Flying into Batam from Surabaya (my ticket said via Jakarta, but I guess the pilot forgot) the landscape was way different from Bali. Bright orange clay soil, with a back drop of green forest. Indonesia is a country going through changes and Batam is a case in point.
Arriving at the airport I just had carry-on so was able to get moving quick. At a hotel reservations desk inside the airport a return ticket to Singapore on one of the ferry lines was 102,000rp. A taxi to the port of Batam Center, 70,000rp. Driving out of the airport, the place felt a bit like a poor man’s Brunei. Not many people, plenty of new housing development, a highway system, but plenty of potholes and the suggestion that not everyone is loaded.
Immigration can be cleared at the ferry terminal in no time, the ferry people having a machine that reads the passport and prints out the relevant data on your arrivals card for Singapore. My wait was around 45 minutes, then was able to board the older 100 seater ferry, along with Indonesians and Chinese tourists. My cell phone still works in Batam, which is handy for Bali expats. The crossing to Singapore is about 1 hour.
