Tour d'Borneo 9: To the Lovely Pasir Panjang Beach Resort

As the motorcycle tour of Kalimantan Barat entered its second week, I found myself turning my two wheels towards the beach. I had been having a wonderful time riding through the villages and hills of Indonesian Borneo, but I was looking forward to settling in for a few days on a warm, tropical seaside. Give me a deck chair, a fresh coconut, sunshine and a good book, and I'm quite happy to just spend the day listening to waves crash in.

Look at those huge waves! Actually, it's a matter of perspective. They're about an inch high

The beaches south of Singkawang were just a short drive away, but I wasn't able to make a reservation online at either of the two resorts I'd seen on the Google maps. One had no web presence that I could find and the other came back as full. All I could do was just head over and check them out.

The Palapa Beach Hotel was buzzing with activity, but they did, in fact, have a room. There was an ongoing conference of healthcare professionals happening at the time, and so I was surrounded by other guests, all of whom regarded me with curiosity. Again, I had random Kalimantaners ask to take selfies with me.

The beach was nice, but one feature of the hotel confused me to no end. Dotted along the resort's boundary with the beach were some lovely gazebos, just as one might find in any beachside accommodation. They looked like just the kind of structure that I could lie in, nap, read and just chill. 

Nice gazebo!

Strangely though, the gazebos had hard concrete floors and nothing else. No deck chairs. No regular chairs. Not even a table. What are they even for? As I say in the video, it's as if the designers of the hotel had seen similar gazebos in other beach resorts and decided they needed them too without regard what guests might use them for.

Wtf?

Despite the hotel's wifi not working (I was able to get data off my phone), the little jellyfish stings in the murky water, the lack of beer and the very limited options at the restaurant, at least the beach was clean, the scenery was enticing and they did have coconuts. I got most of what I wanted.