Adventures in Asia: Batam, Indonesia

Today we took a short ferry ride from Singapore over to Batam Island, Indonesia.

Batam is more of an industrial place than a resorting island, but there are resorts on it, and they're popular with Singaporeans looking for a short break.  We arrived at Sekupang Ferry Terminal.

Our resort is called KTM Resort, and it is a short drive from the Sekupang Ferry Terminal (the resort picked us up and shuttled us here).  On the other hand, we would not have minded a longer drive, because it was really the only chance we got to see the island outside of the ferry terminal/resort.

We are very happy with the resort, although parts of it look a bit older, while other parts have been recently renovated.

Across the water we can just make out the Singapore skyline.

Interestingly, there is a Buddhist shrine above the resort.  There's a large white statue of Kwan Se Im (Goddess of Mercy), which to me seems a rather unique thing to have at a seaside resort.

A more conventional resort feature is the pool, which is brand new and simply gorgeous.

Our room is in a cabin up on stilts looking out over the water.

There are two restaurants, both on the water, and we ate lunch at one and dinner at the other.

We relaxed well into the evening around the pool, at the bar, and in the hammock.

Tomorrow we return to Singapore where we will catch the Sapphire Princess and embark on a 17 day "Grand Asia" cruise, with stops in Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea, before arriving in Shanghai on May 12.