Belitung: Magical Granite on Magical Beach

Belitung, or formerly known as Belitong (or Billiton), is an island on the east coast of Sumatra, Indonesia in the Java Sea. The island is famous for its tin. It's also known for its pepper. It was in the possession of the British from 1812 until the British ceded control of the island to the Dutch in the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824. Its main town is Tanjung Pandan. Now I will tell you why Belitung is one of the must-see island in Indonesia:

• Pasir Putih, or white sand. The sand there is as white as sugar. It's really beautiful. If you want a comparasion, all the beaches in Bali have brownish sand. Enough said.
• Granite. Yes, those beautiful rocks. It's really unique. Usually you can find granites on mountains, but in Belitung you can see those magnificent rocks scattered around the beach to the sea. It's like somebody's work has got to do with this, placing the rocks there as if it's an artistry. But, then again, those rocks are really huge. You will need huge excavator or things like that to place just one rock there, but just getting your equipment there will already jeopardize the place. And if it's not magical enough for you, go to Tanjung Kelayang in Belitung, and you will see those rocks are gathered in a shape of a bird known as burung kelayang (kelayang bird).
• Small islands. There are at least 189 small islands around Belitung and most of them are surrounded by white sand. You can choose one island and go there by using a boat for about 30 minutes. There's this one island called Lengkuas island, and you can see an old lighthouse, built by Nederlands back in the 19th century. There are other interesting island too, such as Burung island, Babi island, Pengadaran island, Lutung island, Kera island, and Jenang island
• Easy to reach. Yes, it's only 45 minute flight from Jakarta. You can either choose Sriwijaya Air or Batavia Air. There are other popular sites near Jakarta, but you'll have to spend more time on the road. Anyer and Carita beach for example, it's 2-3 hours journey by car.
• Cheap. The flight rate is only 450,000 IDR (it's 45 in USD). Standard three star hotel 450,000. And the food, it's really cheap. You can get grilled fish, fried shrimps, fish soup, 2 kinds of vegetable, rice, all in the size for 8 people, only for 400,000 IDR.