Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam: A Quest to Understand Life & Death
A few days after we came back from Langkawi, we are off the tarmac again in a quest to understand life and death. Our rescheduled flight, airbus AK305 arrived at Banda Aceh around 5.05pm, 10 minutes ahead of time.
The metal bird touchdowns smoothly in a vicinity of a new airport building; which is much better than any other Indonesian airports that we have been, the first sign that the aid money is put into good use.
Bandara Nasional Sultan Iskandar Muda. It is named after the most influenced ruler of Aceh, in which during his reign Aceh prospered and gained its power over Sumatra, Malay Peninsula and Southern Siam.
While queuing for check in, we made acquaintance with a fellow countryman who is visiting his kith and kin here. He’s the son of the previous airport land owner, Bintang (prior to the new name, the airport was known as Bandara Blang Bintang). Unfortunately our chat is interrupted by the immigration officer who diverted us into a new lane. I feel a bit discourteous to ask him for a photograph over such a short meet.
Soon after the entire official nitty gritty are done, we exit the airport and bump into Pak Darman, who’s making his ends meet driving the taxi. He drives us to Banda Aceh, 20 minutes from the airport. We also agreed to use his service tomorrow for a tour around Aceh.
Checking in at Sulthan Hotel, Banda Aceh.
Banda Aceh at night. The shops are neatly arranged based on the products that they sell. One street only selling shoes and bags, other specified for clothing and garments while at the next juncture you could spot rows of fishing surplus.
Fishing haven for the avid anglers.
DH’s must do every time we are in Indonesia is to pay a visit to the shoe shops. Most of the products are from Medan, hence it’s a bit pricey here. Guess the inflation rate is still high.
All the imported/imitated stuff somehow remind me of Langkawi, where we have been just a few days ago.
Food stalls. You would never be hungry here; stalls like this are everywhere. It is really happening at night and flocked with town folks, chilling out after a day’s hard work. Dubbed as the ‘Veranda of Mecca’, Islam is strictly observed and thus Aceh has no nightlife what so ever other than these eatery joints.
We end our day with a simple dinner and head to our hotel to rest.
>>End of Day 1.
