Bangka Island Travel Guide

Bangka lies east of sumatra. From Jakarta it is one hour by plane or one day by boat.

It has beautiful sandbeaches with spectacular rockformations. Because of the enduring seawind it isn't as warm as elsewhere in Indonesia. There aren't too many western tourists, so you can have quiet stay, also because of the good infrastructure. Mini-busses drive all over the island  and the local people are very polite and helpfull. Bangka and twin-island Biliton were well known in the Dutch colonial era for the tin-mines. The Dutch brought in many Chinese labourers for these mines at the end of the 19th century. Nowadays the majority of the population is from chinese descent. If you arrive by plane you can see from above how the landscape is spoilt by illegal exploring of tin on the hills. Many acresof forest  are destroyed.

Pangkalpinang, the capital of Bangka is a cosy place with a lot of buildings/houses built by the Dutch    (added by Maluku - Bangka)