Explore Belitung: Sijuk

The oldest mosque in Belitung

It's my tenth month since I stepped on to this island. And there are places yet to visit. I've been in some places, some are famous and worthy and some are….well…

This time we’re exploring the North-West part of the island of Belitung. It’s located in the district of Sijuk.

The first spot was Masjid Al-Ikhlash (Did I write it right?). It's built in 1817 and the oldest mosque in Belitung. It's possibly one of the first Muslim settlements in the island. Unlike the other historical building, the Al-Ikhlash mosque is more into function. It's not big, it's not lux or outstanding and overwhelmed with calligraphy or else like any other iconic mosque.

About 200 meters away from the mosque there's a Buddhist temple with a Kwan Im Goddess statue. Too bad I did not take pictures of it, but anyway it's like the one in Bangka or Batam.

The second spot was the mangrove. It was located just like a stone-throw away from the Buddhist temple. There was nothing to see there but the mangroves themselves--that's why they called it mangroves…..wtf….

There was actually two canoes but they're just abandoned, stranded and tired. We walked through the wooden path and..yeah...nothing to see and I was like “Is that all?” Then my friend was like “I think so .. I hope so”. So we left.

The third spot was Pantai Singkik. When we're on the way there I was pretty much sure that we're lost. I mean, the red muddish road and there was like a bump or two in every 10 meters. I was wondering what if the car got cracked or whatever, there. Once we got there, all we saw was long white sand beach. And no others but us. It was beautiful, but too bad the wave was not surfable. I mean, it could've been like a very inviting and appealing beach to visit.

Actually we planned to visit a geosite in Siantu to sea the pillow lava but too bad it was getting dark so we decided to stop...not to mention we had been lost in the woods for an hour like omigosh!

The only issue was the access to the places. It would've been so unfortunate for the traveler first time visiting the area especially the beaches area. Too bad I didnt take pictures of the road that i mean as I pretty much enjoyed the bumping sensation and worried about the car got stuck or else. Overall, it's not really bad at all then, at least I was not stuck on the bed to death on my weekend.