Last few days at Club Med Bintan Island.

The next day our good friends were leaving, they decided we should all meet up at the pool straight after breakfast, in our swim suits and make a valiant effort to drink the cocktail bar dry!

We gathered at the pool and started ordering our cocktails all different types, we were not fussy! We swam every now and again as we got too hot in the tropical sun, all the while we chatted and laughed til it was lunch time and Raf and Scott had to be on the bus to leave this lovely place. We were all rather sad as we shall not ever meet again, amazing how well we had got on together as there was a huge age differance between us, from 75 years to 26 years.
Erle and I were rather subdued for an hour or so then we took ourselves off to the Archery Ground and learned a new sport. Erle turned out to be quite good at this and even won a medal for his efforts, I was very on and off and won nothing, any good shots were flukes!
A singer from the band who entertained us offered to draw a henna tattoo on my hand, it is a fish a seahorse and a guardian to protect us. I was very honoured by this gift.
We filled the last 4 days with swimming and archery and eating!

We can thoroughly recommend Club Med Bintan for a great holiday.

Kayaks and sail and Brazillian show night

Today we decided we would go out in the kayaks right after breakfast. The day was already hot, just walking down the beach in the soft sand to the kayaks was tiring, then standing around waiting for our kayaks also seemed very warm. We had to don big life jacket vest that also heated us up, but once we got out on the water in the pleasant breeze it was all worth while, we paddled up and down the beach and had fun splashing each other. We had intended paddling on around the headland to see what was around the corner. The man in-charge of the kayaks said there is a golf course around the corner but it is totally out of bounds we had to stay within sight of him or he would come and tow us back to shore! So we did stay within his sight and behaved ourselves. it was great fun.


Erle decided to book a sail boat for the afternoon as he enjoys sailing, so do I but I was already sunburned enough for one day and declined to join him. I suggested that Scott might like to go out sailing with him but the two of them were going our to the Elephant park to ride the elephants. We did this for free right here at Club Med but they had missed the visit of the elephant to the complex.
This is the last day at Bintan for Scott and Rafaella, so they took the opportunity. We are going to really miss our friends they have been so much fun, it has made our holiday so much better.

I spend a lovely quiet peaceful afternoon reading in the shade of the coconut trees with cocktail in hand , I just watched as Erle sail right up to the rocks at the end of the beach, and then have the embarrassment of being towed back by the man in-charge of the equipment. He enjoyed himself apart from being towed home by the man with the jetski! He tells me the wind caught him unawares as he raced along and didn't notice how close he was to the rocks.

In the evening it was a Brazillian night on the stage for our entertainment, very colourful, noisy, energetic,and entertaining and very much Rafaella's thing, she was disappointed that she could not join in with the dancing from her homeland, but she is still in the wheelchair unable to put any weight on the ankle. We did stay on for the party afterwards and enjoyed the fireworks and more dancing and also some nice Brazillian type cocktails, yummy.

Day trip to Tanjung Uban, Bintan Island.

After a lovely lazy day yesterday we were out on the beach soon after breakfast for a long swim, and looking at the coloured fish in the water swimming with us. There was a wide variety of them too. We settled down under the beach umbrellas on the sun loungers and started to read our books, but soon we heard thunder crashing around in the heavens big black clouds race over us, so we made our way in-doors just before the rain started, it seems to rain most days, but just for a short burst then the sun is out again, plus it never gets cold at all, still stays hot and humid.

We ran into Rafaella and Scott and suggested that we would hire a taxi for 4 hours and all of us head off to the larger town of Tanjung Uban to have a look around, we assured them as taxi drivers ourselves that the wheel chair would be no trouble at all, we knew how to fold them up and put them in the boot of the vehicle.
After lunch we headed off in the cab with a man said to know no English, but once again after a while of listening to us he found he did know a little and told us all he could about the things we were seeing along the way. The 4 of us had great fun when we arrived in the big town and put Rafaella back into the wheelchair and wheeled he all around the narrow streets even into the shops. We were interested in the fashion in some of them, rather different, what the local Muslim ladies wear.

I took a photo of Erle beside a delivery motorbike with its big wicker basket of goods on the back, there were many of these around.

Some of the scenery as we drove around was unsusual with strange mounds with trees a top of them, we wondered about them.

We decided we should have some genuine Satay, you know chicken on a stick and asked the driver where we could get some, he told us because of Ramadan it would be difficult to find any but he took us to a small shop and order some for us. When it was all cooked and looked so nice he told us it was Bambi! Rafaella and I, said not Bambi can't eat Bambi, so Scott said no its a much older deer, Rafaella said sort of like Bambis Mother! Erle said no it was just an old random unrelated deer, so with that settled we all ate and enjoyed the venison satay which was very special we gathered since there are no deer in Bintan. Expensive too I think, but Scott paid for them as we were paying the taxi.
The driver then showed us all the seafood restaurants built out over the water on stilts,we didn't bother going into them as we have plenty of lovely fresh seafood at Club Med.
We then asked the driver where all the people lived and where they worked.He drove us to several big buildings where clothes were sewed and motor bike were assembled and electrical appliances were made, outside each were hundred of motor cycles of the workers. He then to us to masses of compounds of two and three story building that the workers lived in, rather scruffy close together not very appealing living quarters we thought.
Rafaella took this photo and some others, as my camera had ran out of power by this stage.


Next he drove us to the Temple complex, with Chinese and Buddhist temples.
We climbed the stairs dragging the wheelchair, so we could all light some inscence in the temples and place it in the sand in a big silver drum with lions carved on the sides. We were fortunate that an elderly Chinese man showed us around and showed us what to do in the Temples. They were quite large and so open. Lots of bright red colour in the Chinese one.
There was also a big Muslim Mosque near by but we didn't go into that.
Soon it was time to head back to club Med, but on the way the kind helpful driver pulled us into a small fishing village and arranged for us to all have a coconut to drink, now we travel a lot but this was only the second time we had actually drunk coconut milk straight from the fresh coconut, and as we were thirsty we all drank the lot and enjoyed it.
In the photo you can clearly see all binding on Rafaella's ankle. and how sore it still is.
When we returned we all went to our rooms for a rest before the big evening meal, we all took cocktails back to our rooms to enjoy!
We went to the other outdoor restaurant for dinner just for a change. Erle and I were not that impressed as the meal was rather small, but it was a nice tender steak. However the setting was very special overlooking the beautiful beach, a million dollar view we all reckoned, plus a million stars overhead.
What a great day, it is amazing that the four of us get on so well together, after all Erle and I are older than their parents, we both have children older than them, but age seems completely irrelevant we all just are enjoying each others company. Wonderful, such nice people.

Our Friends accident in Bintan

Rafaella's unfortunate accident.
The next morning after a lesurely lovely breakfast we strolled down to the Panorama Bar with our books for a Latte. Hadn't been there long when Scott hurried in looking very distressed and upset he told us that Rafaela had gone over on her ankle awkwardly, while playing badminton last evening and now had a very painful badly sprained ankle and was on crutches. He said they were also in a room way up on the 3rd floor at the other end of the complex, almost next to where we had been placed. he said it took him hours to carry Raf up all those stairs last night and down again this morning. He asked just how we managed to change our room. We told him how tto do so, and said should they not have a room to change them into we would change rooms with them as we are now rested and quite able to manage now.But I also said to take Raf back to the hospital and ask the lovely Doctor Olivia for a wheelchair as i remember how hard it is managing crutches, specially on stairs.
About an hour later Scott came and said they now have a wheelchair and a new room almost next to us on a ground floor. Top marks to Club Med, managed beautifully.
We decided to swim after lunch today and in the pool so we could stay sitting under the umbrellas with poor Rafaella who was in great pain and all bandaged up. We were able to watch the water aerobics all the energetic people were doing.
Later when we returned to our room, we got a lovely surprise to see a monkey on our balcony, nibbling on the crusts we put out for the squirrel. We knew there were monkeys around, but this is the first we have seen.
My camera was cold and when I got it outside it flashed with steam that is why the monkey photo looks so foggy
We still all were able to go to the evening show and have a good time, it is so much easier for Raf and all of us now she has the wheelchair to move around comfortably in.
It was nice to have a lazy relaxed day around the pool.

Pasar Oleh Oleh, Bintan, Indonesia

Half day trip to Pasar Oleh Oleh with Rafaela and Scott.
After our usual big breakfast we headed down the beach for a lovely refreshing swim in the


ocean. Followed by a lesurely cocktail enjoyed under the shade of the trees, we made our way back for lunch.
After lunch we decided to take our books to the Panarama bar and sit in the sun while sipping on a cool fruit juice. When we got there we found Scott and Rafaela were also doing the same thing, so we settled down together for a quiet read and a bit of a chat. Scott said they had a taxi booked to go into the village of Pasar Oleh Oleh would we like to come along too, would we ever!
So it was a race back to our room to collect sun glasses and hats and money which we had not had to think about at all before on this holiday at Club Med as everything is already paid for.
The taxi was a nice big comfortable car with plenty of room for us all. Funny thing here in Bintan, you can not hire a car, there are no rentals to be had, sure you can get a hire car but it comes with a driver, tourists are not allowed to drive at all. So it is cheaper to just get a cab.
The cab driver didn't speak a lot of English and besides we had been told he was just a driver NOT a tour guide, he would take us where we asked but would not explain anything or offer advice. No problem to us, we were having such a great time together it was very noisy with laughter and chatter in that taxi, pretty soon the driver couldn't resist talking to us and explaining what we could about the countryside. It was only about a 20 minute drive to Pasar Oleh Oleh though a lot of mangrove swampy land with dense forest and some small cleared places, not many houses and only a few tiny village shops here and there. What we noticed was the enormous number of motor bikes and scooters everywhere hardly any cars, but I think every man and his dog must own a motor bike!
We got to the small town and the driver said he would be back to get us in an hour for the homeward journey.



Rafaela and I went straight into a souvenir shop to buy up lots of gifts for family, I liked all the colourful puppets in there for sale, many different types, but we didn't buy any of them. Scott and Erle wondered around looking at various machinery things outside amusing themselves while we ladies shopped.


Then we crossed over the road and wandered around in the pretty courtyard areas for a while.
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We noticed this strange building and wondered whether it was a water tower or whether it was sentry box type of thing, it was the feature at the end of the short main street and sort of on guard.



Rafaela decided she just must buy a native dress as there were some lovely ones in the shops and I thought I would have a foot massage, nothing much I like better that a good foot massage. It was a young man who did the massaging, or rather he did lots of flourishing with hot towels and purfumes and lots of gentle rubs and strokes but it was not quite what I had been expecting, however it was still lovely and relaxing. He spoke quite good English so we were able to have a chat.


It is Ramadan time in Muslim places and Indonesia is very much a Muslim country so i asked him if he was observing Ramadan and he told me to my surprise that he was a Christian, and all the workers in his shop were. How nice as we also are Christian, Erle and I had a nice chat about that too. More lovely perfumes were poured upon my feet, so when I left I smelled very oriental.



Met up again with Rafaela and Scott and we all headed back in the taxi, on the way we passed a big statue to the Javanese Rhino and the driver stopped for us to take photos.
Rafaela and Scott then headed off to have a game of badminton while we went for a nice lie down with our books before dinner and another great show in the evening, Club Med is a great place.

The day of the elephant.

The day of the elephant.
We read on the activities board that there was to be an Elephant coming to the resort for the day, wow, I just love to ride elephants I will be there I thought. And I was!
Right after our wonderful breakfast buffet with my specially made omelet, we headed out on to the soccer field to find the elephant. Many others specially with children had already made their way to the field so I stood in line in the hot sun with them to await my turn. When my turn finally arrived I was told the rides were really only for the children and their Mother, I was very disappointed and offered to borrow a child, in fact many offer their children to me for the ride. But in the end the Mahout agreed to allow me to ride with him by myself. So I climbed up the stairs and clamoured on to her back and had a lovely ride. The elephant was so quiet and gentle and the mahout treated her very gently too, she had no torn tattered ears from being ‘trained’, when the mahout wanted her to turn or to lift her feet on lie down, he just gave her a gentle tap with a stick with a marble on the end. So good to see the elephant was treated with kindness.
Most of the morning had drifted by as we watched the elephant so it was back to the dining room for a lovely lunch.
We took the camera down the beach with us when we went for a swim, there was a native fishing boat catching fish quite close in, near the rocky point where the fish are regularly fed, they should have got a good catch!


We really enjoy swimming in the warm clean clear waters of this bay, we often saw pretty fish swimming with us. After our swim we wandered over to the beach bar for a cocktail to drink while we watched all the other people swimming and sailing. Such a very pleasant way to pass the time. We noticed a table set up under the trees with lots of lovely snacks, set out for everyone to nibble on, all free as is everything, all the food and the drinks, it does make you indulge quite a bit more than you usually would, I have to say.
Stopped by the elephant with some grass I had plucked along the edge of the lawn and fed the elephant, she liked that and so did I as she gently lifted the grass from my hand with her trunk.
We retired to our nice cool room for a relaxing siesta and reading our books. We noticed a cute little squirrel on the balcony, it was very much smaller than I expected, hardly bigger than a large rat, with black fur and a lovely chestnut coloured tail, we decided to put some crumbs of cake out for it so I could take a photo. A really bad naughty thing to do, we are not supposed to encourage the wildlife by feeding them.
Met up with Scott and Rafaella again for cocktails before dinner and to watch the sun go down and have a great chat about nothing much; very enjoyable!
Dinner was just as good as last night, though every night there are changes to the menu all the food is so good we struggle not to make complete pigs of ourselves! Again we were dining with a couple of the staff members, they also have to watch what they eat, all of them say they have put on weight since they have been working here.
After dinner we all went to the big Show, this time it is Michael Jackson Night and very well done, moon walking right across the stage while singing and there was plenty of great dancing. All in all a great show, rather noisy but that was ok. A quick latte and off to bed.

First day Club Med Bintan.

First lovely day Club Med Bintan.
After a good night sleep we both awoke bright eyed and bushy tailed ready to explore and have fun in this beautiful place. We were off down to breakfast quite early for us. I went straight over to the omelet man and made friends with him. He was making giant size omelets and cutting them into pieces for everyone to share, but I asked him to make my mushroom with a little cheese omelet just for me, and he did a nice small size just for me one. Together with hash browns and a pile of bacon that was my breakfast every morning, though I quite often added a bowl of fresh pineapple and papaya as well.
We spotted the nice young couple Scott and Rafaella at breakfast and stopped by to have a chat, we are sure to run into each other again. They had been out early for a nice run along the beach before it got too hot in the sun.
After breakfast we wandered over to the list of activities for the day and discovered there was a Nature Walk in about half an hours time, so we raced back to our room and put on some walking shoes and a hat and the camera and joined in with about a dozen other on a delightful walk through the jungle. We saw very little of interest animal wise, as we were all talking too much, but we saw some birds and a squirrel then one of the walkers found a huge monitor Lizard in a ditch so we did get a photograph of some wild life.






















On the walk we stopped by the sign on the main highway and posed beside it. The temperature is so hot and humid we couldn't walk for long in the hot sun, but it was very pleasant in the jungle.

After the walk it was about lunch time so we decided to have a quick lunch then go for a lovely swim in the ocean.
Lunches, in fact all meals at Club med are hardly quite, there is just so much variety of interesting food; you can't rush the selection or the eating of it.
Afterwards we changed into swim suits and headed for the lovely white powdery sand beach, secured a sun lounger with umbrella for a bit of a laze, before we dashed across the hot sun for a great swim in the warm water, it was just lovely a great beach with gently lapping wavelets and shallow water for some distance. After the swim we wandered up to the Beach Bar and ordered ourselves a yummy cocktail to drink on our sun loungers while we read our books and watched other swimmers.
Soon we thought it would be a good idea to head back to our nice cool room for a lie down before dinner and all the entertainment we have heard about.
We actually slept as we were still jet lagged from all the traveling we did the last couple of days.
We got dressed a little for dinner apparently anything goes, but it is quite nice to dress up a bit. had a most wonderful dinner, with several staff members joining us. They encouraged us to be sure and go to the big Comedy Show that some members of the staff put on. It was so funny hardly and words were spoken it was genuine comedy and had everyone laughing. There are so many languages spoken around here a mimed comedy is the best option. it was late by time we headed back to our room.
Good first day, it is very hot here and humid, but we are going to love being here.