We've just returned from a long weekend in Indonesia. It was a wild weekend full of minor absurdities and unexpected surprises. We've made treasured memories and have celebrated joyful moments. We returned filthy dirty and very tired, but loved the experience.
A Kelong is a Malay word to describe a platform (usually wood) built over the water for (usually) fishing purposes. A friend from (Scott's) work recommended Shalom Kelong for a rustic family weekend in Indonesia. Once I had the details, I knew I wanted to check it out! It sounded so different from any holiday I have tried before. The price was very good and the chance to try something new and different could not be missed!
It takes about 2 hours to get to Shalom Kelong from Singapore. We took a 1 hour ferry ride to Batam, Indonesia and then we took a large van for about 1 hour across Batam to another island called Galang. Shalom Kelong is located on an island off of the coast of Galang. So, following the drive we piled into another small boat and we were taken to the kelong.
It was rustic! Nearly camping conditions. We did have a toilet (western toilet!) and a shower (a trickle of cold water). Each room has 6 bunk beds. Our group was 3 families, 10 kids and 6 adults. There is a kitchen and all of our food was included in the price.
Immediately upon arrival the children found 2 boxes of newly hatched chicks! Wow! I had no idea how much entertainment chicks provided! These chicks were very well loved by our children during our stay. They were all named. We had Special, Lady Gaga, Salt, Spit, Justin Bieber, just to name a few (I can't remember the others). Poor chicks. I think a few of them were loved a little too much.
Our swimming pool was a large fenced off area in the ocean. It was really fun because the water level in the "pool" would fall and rise with the tide. Sometimes, the water was so shallow it only came up to my knee and other times it was too deep for the children to stand.
Each room had a small balcony off of the back of it. This provided us with a way to get a cross breeze through the rooms and also there was a clothes line to hang our our wet pieces. We did have electricity, but only at night time. It was shut off during the day.
Lily became quite the fisher-woman on this trip! She learned to bait her own hooks and cast her line out. There were so many fish that one was caught nearly every time a line went in! She loved it!
Most of the fish caught were quite small, but the joy was there all the same.
On the beach near our kelong, a boat is under construction. It was interesting to see! The beach was covered in chickens and garbage and seashells. I think the black is seaweed. It wasn't a beach that we spent much time playing on. There were ants and broken glass too. We decided it was better to stay on the kelong and to swim in our swimming pool.
We found jelly fish! These brown ones don't sting (something new I learned!). We did find 1 clear jelly fish that does sting too, but lucky only 1 stinging kind. Lots of these brown ones. The kids enjoyed catching them. They also loved chasing the crab around with nets and actually caught quite a few of them!
On the first night, our host Andrew showed us how they catch squid. It's called squid jigging. There is a large net under the jetty at the end. They hoisted it up using ropes and logs. Several green eyed squid were captured in the process. As they hoisted the net, we saw the squid inking.
The food was interesting. It's lovely to have the meals included, but also difficult because then we have no control over the menu. Luckily, my two friends and I packed some food for the children. There were some things served that they happily ate (rice, pasta, some vegetables, fruit and bread). Some dishes, they were not interested in. This dish was served for breakfast. They are tiny fish! You can see the eyeballs. I'm not sure that I understood correctly, but I think the fish are anchovies. On facebook, I posted the seashells that were served for lunch on the last day. We didn't eat the hard part, but pulled the little animal out and ate it.
Here's stinging jelly fish that we found and trapped in our net.
We went on a nature hike up the hill behind the kelong.
We took a boat ride over to a neighboring beach (later named tsunami beach, I'll explain...). In the water near Tsunami Beach, Scott found this shell with the conch still living inside! I was so excited! I've never seen such a large shell with something living inside!
At Tsunami Beach, there were several broken down kelongs in various states of disrepair. The beach itself was littered with garbage and planks of wood from the broken kelongs, rusty nails and broken crab shells. When we pulled up to the beach, my friend's son asked his mother if this was where a tsunami hit. It sure looked like it! From that point on, we named it tsunami beach.
After we arrived on the beach and we were looking in the water and the kids were climbing around the broken kelongs, we noticed some people were there. I asked our host if these places were inhabited and he said that some squatters were living there. The squatters were there to trap crab and lobster to sell at the markets. Andrew (our host) bought a large bag of crab from them and we had that for dinner!
The kids loved jumping from this platform at Tsunami Beach!
Our scary boat. Mostly, the boat was fine, but there was one trip that I felt very nervous on. We all piled into this boat (16 in our group plus 3 other adults (guide + 2 boat operators)). The children all wanted to sit on the nose of the boat, so I think there were 7 or 8 kids up there. The waves started to get quite big and the wind started blowing. The boat was tipping and I was sure we were all going in. The kids thought it was awesome and we all made it safely. Whew!
Back at the kelong, Lily caught an octopus! It was very exciting! It was small, but very squirmy. It kept trying to get out of this bucket. I was surprised at how quick it was and how it could easily escape. Lily's octopus only had 7 tentacles. One of the other kids in our group caught another octopus! His had 8 tentacles and it inked all over when it was being held. So exciting! We released them both back to the ocean.
On our last evening, we collected starfish! I have never seen so many starfish! There were dozens and dozens of them. Andrew collected a bunch and brought them to the kelong for the children to see and play with. We put them in the swimming pool (low tide) and we could watch them turn themselves over. Some of them scurried away (they move pretty fast!) and others chose to bury themselves in the sand. It was amazing!
We sure enjoyed our weekend away! I'm not sure if I would do it again, but if I do, I would do a few things differently... I would want to bring enough friends to rent out the whole place. I would bring more of my own food and use the BBQ to cook it. I would bring more activities for the children, games, painting, coloring. Inflatable toys for the pool.
It was a wonderful rustic adventure in Indonesia. I'm so happy we tried it and grateful for the experience! It certainly was unlike anything I've tried before!
