OffTheTrack

Travel time: October 2006 - July 2009  |  by Florian Mueller

Singapore 29.12.07 - 09.01.08:: Save money in Batam:

When we arrived in Batam, we started to look for a hostel. There is no tourist information. We think here are no tourists at all. We drove with a taxi into the city, but the funny thing was the driver had to use a screwdriver to start the car and the suspension was totally worn out. It cost us 4 Euro (40 000 Rp) to drive with the taxi 15 min into the city. We asked the nonenglish speaking locals for a cheap place to sleep. One of them guided us for a little bit ( 4 Euro after huggeling before 10 Euro) money to a hotel. On the way we could see the big difference between Singapore and Batam. Bad roads, everything looks poor, dumped waste everywere, begging childs, stinky rivers and more. We didn't fell well here.

We booked into a hotel (hotel Ozon) for 175 000 Rp (17,50 Euro) and we got our own room, tv, roomservice and bathroom.

We even had our own toilet with a buttshower. But we still prefer the toiletpaper. We are not ready yet...

Everything was really cheap here. But that is the only good thing here. We think it's not the most beautyful and safest place here.

Ther were a paradise for real gamers. You pay 0.15 Euro for a game. Even we played a lot here

The shopping for a day including food, beer and chips cost us 212 000 Rp (18 Euro)

The one and only interesting place is a big market where you can buy everything. But the smell was disgusting.

We think the Batams believed that we are ALIENS. We recon that we were the only western people there. Everybody looked at us, some with open mouth. A few were brave enough to yell us "I love you"

All in all we paid 1 037 700 Rp ( 80 Euro) for a week in the hotel, food, mini bar, telephone and service. Moritz paid 250 000 Rp (20 Euro) for his international phonecall.

Now it was time to pick up our car at the habour. So we took the ferry back to Singapore.

© Florian Mueller, 2008
You are here : Overview Asia Indonesia Save money in Batam:
The trip
 
Description:
Let's cross the half world to drive home from Singapore to Germany
Details:
Start of journey: Oct 02, 2006
Duration: 33 months
End of journey: July 2009
Travelled countries: Germany
Singapore
Indonesia
Malaysia
Thailand
Cambodia
Vietnam
The Author
 
Florian Mueller is an active author on break-fresh-ground. since 16 years.