PLTN Apung, Rumoh Cut Nyak Dhien, Lhoknga and Lampuuk Beaches, Lentera Sawah Hijau, Lem Bakrie. (Day 20–catching up with posting with some better Internet back on the mainland.)

My very funny and helpful companion for the day.

I had a free day and had seen everything in walking distance in Banda Aceh, so I went to the desk and asked about cars. You can rent a car, but often it is a two-for-one: pay for the car rental fee and for the driver. You never know? Super chatty guide? Crazy behind the wheel texting and watching Tik Tok the whole way? Seat belts? Or, like this time, the consummate professional.

Floating Diesel Power Plant (PLTD) Apung, Pembangkit Listrik Tenaga Diesel (PLTD) Apung, is a 63 meter long, 2,600 ton marine power plant that the tsunami dragged three kilometers though the city from the port and left in the center of town. It is still there as a memorial. It was hard to get a good photo, but the ship is surrounded by a walkway of steel panels that looks like grey waves. None of them are quite level and you have to step up and down as you circle the ship, never quite on an even keel. It was a smart bit of design.

Beautiful tropical greenery around the PLTN Monument.

Google in Aceh is just plain wrong most of the time. Opening hours are off by a bit or sometimes things are just plain closed when Google says they are open. We had to wait for the PLTN to open, but there was, of course, a masjid, or mosque, across from the parking lot, so I went in. There is always a mosque and they are always open.

Rumoh Cut Nyak Dhien

Cut Nyak Dhien lead guerrillas against the Dutch for 25 years in the late 19th century. She is a beloved symbol of resistance and a hero of Indonesia. Kids all learn about her in school and she was on the money.

The house is a reconstruction, because of course, the Dutch burned it. But it gives a pretty good idea of what a traditional Acehnese house looked like. I was the only visitor, so I got a guided tour in a mix of Indonesian, English, and Dutch. I kept telling the old woman who was minding the place that I couldn’t understand it, but she was evidently very proud of her Dutch and read aloud many reproductions of old documants from the war.

We continued down to the coast and stopped by Pantai Lhoknga (Lhoknga Beach). I had a strong recollection of Rikuzentakata in Iwate. Part of the post-tsunami reconstruction in Rikuzen was an immense engineering project to bring soil and concrete in to where the town had been to build it up well above sea level. There was an absolutely enormous conveyor belt system to carry fill carved out of the hills, across the roads, and then into an ever increasing mound. The beach here is partly shadowed by a gigantic concrete factory on the coast with giant pipes running out to sea and over land to provide concrete for delivery by ship or boat. Still in operation. Still a lot of reconstruction to be done.

The tsunami in Aceh was a terrible tragedy, but at the same time more than one local person described it as a blessing in disguise. The devastation and the absolute need for aid from everywhere helped bring the decades-long insurgency to an end. Telling that it took such absolute devastation to bring the independence movement to a halt. Cut Nyak Dhien was not the last who would fight for decades for an independent Aceh.

Cliff Beach Lampuuk. I would love to stay in that bungalow up on the rocks.

When we pulled up to Lampuuk Beach, one of the local surfing instructors called out, “Welcome to paradise!” He was not wrong. My photos just do not do this place justice. Huge, long stretch of beautiful sand below the cliffs. Crashing waves and nobody there. It gets busy on Sundays, but otherwise–private beach!

Near the gateway to the village of Lampuuk was this huge pro-Palestinian banner. As an example of design, it is pretty powerful. I wish I could have asked the artist about the missiles seemingly transforming into doves. Is the main figure holding a loaf of bread? The faces of the people are simple, but also moving.

One of the three research plans I described in my sabbatical proposal was to examine representation of the Israel/Palestine and Ukraine/Russia conflicts in post-conflict zones: Aceh, Sri Lanka, and Balkans/Eastern Europe. Lots more to say about this later, I hope, but it was remarkable just how little visible signalling there is anywhere in Indonesia so far about the catastrophes from October until the present (never mind the decades and decades of violence leading up to the most recent events). This was one of only two signs I saw anywhere in Aceh Province or Banda Aceh.

After I asked Khalid to stop and I took a bunch of photos, he of course asked me? “Palestina atau Israel?” And, talk about putting my nascent linguistic skills to the test. It pretty much goes without saying that almost everyone in Indonesia supports Palestinian rights and opposes the Israeli and US governments. But, I’ve seen more pro-Palestinian posters, signs, artwork, or graffiti in Japan, even in fairly rural Japan, than I have here. It has been really surprising. And, absolutely nothing here at all about Ukraine.

I spotted this along the route on Google Maps and asked to stop. It’s a kind of tourist village for seeing or experiencing traditional rice cultivation. There was nobody minding the ticket counter and no other visitors. Too hot and not a Sunday!

A little shade is provided. I arrived around noon and a group of farmers were just finishing work for the day sitting eating and chatting in the shade under the walk way. They all got up and left, but one guy stopped up curious to see what I was doing there. We chatted a little. I managed to learn that they do just two rice harvests a year here, not three. And, that they are trying to get more tourist visitors. The local government is trying to set up some cafes and shops. I should have taken a selfie with him!

On a Sunday evening, this is prime Instagram territory.

And finally, lunch at Lem Bakrie. As we drove around the countryside, we saw a lot of goats, so I asked Khalid if they were for milk or for meat. People like to eat goat here! So, that was lunch for sure.

The food is served Padang-style. When you go to your table, they lay out dishes of most of the items on the menu and you just take what you want. The rest goes back to be served again and you are billed only for what you had. Takes some getting used to, but the food was so good. Turns out Jokowi has eaten here three times!

Goat curry, some kind of fried bird (not chicken), and delicious fish with lots of spice and galangal steamed in pandan leaves. So tasty. Enak sekali!

Khalid dropped me back at the hotel but along the way, he gave me the correct (not Google) times for the ferry to Pulau Weh, and we set the time for one of his staff to come pick me up the next morning for the nest stage of island hopping.