Thursday 14 July
In Pulau Weh. I should have caught the 7am bus to the jetty this morning but was too lazy to get out of bed. So later I paid, packed up and headed down to the dive school to hang out there until the afternoon. I read my book and chatted to the other divers. At 3pm, my mototaxi arrived: a motorbike and sidecar, but with no roof, which was fine for a while, once I had persuaded the driver to slow down a bit as we hared through the countryside.....
But then the storm soon came in (being the tropics, the weather can change very quickly) and we were thrashed by the rain. I got him to stop while I put my poncho on (he didn't have a raincoat and didn't seem to care) and it got worse, almost like hail, it hurt our faces a bit, I don't know how he could see. Still, we got there in plenty of time for me to catch the fast ferry back to Banda Aceh; the sea was pretty rough and we bounced up and down a bit.
The taxi driver from the jetty into Banda Aceh was friendly and even gave me a tourist map. I wouldn't like to start a conversation here about the Boxing Day tsunami since they were so badly affected (170,000 people died in Aceh Province), but the driver talked a bit about it, showing me how far the water came into the town and pointing out the Tsunami museum.
After checking in I walked around the market and to the Mesjid Raya Baiturrahman mosque, which is set in a park. The white walls inside and outside remind me of Christmas cake, and it has black domes, it looked good in the late afternoon light. I approached the entrance slowly and caught the eye of some guys outside and asked if it was ok for me to go in. They nodded so I took off my shoes, washed my feet in the shallow moat and stepped inside to see the stone white columns. But after another step a security type guy came over and asked if I am a moslem and when I answered, he politely ushered me back out. But he did let me take a photo from the entrance. I walked in the park and admired the mosque from the outside.
From a stall I bought some local food called sirih. It is a paste wrapped in a leaf which tasted very leafy and I don't think I will have that again. (since found out that it is from a betel (nut) tree. I came back over the river and got tasty nasi goreng with a few vegetables.
The locals here seem really friendly, many of them say hello or smile as I pass and ask where I am from, and the girls working in the shop were excitable and shy as we talked.
Friday 15 July
Up early and walked out of town, to look for 'the boat on the house'. This is a fishing boat that was swept inland by the tsunami and dumped on top of a house. It has been left as a memorial. I felt a bit voyueristic going to look for it, but it is marked on the tourist map so I guessed they want tourists to see it. I walked alongside the river and the fishing boats. I didn't really want to ask for directions, but after I couldn't find it for a while, I asked a policeman and his friends (who had stopped me to have my picture taken with the policeman) and they pointed me in the right direction.
There is a walkway up to the side of the boat, which is in relatively good condition. Below is a stone monument about the boat and some photos on the wall. Of course all the houses around there are new and I wondered whether the people I saw had lived in that area at the time? Surely they wouldn't have survived?
I walked back into town and got late breakfast. I ordered roti, expecting Indian-style pancake but it came out as toast. I walked across the river and to the Aceh Museum, but it was closed, being Friday. And the same for the Tsunami museum. Oh well. Then most of the town shut for Friday afternoon prayers so I decided to hop on a bus at 2pm to Medan. The scenery was good with paddy fields and cloud hovering among the mountains.
Saturday 16 July
The economy bus is actually quite comfortable with a cushion for your head and a blanket, against the aircon. The bus makes many stops and they play loud music around the same time that you want to sleep.
The bus arrived at Medan at 5am. Medan is Indonesia's 3rd biggest city and so I didn't want to stay there. Instead I got a tricycle across town to the minivan terminal. (Although I am wary of being ripped off by any form of taxi driver, I was grateful that there was someone there who could and would take me across town. For all I knew, I might have had to wait there for hours). There were already quite a few people at the minibus terminal. I waited until 6:30am for a minivan to Kutacane.
The minivan driver played Indonesian pop and dance music very loudly for most of the 7 hour journey to Kutacane. I did ask him to turn it down a bit, which he did for about one minute. It seemed pretty rude and annoying but of course it is because of this kind of thing that backpackers are supposed to bring a sense of humour with them. We picked up an Aussie and Belgian guy along the way. One of the locals was vomitting most of the way.
We arrived at Kutacane at about 1:30pm. The locals stared a bit and all ask the same questions 'where you go?', 'where you from?', and the kids shout 'Hey Mister'. We walked for about 40 minutes with our bags before finding a jeep to Ketambe.
Aceh province is under Sharia Law, which among other things, means that a married adulterer/ess can be stoned to death. Indonesia also has strict anti-pornography rules, which has led to the banning of some traditional dances. Our taxi driver also had rubbish Western pop and dance music blaring, with accompanying videos playing on a screen mounted on the dashboard. I am pretty sure that they would be deemed pornographic under such laws. It also seemed inappropriate and immature to have those videos showing when you have a conservative muslim lady sitting in the passenger seat.
Anyway, we arrived in Ketambe around 4pm. Staying in a basic hut with a very faint light-bulb and intermittent power. Met up with Dutch Jenny (who was at Pulah Weh at the same time as me) and her Dutch friend. The five of us made plans for tomorrow. The guides seem quite expensive so we are going to see how we go finding our own way.
Sunday 17 July
Up early. I thought going to the waterfall was the relatively easy option, but not at first it wasn't. It was steep, through dense forest and not much to hang onto and we were not sure we were going the right way. But after half an hour we came up on a path and from there walking was more straightforward. The forest is nice and we saw a few locals hanging around their small wooden homes. But after a couple of hours we couldn't find the waterfall. The boys decided to carry on but Jenny and I turned back and headed back down a proper track. Had a much-needed bath in the river, it was clean and refreshing and flowed quite quickly but only up to my knees.
Last night the nearby Ketambe (flora and fauna) Research Station was burned down completely as were a few other buildings. Apparently this might have been a deliberate action by people involved with another research station. Apparently it is to do with corruption, bribery and funding.
Monday 18 July
At 8:15am Jenny and I set off with local guide, John, to look for wild Orangutans in the jungle in Gunung Leuser National Park. This is a proper thick jungle and the plants and trees are more randomly spread than in a rainforest. The trails are not marked and anyway John soon had us heading off the trail and down into a ravine. We walked and clambered through the jungle, using the trees and vines for support, it was a great adventure.
After a couple of hours John spotted a couple of orangutans; a mother and baby. They were quite high up in the trees right above our heads, and at first we couldn't see them very clearly. We lay on our backs on the jungle floor and watched for a while while John walked around looking for a better viewpoint for us. We moved with them and then the mother came out onto a branch and hung there for a while, facing us, leaving the baby behind. The baby then followed as if it was learning to climb by itself. A bit later on the mother was sat on a branch facing us and the baby joined her. So we got to see orangutans in the wild.
We trekked a bit further and I got to swing like Tarzan from a vine above the jungle floor (picture to follow). We walked to the river and had lunch of egg and rice and mangostein and duku fruit, before trekking back out a different way, seeing Thomas Leaf Monkeys on the way. At 5pm we came out on the main road. As we got back I realised that I had blood trickling down my leg; a leech had got inside my leech socks and trousers and had a good nibble on my leg. They use an anti-coagulate so the blood runs freely and it took a couple of washes and a plaster to stop it bleeding.
John was an excellent guide and we enjoyed our jungle trek and seeing the orange people of the forest.
Final score : Orangutans 2 Leeches 1
In Pulau Weh. I should have caught the 7am bus to the jetty this morning but was too lazy to get out of bed. So later I paid, packed up and headed down to the dive school to hang out there until the afternoon. I read my book and chatted to the other divers. At 3pm, my mototaxi arrived: a motorbike and sidecar, but with no roof, which was fine for a while, once I had persuaded the driver to slow down a bit as we hared through the countryside.....
But then the storm soon came in (being the tropics, the weather can change very quickly) and we were thrashed by the rain. I got him to stop while I put my poncho on (he didn't have a raincoat and didn't seem to care) and it got worse, almost like hail, it hurt our faces a bit, I don't know how he could see. Still, we got there in plenty of time for me to catch the fast ferry back to Banda Aceh; the sea was pretty rough and we bounced up and down a bit.
The taxi driver from the jetty into Banda Aceh was friendly and even gave me a tourist map. I wouldn't like to start a conversation here about the Boxing Day tsunami since they were so badly affected (170,000 people died in Aceh Province), but the driver talked a bit about it, showing me how far the water came into the town and pointing out the Tsunami museum.
After checking in I walked around the market and to the Mesjid Raya Baiturrahman mosque, which is set in a park. The white walls inside and outside remind me of Christmas cake, and it has black domes, it looked good in the late afternoon light. I approached the entrance slowly and caught the eye of some guys outside and asked if it was ok for me to go in. They nodded so I took off my shoes, washed my feet in the shallow moat and stepped inside to see the stone white columns. But after another step a security type guy came over and asked if I am a moslem and when I answered, he politely ushered me back out. But he did let me take a photo from the entrance. I walked in the park and admired the mosque from the outside.
From a stall I bought some local food called sirih. It is a paste wrapped in a leaf which tasted very leafy and I don't think I will have that again. (since found out that it is from a betel (nut) tree. I came back over the river and got tasty nasi goreng with a few vegetables.
The locals here seem really friendly, many of them say hello or smile as I pass and ask where I am from, and the girls working in the shop were excitable and shy as we talked.
Friday 15 July
Up early and walked out of town, to look for 'the boat on the house'. This is a fishing boat that was swept inland by the tsunami and dumped on top of a house. It has been left as a memorial. I felt a bit voyueristic going to look for it, but it is marked on the tourist map so I guessed they want tourists to see it. I walked alongside the river and the fishing boats. I didn't really want to ask for directions, but after I couldn't find it for a while, I asked a policeman and his friends (who had stopped me to have my picture taken with the policeman) and they pointed me in the right direction.
There is a walkway up to the side of the boat, which is in relatively good condition. Below is a stone monument about the boat and some photos on the wall. Of course all the houses around there are new and I wondered whether the people I saw had lived in that area at the time? Surely they wouldn't have survived?
I walked back into town and got late breakfast. I ordered roti, expecting Indian-style pancake but it came out as toast. I walked across the river and to the Aceh Museum, but it was closed, being Friday. And the same for the Tsunami museum. Oh well. Then most of the town shut for Friday afternoon prayers so I decided to hop on a bus at 2pm to Medan. The scenery was good with paddy fields and cloud hovering among the mountains.
Saturday 16 July
The economy bus is actually quite comfortable with a cushion for your head and a blanket, against the aircon. The bus makes many stops and they play loud music around the same time that you want to sleep.
The bus arrived at Medan at 5am. Medan is Indonesia's 3rd biggest city and so I didn't want to stay there. Instead I got a tricycle across town to the minivan terminal. (Although I am wary of being ripped off by any form of taxi driver, I was grateful that there was someone there who could and would take me across town. For all I knew, I might have had to wait there for hours). There were already quite a few people at the minibus terminal. I waited until 6:30am for a minivan to Kutacane.
The minivan driver played Indonesian pop and dance music very loudly for most of the 7 hour journey to Kutacane. I did ask him to turn it down a bit, which he did for about one minute. It seemed pretty rude and annoying but of course it is because of this kind of thing that backpackers are supposed to bring a sense of humour with them. We picked up an Aussie and Belgian guy along the way. One of the locals was vomitting most of the way.
We arrived at Kutacane at about 1:30pm. The locals stared a bit and all ask the same questions 'where you go?', 'where you from?', and the kids shout 'Hey Mister'. We walked for about 40 minutes with our bags before finding a jeep to Ketambe.
Aceh province is under Sharia Law, which among other things, means that a married adulterer/ess can be stoned to death. Indonesia also has strict anti-pornography rules, which has led to the banning of some traditional dances. Our taxi driver also had rubbish Western pop and dance music blaring, with accompanying videos playing on a screen mounted on the dashboard. I am pretty sure that they would be deemed pornographic under such laws. It also seemed inappropriate and immature to have those videos showing when you have a conservative muslim lady sitting in the passenger seat.
Anyway, we arrived in Ketambe around 4pm. Staying in a basic hut with a very faint light-bulb and intermittent power. Met up with Dutch Jenny (who was at Pulah Weh at the same time as me) and her Dutch friend. The five of us made plans for tomorrow. The guides seem quite expensive so we are going to see how we go finding our own way.
Sunday 17 July
Up early. I thought going to the waterfall was the relatively easy option, but not at first it wasn't. It was steep, through dense forest and not much to hang onto and we were not sure we were going the right way. But after half an hour we came up on a path and from there walking was more straightforward. The forest is nice and we saw a few locals hanging around their small wooden homes. But after a couple of hours we couldn't find the waterfall. The boys decided to carry on but Jenny and I turned back and headed back down a proper track. Had a much-needed bath in the river, it was clean and refreshing and flowed quite quickly but only up to my knees.
Last night the nearby Ketambe (flora and fauna) Research Station was burned down completely as were a few other buildings. Apparently this might have been a deliberate action by people involved with another research station. Apparently it is to do with corruption, bribery and funding.
Monday 18 July
At 8:15am Jenny and I set off with local guide, John, to look for wild Orangutans in the jungle in Gunung Leuser National Park. This is a proper thick jungle and the plants and trees are more randomly spread than in a rainforest. The trails are not marked and anyway John soon had us heading off the trail and down into a ravine. We walked and clambered through the jungle, using the trees and vines for support, it was a great adventure.
After a couple of hours John spotted a couple of orangutans; a mother and baby. They were quite high up in the trees right above our heads, and at first we couldn't see them very clearly. We lay on our backs on the jungle floor and watched for a while while John walked around looking for a better viewpoint for us. We moved with them and then the mother came out onto a branch and hung there for a while, facing us, leaving the baby behind. The baby then followed as if it was learning to climb by itself. A bit later on the mother was sat on a branch facing us and the baby joined her. So we got to see orangutans in the wild.
We trekked a bit further and I got to swing like Tarzan from a vine above the jungle floor (picture to follow). We walked to the river and had lunch of egg and rice and mangostein and duku fruit, before trekking back out a different way, seeing Thomas Leaf Monkeys on the way. At 5pm we came out on the main road. As we got back I realised that I had blood trickling down my leg; a leech had got inside my leech socks and trousers and had a good nibble on my leg. They use an anti-coagulate so the blood runs freely and it took a couple of washes and a plaster to stop it bleeding.
John was an excellent guide and we enjoyed our jungle trek and seeing the orange people of the forest.
Final score : Orangutans 2 Leeches 1
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