THE  LAND

Telok Dalam, the area where Mutiara Beach Guesthouse started in 2005, means ‘deep bay’ in bahasa Indonesia  ~  this exceptional site was selected in the 1930’s by migrants originating from Dabo, on Singkep island, south-west of Bintan  ~  they established their fishing base here, and started planting coconut trees, some of which are still standing today  ~  the pioneers got friends & family to join them in the 1950’s and the village is now home to 85 households
 

Interesting evidence of earlier settlements was found on our land, like for example a jar of 18th century Dutch coins  ~  another highlight  was during the 1960’s confrontation years, when some of the troups of the young Republic of Indonesia were camping in Telok Dalam, getting ready to invade Singapore &  Malaysia  ~  the familiar name ‘Trikora’ given to this coastline originates from that episode (Tiga KomandoRakyat = ‘the three commandos of the people’), from which we recently found disused rifle cartridges  ~  and in 1975, hundreds of Vietnamese boat people landed here, setting up temporary shelters before being resettled by the UNHCR.

 

Going even deeper into history, we discovered that the land was probably used during ancient times as a sacred place, for its very special grid of earth energy lines  ~  some areas of the land have been identified as having healing powers, and as such they can be visited for personal spiritual practices like yoga or meditation  ~  for a more accessible dimension of wellness, we have opened a spa on the Alor Merah river (‘red river bed’), which has become very popular among our guests  ~  it has been featured in several international medias and is also often visited by tourists as a day trip.

 

 

YOUR HOST

Marc Thalmann, born 1957 in Geneva (Switzerland), arrived in the Far East in 1982, for a first job with Schlumberger on Brunei's oil rigs after studying engineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich  ~  a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, his oilfield career path brought him to India, Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam  ~  during his assignments, he developed a keen interest for the cultures where he lived, seeking more insight from litterature and collecting antiques, increasingly focussing on the Malay world and its language. 

 

Marc first discovered the Riau Archipelago in an airlinE magazine feature  ~  little did he know then, that he would end up dropping his bags on one of these islands, Bintan ~ first in 1988 as dive cruise operator on his MV. Mutiara, then as turnkey project manager & coconut plantation owner, and since 1995 as investor and sponsor of local ventures, for example a book on Bintan.

 

Two Swiss and one Indonesian partner joined him to develop the Mutiara land  ~  Marc's self-assigned mission is to share his ‘off beat’ island knowledge with guests, and to bring the 'real' Bintan closer to tourists staying in the five-star Bintan Resorts hotels. He is currently an executive member of BiTB (Bintan Tourism Board), of the Bintan Resorts Council and of PHRI's Bintan chapter (Indonesian Hotel & Restaurants Association). Once a year, he enjoys a return to nomadic life while touring the archipelago on his Kawasaki Ninja.