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For the New Year I was in Indonesia at Tuk Tuk on Samosir Island in Lake Toba, Sumatra. Shortly after the New Year I traveled back to Medan and then caught an over night bus up to Banda Aceh on the extreme northern coast of Sumatra. The Aceh province had a more extreme form of Islam than the rest of Indonesia and generally wanted its independence from the rule of Jakarta. Banda Aceh had a beautiful central mosque and a colorful central market, however, I had really traveled up to the province to go out to the island called Pulau Weh. From Banda Aceh's port of Krueng Raja it was a 2.5 hour sailing out to the idyllic tropical island which was famous for it's marine national park and diving.
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1996 Travel Diary (Part 1)

Gjcmcclurg
2005-12-23 14:40:13

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For the New Year I was in Indonesia at Tuk Tuk on Samosir Island in Lake Toba, Sumatra. Shortly after the New Year I traveled back to Medan and then caught an over night bus up to Banda Aceh on the extreme northern coast of Sumatra. The Aceh province had a more extreme form of Islam than the rest of Indonesia and generally wanted its independence from the rule of Jakarta. Banda Aceh had a beautiful central mosque and a colorful central market, however, I had really traveled up to the province to go out to the island called Pulau Weh. From Banda Aceh's port of Krueng Raja it was a 2.5 hour sailing out to the idyllic tropical island which was famous for it's marine national park and diving.

On Pulau Weh I hitched across the island to the small village of Iboih. In Iboih I stayed in a hill side cabin overlooking the sea, the palm fringed beach and Rubiah Island. The cabin was built up on stilts and was very basic, but it had a great deck with a spectacular view. We hired snorkels, masks and fins and went snorkeling over the reef in the marine national park around Rubiah Island. I saw a great variety of sea life including Sting Ray, Manta Ray, Moray Eel, turtles, sea snakes, Scorpion Fish and a large variety of beautifully colored tropical fish. While on the island I met up with a Dutch group who wanted to do a trip down through the Gunung Leuser National Park. I had wanted to do this journey for a while but had not been able to find any travel companions, so now I was set.

We all caught the ferry back to Banda Aceh and then began our journey into the more remote interior of northern Sumatra. The first leg of the trip was an eight hour bus journey up into the Bukit Barisan mountains to Takengon on Lake Tawar. Takengon was a friendly little town with a comfortable climate since we were at an altitude of 1000m. We spent a few days based in the town doing treks around the lake, and a trip out to the village of Bintang and ...