Admire Bintan’s gorgeous views on borrowed wings with Air Adventures Asia

Equal parts relaxing and thrilling, this seaplane ride with Air Adventures Bintan was quite unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. With its open cockpit and amphibious landing gear, the Challenger Ultralight aircraft will give you a flying experience you know you won’t soon be forgetting. 

The man behind this unique business is none other than Stuart Perkins. Originally from England, he’s been living in Bintan for over 3 years now with his wife. Stuart’s background was in commercial flights, but he was looking for something more than “having coffee and pushing buttons”, which resulted in the creation of Air Adventures Bintan. With over 22 years of flying experience under his belt, you know you’ll be in ultra-safe hands. 

Compete in a sack race with the children of the Sea Gypsies’ Panglong Village at Berakit

Bring out your inner kid by engaging in a game of balap karung or sack race with the children of Panglong village, who are only too happy to take you on. Be warned - it’s not as easy as it looks! These old bones had nothing on the youthful vigour of these kids and it was a miracle I even made it to the finish line. 

The Sea Gypsies, or Orang Laut (people of the sea) as they are also known, have traditionally lived nomadic lives in simple boats off the coasts of Indonesia. In efforts to introduce better education and accountability for its people, the Indonesian government constructed this village to introduce land ownership exclusively for the sea gypsies to entice them to return to land.