Pulau Weh is a great diving destination mainly because you have to make quite an effort to get there. Many travelers choose to go overland, often flying in to the port city of Medan or catching a boat over from Penang in Malaysia. From here it’s possible to take a day trip to Lake Toba where there is a magnificent massive volcano with an island inside the water filled crater, once back in Medan it’s a matter of hopping a bus to Bukit Lawang and the Orangutan sanctuary before heading further north to Banda Aceh where the ferry leaves for Pulau Weh. The quick route of course is to fly straight to Banda Aceh from Kuala Lumpur, the plane fare comes in at less than $100 for a one way trip and is obviously a lot quicker and more comfortable than the bus. Bus trips in Sumatra are notorious for being long and arduous due to the poor condition of the roads, what on paper seems to be a fairly short distance usually takes a considerably long time.
Took the fast ferry over from Sabang to Banda Aceh after an early morning car ride where we were treated to one last look at the spectacular view of the archipelago and jungle. In the car was Dutch traveler Isabelle, Hayley the Aussie, Geoff the French Divemaster and his girlfriend along with the three Swiss guys who complained about the food in Sabang the previous night. These guys had sent their wives to the spa in Switzerland while they had a boys trip around South East Asia, one of them bore a very strong resemblance to Vladimir Putin which was pointed out by others on more than one occasion. With the plane to Kuala Lumpur not leaving until late in the afternoon Hayley and I planned to look around Banda Aceh and see some Tsunami related sites that were in town. On Boxing Day (26th December) it would be the 7th anniversary of the tragic event, to us this is a holiday but to the people of the town this is a grim reminder of Tsunami day when their lives were plunged into chaos and loss from which they will never fully heal.
Got a cab at the port where the driver agreed to take us around for three hours before dropping us at the airport, we were also joined by Isabelle who would be making the 12 hour bus ride from Banda Aceh to Bukit Lawang and the Orangutan sanctuary. At this point I was considering coming back to see Lake Toba and Bukit Lawang by heading from KL to Penang and taking the ferry to Medan, I eventually changed my mind after considering that I am not really a jungle person and it probably wasn’t worth the effort. A big mistake one can make when travelling is trying to see everything, personally I find this, as Dennis would say, more of a journey than a holiday so I think it’s important to know what you want to like and not just go places so you can cross them off your list and say you’ve done it.
Our first stop in Banda Aceh was the big petrol tanker which was washed inland seven kilometers. At the site was a wall of pictures showing the dead on Tsunami day, it was horribly gruesome with bloated bodies on the street and faces torn from skulls which I found very helpful in considering the gravity of the disaster and how it would actually be if you were at ground zero that fateful day. After this was the Tsunami museum, built by western aid workers, where the whole event was showcased in chronological order beginning with insights into the geological precursors and ending with memorials of the dead. It was all very grim but it felt good to pay our respect, the final stop was a house with a boat lodged squarely in the middle which we visited before the driver took us for lunch.
The lunch bears mentioning because in the morning we were taking the piss out of Isabelle who mentioned that she would like coffee and cake, a few hours later we were sitting in an Acehnese coffee shop enjoying amazing Acehnese coffee (and I am a total coffee snob so I don’t say that lightly) chomping on Acehnese cakes and sweets.
In my broken Indonesian we somehow found the busport where Isabelle began the long journey to Bukit Lawang, unfortunately it was the wrong bus which stopped everywhere along the way adding an extra 5 hours to the journey. Hayley and I got to the airport to find the plane was delayed for 2 hours so amused ourselves with a funny hat fashion show and photos before getting on the plane about 5pm and arriving in KL about 7pm with the 1 hour time difference. As with all my experiences in Malaysia we were rushing to get to the shops by 9pm so Hayley could do some Christmas shopping but still sitting on the Skybus back from the airport at 9:30 we changed our plans and headed out to meet some of my mates in Bangsar instead. I had been craving a Guiness on tap for a month now so to finally have one was like the first sip of water after being lost in the desert, after dinner and a few pints I said goodbye to Hayley and went back to my expat Australian mate Mal’s house where I would be staying until heading back to Indonesia to continue my Divemaster training.
Earthmans' Walkabout 