumai ('Dumai Express') both on the east coast of Sumatra from Sekupang. After leaving the international terminal in Sekupang, go to the terminal next door on the right side for the boats to Sumatra. I have done this trip from the Sumatran side, it takes about 6 hours from Butun to Batam, but it took 4 hours on the bus from Pekanbaru to the coast. (It's stated in the lonely planet that you can go direct from Pekanbaru, but I'm not sure the ferries go up the river any more); it's maybe another 2 hours on the ferry to Dumai. I think most of these boats leave Batam in the morning, so you would have to get the first ferry from Singapore.
Hope this helps!!
Edited by: steve_jh
Edited by: steve_jh
