Loola Adventure Resort

Loola Adventure Resort

          If you are a fan of activities, ranging from the basic - rock climbing to the wild - climbing a coconut tree, to doing the leap of faith, Loola Adventure Resort is the perfect place for you.

          Loola is about 2 hours by boat, from Tanah Mera Ferry Terminal to Tanjung Pinang Ferry Terminal in Bintan, Indonesia. From there, it is another 1 hour drive to Loola.       

          As said, Loola is mainly for activities. Over there you can choose if you want to do the skywalk or boom netting. You can choose from a handful of activities.

 We were an adventurous group of three families. We took the first ferry available, from the recommended ferry, Majestic Fast Ferry, at 9 a.m. and were picked up by the Loola staff at the Ferry Terminal at Bintan. . As we were on our way the drivers of both our cars lost their way to Loola and that caused some inconvenience to us as we reached an hour later. We were very disappointed that both the drivers were new and were sent to pick us up with no clue on the path back to Loola. On a brighter side, it was raining and the scenic but wild natural beauty was very soothing.

          As you enter Loola you get a different feeling. You feel like you have entered a village albeit a well maintained village. Loola caters to both the rustic and the luxury seekers. The chalets which have the bare necessities to the Villas which do cater to the comfort seekers., Whatever be your choice, you feel relaxed and peaceful. But just to warn you, Loola is not for families with toddlers/children<6.

Rooms:

After reaching, we were shown our chalet. As I entered my chalet, my mouth was left hanging open at the breathtaking view of the room. It was a classic chalet with minimum electricity. There was no wifi, hot water or any air conditioner in the chalet. (Hot water and air con is available in the villa). The chalet was clean and the mosquito nets provided really helped in the night.

1.The villa

 

 

2.The view of the dining rooms and a chalet

 

        

 

 
           
4. Me reaching the top of level 2(I’m the one on the right)
     

     

      After lunch, our first activity for the day was the rock climbing wall. There were 3 walls each with a different level of difficulty. I thought that level 2 was going to be a piece of cake, once I reached the top on the level 1 wall quite effortlessly.  But I was wrong. It took me 3 attempts to reach the pinnacle of the level 2 wall, after which I did not have any hope to conquer level 3 as it had 2 90 degree turns. Despite all that I tried my best, but only reached the 1^st 90 degree turn.

After the whole thing we went for dinner. While gulping down the scrumptious meal, we were informed by Conty (our guide) that we had to wake up early the next day for Boom-Netting. We were also told that we had to be ready by 8.30 as we were going to a lagoon where the water was less choppy, to do Boom-Netting.

Wait! I forgot to mention about the campfire! So let me tell you. It started off like any other campfire with songs, dancing and marshmallows. But ended after an hour or so abruptly. Unknowingly we had woken up one of the guests staying in the chalet. He just came up to us and unplugged the speakers. He complained to Conty that it was 9 in the night and people were sleeping, so we decided to finish that day’s campfire and wait for the one planned for 26^th December (my birthday).

5. The campfire

The next day I woke up at dawn, ready in my swim gear for jumping into the sea. I had a healthy breakfast of eggs and fruits. As I ate the last bite of my mango, Conty arrived at our table to tell us that we had less than 15 minutes to finish our food and get ready. As we were entering the bus a chill ran down my spine. I was terrified. I thought that there would be a net, deep in the water and I had to jump in the middle of the ocean. Deep in my thoughts, I did not even notice that we had arrived at a local village (called Kampong in local language). As we alighted from the bus, Conty told us that most of the staff in Loola were from this village. We then took a path which brought us to the “jetty”.  

While walking I could not help noticing that next to us there was a fence, on which there was a sign saying AWAS!! I knew that meant danger. But until now I still wonder if that was a jungle on the other side of the fence or just a government area. Not getting diverted from the topic, let’s talk about Boom-Netting.

 As we entered the boat, we were given lifejackets to wear and after a safety briefing we were free to jump into the ocean. My fears were unfounded, the net was visible from the boat and we were expected to jump onto it.  I was delighted that my fears were unfounded. I took the plunge immediately. That moment was unforgettable. I decided to challenge myself by jumping from the second level. As I climbed the ladder to go up, Adeline charged through my veins. I did not know how scary it would be to jump off a higher place. As I jumped, my life flashed before my eyes. I was terrified. But before you could even say terrified I was in the water. I was so happy that I was alive that I could not even express it. We all jumped more than a hundred times before we returned back. A must do for all those are terrified of water to conquer your fears, once and for all!

6. I can't stress on how scary that was!

After another tiring walk and a long bus ride, we were back at Loola. We quickly bathed and had lunch. We were tired, so we decided to sleep for a couple of hours so that we would be fresh before the next set of activities. But we were so tired that we did not notice that we had been sleeping for so long that the activities had started.

By the time my friend and I woke up, the other group had finished the coconut tree climbing activity and were proceeding to do the skywalk. We decided to join them and do the coconut climbing later. After a safety briefing we were told to wear a harnesses and wait for our turn. I was the second person to do it. It looked quite easy, but imagine, going up a ladder, the height of a tree, then standing only on a narrow tree trunk across two trees and walking while holding only your safety rope. Then to come down, do the leap of faith. It was a mini bungee jump! That was the scariest part of the trip. I was too scared to walk without holding anything, and jumped. The experience was thrilling and I did it thrice. However, in none of the attempts, could I manage to walk down to the middle of the tree trunk to jump from the centre.

After that was the best part. COCONUT TREE CLIMBING. I loved coconut tree climbing more than anything, as I was the only one in 11 people who made it to the top of the coconut tree. To make things better, I made it to the top in my first try. I was so thrilled that I did it again.

7. Me reaching the top of the coconut tree

Post the above activities, we went fishing and caught 3 crabs! Dinner was followed by a peaceful and a long sleep.

I woke up the next day with a jump. It was my birthday, and I was looking forward to a great set of activities. At the breakfast table everyone wished me happy birthday and my friend game me a gift.

The gift was handstiched. It was a creeper from a popular computer game Minecraft. It looked fabulous. It was a wonderful start to the day.

 The first activity of the day was kayaking.

 

Then we went rock climbing again and then flying fox. By the way, flying fox does not only look scary, it is!  With a harness and holding on to a rope, as you jump of the high pedestal, there is a rush of Adeline that makes you come alive. As you hit the water, you realise that you have conquered another of your fears…!

 Night we had the pizza making activity where we were making our own pizzas for dinner! We made our own pizzas and cooked them in the big wood fed stone oven and ate them!  Now when I look back I think that I had put too much sauce on my pizza.  And after all that there was a surprise birthday cake for me and a display of fireworks. I had never seen such fireworks, so up close in my life. My dad had organised for them. It was spectacular. I loved it.

 Dinner done, campfire started. All the parents danced until they were dead tired.         

On the final day we did archery and then I did another round of coconut tree climbing before we left.

On the way back we got a lot of bubble gum. But just to tell you the worst part of the trip was the journey back! The waters were so choppy because of the monsoon that I was seasick. I even vomited. But overall it was a very good experience. Holidays spent well!