July 1, 2026
500 Lohan Temple or Vihara Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva was the most interesting place we visited on Bintan Island. It features 500 hand sculpted, life sized, distinctively expressive statues of Buddhist disciplines (Lohans) surrounding a tranquil courtyard. They are arranged symetrical, in an arc and it's interesting how some pop out, as you look down the rows. The statues were crafted by artist in China from 2010 to 2017 when the temple was inaugurated; no two are alike.
Found no vantage point to get an image of all of them, too massive and nothing high up to get a view from above. There were better viewed at eye level because they appear to be looking right at you soul!
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Can you pick a favorite? I had a several - gave them shout out below with my name guess - sadly theirs are all in Mandarin!
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As part of our Global Harmony Mission , eighteen of us, including 7 crew members, went on an excursion into the Mangrove Forest and planted 100 new mangrove trees. It was a fun, informative afternoon and nice to have some of our hard working crew, be our guest and enjoy the time too!
Bintan Island is our last stop in Indonesia. We have seen alot of this vast country, spread across soo many islands. Again our greetings in the port are so nice and friendly! The stand out of Indonesia is truly the people.
I am generally a cautious traveler. I don't want an accident or fall to take me out of this adventure, I am enjoying so much! On the Island of Siantan , motorbikes are primarily the mode of transport, it is rare to see a car or truck. All ages, males and females motor around the roads at such a civilized pace, I decided if ever a place was safe to try, it was here! My buddy Terri agreed and we decided to start simple and hire rides for each of us, to go up the hilltop, to a restaurant called Bayview . We saw others get drivers at end of dock and we found a local merchant who spoke english, and she went across the street to a group of men playing dominoes and found 2 who agreed to drive us, after they finished their game. The merchant helped us explain where we wanted to go and we agreed on 50,000 IDR each for the rides, or $2.78 USD !