June 26, 2026
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!
The ride was sooo smooth - we both had great drivers! It lasted all of 10 minutes and we were hooked!
Our Bayview lunch was delicious - Terri had a local tom yum soup with coconut milk, chicken, egg, rice and veggies and I had another local dish called Mie Goreng Tarempa which was noodles fried egg and chicken and YUMMY!!
The view from BayHill Restaurant was great and the breeze was utterly fantastic! Such a great spot !! We think they should have been reviewed much higher, than La Luna!
The restaurant building is huge and when you get there, you realize it is because, it is attached to an undercover soccer field.
Turns out our drivers just waited for us in parking lot and field area for the hour we requested for lunch. We were feeling bold so I used google translate to ask them if they would mind taking us back to port a different way, more inland so we could see more of island, say another 15 minutes and we would pay them 100,000 each in lieu of 50,000 IDR. They agreed and we headed off!
My second ride hit a bit of a hiccup when Terri's hat flew off ahead of us. My driver pulled over to retrieve it on a steep slope and we had some awkward moments which sadly this video doesn't capture well. But you can tell that Ooops, sorry, eww, ah & ok all translate! We laughed and all was good! Like a slow motion twister game! The journey continued and I would do it all again!
