Yuni Tisna

When travellers talk about Bintan or Tanjung Pinang, the region’s capital city, the conversation usually drifts toward beaches, resorts and eating – the kind of easy escape that requires little more than a ferry ticket and a sense of adventure.

Before I set foot on the wooden jetty that bridges the real world and the Robinson Crusoe-like realm of Cempedak Island, I had no idea what to expect.