DIY Sight-seeing in Bintan Island

Part of my birthday staycation in Bintan last April, we dedicated a chunk of our 2nd day going around tourist spots of our liking. I booked a private car charter for 6 hours and it costed us around 80sgd including tips for the driver. Knowing that our accommodation is far from the usual tourist spots, we decided to start the day early by leaving right after breakfast. The driver picked us up and off we went to our first location, which was 500 Lohan Temple. The driver accompanied us inside the temple and helped us pay for the entrance ticket. There were not many people as it was still early, and it was hot! Our driver also helped took photos of me and my sister together. The temple was interesting as it featured 500 life-size statues with different facial expressions. Second location is Gurun Pasir Bintan aka as Bintan Desert and Blue Lake. This place was amazing! The very vibrant colour of the blue lake against the white sandy hills was so pretty. There are several activities available to do here. This was our favourite place. Lots of photo ops here with our driver offering to take photos of us again. Look for the 2D animals in the sandy hills haha! It can get very hot though so please be hydrated when visiting. There are many food and drink stalls here so don’t fret. The driver took us to a stall that sells coconut juice, sat, drank, and rested for a bit. Last location is Trikora beach. According to reviews, this beach boasts of white sand and clear blue water. Both were true but my issue was that the shore was dirty. We didn’t know if it was just that part of the shore since it’s a long stretch. It was still very pretty though. It was the beachfront of the restaurant Pizza Casa Italia where we had our late lunch. This restaurant has very good reviews which convinced me to try when we visit Bintan. We noticed there were more local families eating here and having a get-together than tourists. We loved the pizza, it was so filling even though it’s thin crust and tasted delicious. We enjoyed our lunch especially with the beach as the view. The driver dropped us off in our hotel before the supposed 6-hour charter because we arrived early. Still wasn’t an issue since we were very tired and hot due to the weather. We paid, tipped our driver and thanked him, officially ending our DIY tour. Featured in the photos are: 1-2. Bintan Desert & Blue Lake 3-4. 500 Lohan Temple 5. Trikora Beach 6. View of Trikora Beach from Pizza Casa Italia 7-8. Pizza Casa Italia #wheretogo #tripblazers #bintanisland #bintan #sanddunes #bluelake #500lohantemple #trikorabeach #pizzacasaitalia #indonesia