Hotel Prapat Banda Aceh

... devestating tsunami was to hit this city. I wander round for a bit looking for the entry but to no avail so I head over this little glass box office type thing and ask if I can go in? 'You can come in anytime' is a the response of the young local lad. Just as I start thinking that maybe I will get to see the museum after all...I hear hysterical laughing coming from the glass box I am standing outside and as I peer inside I see a bunch of local youths lying on the ...

... at the damage and on we went!! Hopped on the ferry and it was apparent that I would be in the company of the local business execs crossing the sea to get to work!!

Off at the other end and escorted into a Becak my photo taking opportunities begin. I really love this place. It is incredible to see the effort that has gone into rebuilding Banda Aceh after the Tsunami of 2004 and even more incredible that such a natural disaster has brought an end to ...

... afternoon and I lay and relaxed discreetly...well as discreetly as you can when you are the only person on the beach which is practically the garden of the little hamlet who are Muslim and believe in covering their bodies at all times!! Carolyn decided to do her whole PADI and so is going to be under water for the next 2 days which allows me to head back to Banda Aceh tomorrow, a day early, to ensure I can fit in all the stuff I want ...

... and we are off...5 minutes later and I feel unbelievably seasick as we speed across the ocean on a huge speedboat that holds over 100 people. I shut my eyes and have a snooze until the kids in the seat behind find it funy to stick their hands through and pinch my arms which brings a smile to my face.

Oce off the boat the sun is beating down upon us and the sea is shimmering with the reflection of the sun. We hop in a car with a fellow westerner, and the first we have ...

... Miriam off at Angel where we had stayed when first arriving in Indonesia!! She was heading back to Malaysia on a visa run and then back to Medan via ferry before flying south to Jakarta. It was funny seeing the person I had travelled with from the beginning leave and even stranger that I didn't give her a hug but this all seemed natural to her as she fully expects to see me in Bali in a few weeks...I however know that this will be it and I am most likely to never see her again ...

... sitting at the front of the bus with her two friends had literally just moved to the back seat a few moments before so that she could lie down and had witnessed the whole thing. She shouted to the driver to stop and the conductor jumped off and retrieved it. If she hadn't moved seats when she did, we wouldn't have realised that the bag was missing until we arrived at the bus terminal some three hours later, which would have been fairly disastrous. We arrived in Medan with plenty of ...

... you have to strain to find any remnants of the destruction. Yet, little clues still exist: the stairway in the middle of an open field that used to climb towards a home that is no longer there, crumbled remnants of a few buildings that if not destroyed by the earthquake, then almost certainly by the rushing waters that were soon to follow, or the occasional comment of a local in the area who talks about a loved one that they lost on that day almost matter ...

... stinky poo surrounded by millions of flies whilst we watch the sun rise and wait for our ferry.

When we finally make it to Mamma Mia's we sigh massives sighs of relief, not knowing what we are getting ourselves into. Clare and Kim are out for a snorkel but we fall happily into our new hammock and switch to relax mode.
Well poor Mamma is an elderly lady who, if in England, would be putting her feet up and hopefully having her family running around after her and ...

... to a village called iboih and straight away thought 'we're never leaving' because the place was gorgeous. Just a tiny little village with a dive shop, a few cafes and shops and wooden bungalow huts perched above a sea that was the colour you only see in post cards. We found a room for 40k rupiah (around £2.50) a night which has been our cheapest yet, dumped our stuff and jumped into the water. After around 24hrs traveling from KL we'd felt we ...

... lol

So after a very long journey, I finally made it to Iboid Beach on Pulau Weh, and I have to say it was well worth it! What a great place! There's just a small beach, a dive shop, two or three restaurants, and a bunch of little bungalows in the trees overlooking the ocean. I especially loved my bungalow that was so high up in the trees it almost felt like a treehouse. :) Wonderful!! and it had a super comfy hammock, so I was quite content. :) The ...