Nostalgia Yasin Bungalow, Trikora Beach, Indonesia

This was shot around Sunrise at Nostalgia Yasin Bungalow, a resort in the North Eastern part of the Island of Bintan, Rhiu Province, Indonesia.

But what you see is not what I experienced. Curious? Read on..

A little bit of history:

Until around 2000, the only tourist activity along Bintan's east coast was at Trikora Beach, a popular hang-out for local visitors from Tanjung Pinang as well as foreign back-packers. Since then, the back-packer scene has largely given way to larger developments and other tourist destinations that have popped up along the east coast (see below). For local day-trippers, Trikora remains a popular day trip though. Trikora is actually quite a long stretch of separate beaches, with beaches numbered from south to north as one to four (satu, dua, tiga, empat in Indonesian).

This place, Nostalgia Yasin Bungalow is at the 38km mark from Tanjung Pinang. It is Bintan Agro's rustic budget alternative to their more expensive resort 2km away (which caters plainly to Singaporeans!).  While we did multiple trips between Yasin and Agro for watersports and what not, I kinda liked Yasin better. It was far less crowded with a decent shoreline and white sands!

Mercy of the tides:


Everything in this area is at the mercy of the tides. What was a sparking ferry pickup point in the morning when we left for snorkeling turned into a mudflat by the time we returned. The boatman dropped us off about half a kilometer away in knee deep water making us walk all the way over to the shore. In another 2 hours, the water was back up again paving way for watersports.

The Deception:


The previous morning I was all geared up to capture the sunrise. But a early morning thunderstorm just around the right time played spoilsport too my plans. I shot this while waiting at the resort for a taxi to pick us up very early the next morning. The mood when  I shot this nothing close to the serenity that one would normally associate with this picture. We were about an hour away from the Ferry Terminal where we would have to pass through Customs and Emigration checks and board a ferry in less than 2 hours. All this after a whole night spent playing cards! As we waited around furiously shooting profanities at the resort for not being organized, I wandered away into the beach to capture this one!

Exif:


f/10 | 30 sec | ISO 100 | 10mm @ Canon 10-22