THE ANGEL ISLAND

-
Image: Wikimedia Commons

Pulau Bidadari or The Angel Island is an amazing and outstanding tourist destination which is worth visiting. It isn’t very far from Jakarta and it needs half an hour to arrive at the beautiful island.

Tourists usually go to Marina Ancol Port where speedboat and jet-ski are hired for travelling to the Angel Island. The departure is from 08:00 to 10:00 am. It’s so crowded at weekends. However, only two departures are available on a normal weekday.

While you’re on the way, you’ll see the islands which have their own historical values, such as Cipir, Ontrust and Kelor Islands. Fortresses, houses and harbours were built on those islands by the Dutch government during the Dutch occupation.

In the 17th century, the Angel Island was the location that supported the activities on Ontrust Island, in which the supporting facilities had been built. The Dutch East India Company relocated a leprosy hospital from Angke in 1679. That was why the Angel Island was called the Sick Island.

At the same time, the Dutch government built a control tower which is used for keeping an eye on the surroundings, so that they could defend themselves against an attack. Some Dutch and Ambonese had ever lived there before the Dutch army took control of the Angel Island.

In 1800, the British fleet came to attack and destroyed all the buildings on the island. The Dutch returned to take control of this island and rebuilt the facilities in the year 1803.

Three years later, the Royal Navy came back to attack and nothing remained undamaged on the Ontrust and Angel islands.

Once again, the Ducth came back to rebuilt the islands in 1827. The labourers who worked there were mostly Chinese and prisoners. A Hadji dormitory was established and functioned until 1933.

After the Dutch left the Indonesian archipelago, the Angel Island became unoccupied and nobody had ever visited there before 1970. Later, PT. Seabreez Company invested a large sum of money and developed it from a deserted island to a tourist resort.

Unlike other resorts, the Bidadari Island has the floating cottages. These cottages look like the stilt houses of the fishermen which are raised on piles over the surface of the sea.

Stilt cottages are also built on the island and they look like the Minahasa traditional houses. If you don’t like stilt cottage, you may choose a common cottage.

Anyone can play around the sea with banana boat, jet-ski, canoe and kayak. Besides, visitors can also have other activities like fishing or playing ball on the beach. Walking barefoot along the beach will normalize blood circulation like foot reflexology that gives a good massage to our soles.

There are a number of Javanese traditional pavilions (pendopo) at the beach. Those who feel tired can take a rest by having a cup of coffee or tea.

Drinking coconut juice in the cool breeze might restore your energy quickly. Some men and women sit or lie under the coconut trees in the warm sunshine.

The resort also provides speedboats for visitors who would like to go to Ontrust Island.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THE MAGIC POWER OF SATAM

-
Image
Photo  https://pixabay.com/en/planet-apocalypse-space-science-2967684/ Satam is a kind of stone which is found in the area of the tin mines of Belitung Island. According to various sources of information, the stone was given the specific name Billitonite by Ir. N Wing Easton from Netherlands in 1921. The Billitonite stone or Satam won’t be found easily, an experienced worker will find it in the tin field of the tin mining company. It is said that all the Billitonite stones are the meteorites from outer space. A complex burning process started at the time they entered the earth’s atmosphere. After being buried in the ground for millions of years and they formed themselves into a kind of hard and shiny black stones. The Billitonite stones are usually used as the ornaments and are set in gold or platinum. Some people like to carve something on the shiny surface for more artistic senses. Women will be very glad to wear them when they go to attend their friends’ parties
Read more

THE LEGEND OF JOKO KENDIL

-
Image
Image by Sabrina Eickhoff from Pixabay   Long ago, there lived a poor widow in a remote area of Central Java. She had a son who had a cooking pot shaped physique. In Central Java, the pot used for cooking rice is called kendil. As the boy looked like a kendil, he was named Joko Kendil. The widow didn’t feel shamed or disappointed, though her son looked like a cooking pot. She loved her son with all her heart. When Joko Kendil was a child, he liked joking and was well like by his peers. One day, there was a wedding party in his village and Joko sneaked in the kitchen. A woman praised the beauty of a pot, which could be used for keeping cakes and fruit. He didn’t know the pot she meant was a human being. The woman didn’t know the pot was indeed Joko Kendil himself. After fully filled, Joko Kendil rolled out of the kitchen. The people seeing this strange happening couldn’t help shouting bravo. They struggled to snatch that strange pot.  Joko Kendil was rolling faster to home. After reachi
Read more

THE JAPANESE CAVES IN BALI

-
Image
Image by Marcky Bolung , CC BY 3.0 As Japan had colonized Indonesia for around three and a half years, the Japanese left a number of historical objects. Japanese troops used the caves as bunkers or underground bastion tunnels and those caves are called Goa Jepang or Japanese Cave. Such facilities were built by forced labor, a lot of sad and bloody events had ever happened in that period of time. Most Goa Jepang or Japanese caves were the places for torturing prisoners to death. That’s why such locations are so spooky and visitors will always get goosebumps when they stepped into the bunkers or bastion passages. According to the history, a lot of people were trapped in forced labor during the construction of Goa Jepang. The locals claim that they often see the spirits of the dead near the Japanese caves. Some of them look seriously wounded and walked like zombies. Besides the walking dead, there’re the scary creatures that have the appearance of half human and half animal.
Read more