Batam Island - Indonesia

Batam Island

We all travel to Singapore for trade, medical or travel purposes, so I will not write about Singapore this time. But what many of us may not know is that Batam Island in Indonesia can be reached in just over an hour by sea, very close to Singapore. Since Bangladeshis are offered free on-arrival visas in Indonesia, one can visit the beautiful Batam Island, which is only 20 kilometers away from Singapore by boat in two days if one wishes to visit it in one day or so. Many may have been to the sands of Indonesia, but this time some travelers from Singapore by sea will be told the thrilling experience of a trip to Indonesia.

The waterway connects Singapore with Batam Island in Indonesia. Located 20 kilometers off the south coast of Singapore, the island area is about the size of Singapore. Bangladesh's time interval with Singapore is 2 hours, and Bangladesh's time interval with Indonesia is 1 hour. In the eyes of travelers - our hotel in Singapore was next to the Mustafa Center. As planned, we woke up on the morning of 21st February, had breakfast and went straight from the MRT station in the park to Aslam Harborfront station. From Harborfront, I first showed a double entry visa and passport to Singapore, bought a return ticket for S ৪ 49, finished immigration and sat in the designated waiting room. After a while, notice of boarding came on our ferry (passenger boat). We showed the ticket and left for the jetty.

Batam Island Journey

I got on the ferry, which was very nice, clean and tidy, with fully air-conditioned chairs and coaches. The ferry started its journey at the appointed time. It should be noted here that if you want to go to Batam and return to Singapore, you have to take a double entry visa from Bangladesh. The ferry leaves Singapore every 15 minutes every day from 8 am to 8 pm and returns again. We set off for Batam. Seeing the beauty of Singapore city on one side and the beauty of Batam Island in Indonesia on the other side, I reached the Batam jetty of Indonesia in just one hour from the sea. As the ship approached the jetty, it was spotted from the sea on the hill of Batam with the words 'Well come to Batam' written in English.

Looking at the immigration system, it looks like Singapore too. Very quickly everything ended with lines and discipline. At the end of the immigration, the information center, money exchange shop, food shop, clothes shop, cosmetic-jewelry and other shops were seen in Batam center. We got an idea about the island from the Information Center, then decided to visit Batam's main mosque, Nonsa Beach & Resort, Nagoya, Costa Rina.

From the information center showed the taxi fare counter. We redeemed dollars, and became the owners of millions of dollars. I exchanged 100 US dollars on the money exchange and got 13,40,000 Indonesian rupees. Although the value of money is low, their economy is not shaky. Standing on a solid wall.

Batam Island

Indonesia is a country of thousands of islands. Batam is the third busiest entrance after Bali and Jakarta. It is the eighth largest city in the country. Commodity prices are lower than in Singapore as Batam Island is a free trade zone rich in trilateral investments from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. There are many electronics industries besides ship industry. Although Indonesia is not in the list of developed world, Malaysia is not a developed country like Singapore, but it is a very beautiful country. The country is moving forward with a focus on tourism and natural resources. Batam Island is frequented mainly by foreign tourists from Singapore and Johor Bahru, Malaysia, and from Singapore and Malaysia. The cost of shopping, eating, staying and traveling here is very low. There are many hills, forests, seas, beaches, markets, hotels, resorts, restaurants, bars, night clubs, massage parlors, etc. to attract foreigners.

Hypermarket Shopping Center

This time I rented a taxi and went out to see the beauty of Batam. The Hypermarket Shopping Center is located right next to the Batam Center. A very large and modern shopping mall. In addition to products of almost all world-famous brands (clothing, footwear, cosmetics, food), there are also many stores for many local products.

Main mosque of Batam

The Batam Center is home to most of the government offices and courts. We went to the front of the main mosque of Batam to see the beautiful clean roads, buildings, hotels, markets, mosques. Its name is 'Masjid Raya', a very beautiful installation. Three and a half thousand inside and 15 thousand worshipers can pray together in the outer area. The mosque is famous for its pyramid-shaped dome. I saw the 'Well Come to Batam' written on the hill next to this mosque very closely. This time we set off for Nonsa Beach. The latest models of Japanese, British and American cars are also seen on the roads. However, the city felt like a city of motorcycles. Everyone obeys traffic laws. No horns are sounded in the car here.

Nonsa Point Marina Resort

After a journey of about half an hour, we drove through the main gate of Nonsa Point Marina Resort. At the beginning we saw a beautiful golf course on the right and on the left we went to the calm blue watery beach to see the beautiful flower tree cottages of the resort. A sea of ​​calm blue waters on a white sand beach, a yacht floating on a temporary jetty on a wooden deck, rows of coconut groves on a concrete paved shore, an open-air restaurant next to it, a resort swimming pool on the ground, In a word, it is a very beautiful five star quality resort built in western style. I met an officer named Ismail in front of the resort. I told him that we have come to visit from Bangladesh. He said he knew about Bangladesh and Muslim countries like Indonesia so spoke with interest. I learned about the resort from him. He said the entertainment - I know there are hotel-like accommodation, restaurants, bars and many more. There are more or less guests all the year round, western guests come more.

Since there are many small islands in the vicinity, the water level of this beach is calm. Since we have less time, which means a day trip, we spent some time there and headed towards Nagoya, the main center of Batam.

Nagoya

At the end of the journey of about fifty minutes, we reached Nagoya, paid the fare and said goodbye to the driver. The main center of Nagoya Batam Island. There are many shopping malls, restaurants, hotels, night clubs, massage parlors, big and small. We toured the Matahari Shopping Center on Nagoya Hill. There are many stores of world famous brand products (clothing, shoes, cosmetics, food) as well as local products. From there I walked for three minutes towards the crossroads.

Costarina

We left Nagoya in the afternoon for Neo Costarina. It took about fifteen minutes by taxi from Nagoya to get there. Neo Costarina is a huge amusement park located on the beach. At the entrance to the park, there are huge statues of dragons, lions, horses, snakes, cows, roosters and many other animals. From the park, it is beautiful to see the running ferry and fishing boats of Singapore Batam running through the sea. After walking around there, we headed back to Batam Center to return to Singapore just before dusk.

Notable places in Batam

Our trip was one day so I didn't get a chance to visit many more places in Batam. Notable among them are Batam's famous Rearlong Bridge (hanging bridge), Tua Pang Kong Buddhist monastery, Duta Buddhist temple. If there were two days, it was possible to see the whole Batam well. Batam's streets, houses, markets, tourist areas and everywhere are clean and beautiful. I have seen the widespread use of polythene in Singapore, Indonesia, but I have not seen any polythene thrown on the road or in the open. If we want to make our country beautiful and attractive then we have to keep the country clean and tidy. Dirt cannot be dumped there. The habit of throwing dirt in the dustbin or certain place should be developed.