Beach life

Been to Bintan?

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December 8th 2006
Not many people have. None that we know anyway. It's an Indonesian island about an hour's ferry from Singapore, known for....well, not much, hence its anonymity. But it's going to get a lot bigger if the Indonesians have their way. What with people's general reluctance to go places that have seen trouble in recent years, such as Bali, the Indonesians are building up Bintan as a new 'resort destina ... read more

Asia » Indonesia » Riau Archipelago » Batam

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The Dutch began to colonize Indonesia in the early 17th century; the islands were occupied by Japan from 1942 to 1945. Indonesia declared its independence after Japan's surrender, but it required four years of intermittent negotiations, recurring hos... ... read more