Post Script and Beach Time

So I was sitting around thinking and I forgot to mention several things from those first few hours in Indonesia. First off is that while on the bus from the port to Medan, Jason and I were chatting and just getting to know each other. I mentioned that I was teaching in northern Thailand and he said, "Are you teaching in Lampang?". That blew me away. While he was traveling in Thailand, he came down to Lampang and actually hung out with Nick, one of the guys I'm teaching with now. This was about 5 years ago, so I wasn't there, but needless to say it was pretty crazy to meet this random guy who hung out with one of my colleagues back in Lampang. The second concerns my trip from the city to the bus station. I rode on a betuk, the Indonesian version of a tuk-tuk. It's essentially a motorcycle with a sidecar. While we were driving the driver asked me different questions about myself - my name, how old I am and where I am from. As soon as I said I was from America, he looked at me (and remember he was also driving on SE Asian streets) and raised his right arm and said "I love Obama!! Do you?". I said I liked him (I think saying otherwise would have endangered my safety) and we chatted a bit more. He told me that he loves Obama because he stayed in Jakarta for a while when he was younger. He said most Indonesians feel the same way. That's especially interesting given the current attitude towards Bush (most disdain him...and for good reason). This conversation was essentially repeated several times as I made my way onto the bus.

And so with those postscripts out of the way I can pick up where I left off the other day. I arrived in the morning and made my way to the port. I thought that there was a ferry at 9:30 so arriving at 8:30 was perfect. It turns out the ferry didn't leave until 11:00, so I had some time to kill. The journey to the ferry terminal was a very interesting one - but one I'll wait to comment on until I cover my return trip. Banda Aceh was devastated by the tsunami in 2004. As I drove to the ferry, we passed straight through the worst hit areas. I'll come back and touch on that later when I talk about my time spent in Banda Aceh. For now, it's the island. While I was waiting for the ferry I grabbed some breakfast at one of the little stalls near the terminal and sat down to read. I didn't get very far. Every so often different people would come up to me and start talking. Most couldn't get further than the simple introductions, but others stayed and chatted for a while. I connected with this group of boys, students, who had come away for a few days. One of them spoke good English and the others just hung around. We got on the ferry and began our two hour trip to the island. We got off only to climb into a minibus which took off (or more accurately, crawled) across the island towards the beaches. We made are way along the coast up and down hills and around pot holes bigger than the road, through packs of dogs, goats and monkeys before coming to rest (an hour later mind you) at the beach. From there it was a short hike along a little pathway to different clusters of bungalows. I found one nestled in the rocks perched right above the water with a hammock swinging from the deck out front. I thought it would do nicely. I spent the rest of the day relaxing and recovering from the long journey here. I ate dinner at a great little place - they had avocados so I was happy. I guess I should describe where I am (or at this point, was). I was on Ipoih Beach on Pulau Weh (Weh Island) which is off the northwest coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Ipoih Beach is a small collection of bungalows and restaurants catering mostly to travelers who come to snorkel and dive. It's very idyllic and peaceful. The road ends at the mosque and the only way to get around is to walk or swim. Over the next few days I started and finished a book, wrote a ton in my journal, went for some walks, and more importantly went for some good swims. The first swim took me along the coast below my bungalow. The coral got better as we went along, but the fish were spectacular the whole way. It was stunning. I've been to some beautiful spots to snorkel and this ranks as one of the best - plus it wasn't very crowded, heck I was the only one in the water. The second journey consisted of me swimming across a little channel between the beach and another small island just offshore. Then I walked across the island and snorkeled back around the island. It was a good four hour trip and was amazing. The coral was stunning - they call it a Sea Garden because of the colors and variety of coral. The fish were spectacular as well. Over the course of the two trips I saw a handful of sea turtles, several octopus (or octopi?), sting rays, lobsters, and the highlight (something I hadn't seen before) - a huge manta ray which let me swim over top him and sort of play a little. It was cool! I went to bed early and woke up early. I read and fell asleep when I was tired. It was a great couple days of relaxation. But eventually I had to leave that oasis and head back into "real" Indonesia. So I packed my things and headed back to Banda Aceh.

But that will have to wait until next time as I've run out of time again. Hope you are well.

Ryan