What's in Dumai port city

The port city of Dumai is among the twelve major seaports in the Indonesian Island of Sumatra

Lies towards the east coast of Central Sumatra facing the Straits of Malacca,the city is part of the Riau Province("kabupaten")
.
The main provincial capital Pekan Baru is about six hours drive from Dumai.
Can you imagine Dumai is just 105km across the straits to Malacca on Malaysian side.
The best point to cut short the sea journey as an illegal immigrant is via the Rupat Island(45km away) off Dumai and land in the small town of Kuala Linggi in the north of Malacca.

During the 1980s of the Indonesian transmigration programme,the arrival of these guests was witnessed before me while managing a rubber plantation here in Sungai Linggi.
The sea is like a no mans land and travelling in a legitimate ferry compared to the illegal night route in a packed fishing boat makes one feel how agonizing the illegals have to endure with.

Once you have arrived in Dumai's jetty,your onward journey will surely have to turn into the main artery road Jalan Jenderal Sudirman with the first sighting is Comfort Hotel on your right.
Telp 0765-34888, 0813-65-100-888
Email: reservation@comfortdumai.com
Two star Hotel with about 100 rooms
rates:295,000Rp to 545,000Rp

 A short distance on the same row with Comfort Hotel is a newer Hotel City
Jalan.Jenderal.Sudirman 445,Tel: +62-765-31550
Rates: Rp. 140.000 s/d 500.000

Temperatures was pretty hot in Dumai soaring to nearly 40 degrees celcius especially in the months of May.June July as it has a Tropical Climate.
The Equator Line is near Palembang city towards the south.

 


This bus parked in front of Indomal Express ferry office is specifically for transporting passengers with ferry boarding pass.
It's free and operates at 9:00am trip only.

Getting around in the city is by a motorised tricycle("becak"),the minivans("angkot:) or the motor taxis ("ojek")
There's nothing spectacular in this town I should say and it's a slow moving town with more on commercial activities.
To avoid the scorching heat while moving around,why not hop into an angkot and pay a fixed  rate rather than having to haggle with using the other mode.
Some becak motor along Jalan Jend Sudirman will recommend bringing visitors to massage(pijat) centers in the Jalan Ombak area.


Penginapan Lenggogeni beside Indomal Express office.
Penginapan means Inn
Rates can be from 80,000Rp -150,000Rp

Across the road beside the Central Police Station is Wisma Andy's Nur
The word "Wisma" is an Indonesian term for mid-range guesthouse.
Rates can be between 100,000Rp -250,000 Rp.
Penginapan AA is just next door.



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Walking straight after this traffic circle is also Jend Sudirman whereby a short distance is the Hotel Grand Zuri,(tel: +62-765-31999-tarif: Rp.285.000 s/d 650.000).
The very end of Jalan Jenderal Sudirman will be the Ramayana Plaza Shopping Mall beside a park.
Towards the left turn is Jalan Sultan Syarif Kassim where there is a Chinese restaurant followed by the Palapa Hotel and a newer Komala Hotel.
On the right turn is another 10 minutes walk to Gajah Mada Hotel as well as Penginapan Rahmat also on Jalan Sultan Syarif Kassim where there are more Chinese shops around here.

That brown coloured frontage building is the Gajah Mada Hotel with the CFC Fried Chicken outlet.
CFC stands for California Fried Chicken with about 215 chains across Indonesia.
The main brand of PT Pioneerindo Gourmet International Tbk listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange in 1994.
 The pioneers were three Indonesians who were alumni of University of Southern California.
There were also kiosks servicing this brand by street vendors.




HKBP-Huria Kristen Batak Protestan Church on Jalan Sultan Syarif Kassim near Palapa Hotel and behind the morning wet market.

The Bataks are an ethnic group of people found mostly in North Sumatra especially around the Lake Toba-Samosir region which is 240km from Medan.

Lake Toba is the greatest crater lake in Southeast Asia and a tourists hotspot.

There were a few private limousines vans outlets that offer transport to outside Dumai.
Putri Sulung Mandiri's designate places such as  Pekan Baru,Duri,Bagan Siapi-api,Padang and Medan can be bought on the spot or they may provide hotel pick up as well if made through phone booking.

Walk across the road from Indomal Ferry Express office and there are about three of these companies.
With enough passengers they will make the journey.
"Sopir" is the word for chaffeur which the locals used to call.

 CV.Athirah Jaya also provide the route to Pekan Baru,Bagan Siapi-api,Bukit Tinggi and Padang.

I book a seat to Bagan Siapi-api which was my ultimate intention in this trip via a company PSM (Tel:0765-33492,h/p:0852-71527953/0823-82219711) located beside CV.
The fare was 70,000Rp.

What attracted me to visit Bagan Siapi-api  is the article which I came across in Bon website regarding the annual Barge Burning Ritual or Acara Bakar Tongkang to be held on the 14th June.coinciding with the Chinese calendar month May 16 event (known as GoGeCapLak which is a Hokkien dialect version)

PT Pelnas Lestari Indomabahari is another ferry ticketing office that offers destination to:
1) Dumai port departures:
Bengkalis-Selat Panjang-Tanjong Balai Karimun-Batam(near Singapore)
Depart: 07:00WIB Depart 07:15WIB(include Tanjung Pinang stopover)

2) Bengkalis port departures-08:30/09:00 Batam route

return Dumai route:13:00/13:20hrs

3) Selat Panjang port departures:
10:30hrs Batam route/ 10:45hrs for Tanjung Buton-Pekan Baru/ 11:00hrs for Tj Balai Karimun-Batam-Tanjong Pinang / 11:00hrs & 11:20hrs for Bengkalis -Dumai. / 14:00hrs for Tanjung Samak-Tj Balai Karimun-Batam

4) Tanjung Balai Karimun port departures:
07:30hrs to Batam / 08:30hrs to Dumai route / 08:45hrs to Selat Panjang and Tanjung Buton / 09:15hrs to Selat panjang -Bengkalis -Dumai / 11:30hrs ,12:30hrs,16:30hrs to Batam.
13:00hrs to Batam -Tanjung Pinang

5) Batam port departures:
07:30hrs to Selat Panjang- Tanjung Buton / 08:30hrs to Dumai route.
09:30hrs To Tanjung Balai Karimun / 15:00hrs to Tanjung Pinang

7) Tanjung Pinang port departures:
06:00hrs - to Dumai

Banners on road divider along Jalan Jenderal Sudirma.
Some sort of congratulatory messages.
They are not printed banners

Message reads as:
Wish you Success,appointment PAC-PP,East Dumai
from Hotel Gajah Mada











Klenteng Hok Liong Kiong, a large Chinese temple  located near the inter province bus terminal(AKAP)

Chinese temples in mandarin(miao),bahasa Indonesia (klenteng) ,Thai (wat).Vietnamese (Chua) and Filipino(na templo).

Location MAP of Dumai