Friday, January 9, 2015

Ferrying Across Singapore Strait to Batam, Indonesia

My friend, Anne and I started our journey to Batam, Indonesia from TBS  also known as Terminal Bersepadu Sentral in Bandar Tasik Selatan. I love how modern and efficient the bus transport system is there. I could just simply buy a ticket to any part of West Malaysia at any counters in the station as ticketing is now centralized! A big plus for efficiency! Now everyone can "bus"! Ehh...

My friend and I bought return tickets to Larkin Johor Bahru for our first leg of the journey. Knowing that it takes about 5 hours to get there, we opted the midnight bus so that we can reach Johor by Subuh. And after Subuh prayers (there's a relatively large mushollah at Larkin Bus Station on the third floor), we'll catch the earliest ferry to Batam from Stulang Laut Johor Bahru ferry port.

Oh ya.. did you know that you could catch some eye-shut at Larkin's mushollah? There were many people sleeping there! Hahaha! You could also bath at the paid toilets there. If you don't fancy the food stalls found there, you can always opt eating at Pizza hut or KFC situated just a walking distance away.
Sunrise from Stulang Laut Johor Bahru, before boarding the ferry.



 Total Transportation Costs TBS-Batam

Return bus tickets KL-JB-Larkin = RM 70 (approx)
Taxi ride to Stulang Laut from Larkin = RM20 (fluctuates because if you're lucky you can bargain for RM15)
Return Ferry Tickets Stulang Laut to Batam Center = RM125
Batam Center Ferry Tax = RP 115,000 ` RM34.00
Taxi Ride from Stulang Laut to Larkin = RM20

Total =  RM269 (If you travel solo)

The ferry tickets for 7:15am.

The time it takes for the ferry to get to Batam Center from Stulang Laut is approximately 90 minutes. I sometimes forget the one hour time difference between Indonesia and Malaysia. Hehe. Immigration and customs could be lengthy so plan your time wisely. Gate closes half an hour before departure. Cehh... like an airport!

No food is being sold on the ferry but there'll be some-one calling out to passengers to those interested in exchanging their currencies on board. Nothing much to do on the ferry so I opted to sleep instead. :P
   

4 comments:

chekgu Bani Hassim said... [Reply]

Pabila Jard bertravel lagi...
ke Batam ek kalini? Ape agaknya yg menarik kat sana ek?

Jard The Great said... [Reply]

@ chekgu.... hahaha. dah dua kali kot ke batam.. ini baru nk update.

Wak Lat said... [Reply]

Salam. Hee batam pun sudah lama saya bepergian.

Jard The Great said... [Reply]

@ tiga lalat.. sila pergi!! dekat je!