Aceh and Sabang after Tsunami Part I
to see Aceh and Sabang Complete photo and article click
http://cometoindonesia.blogspot.com/2008/01/aceh-and-sabang-sumatera-indonesia.html
The people are very faithful to their religion. The location is near the shore. The views are exotic and have a long history intached. This has made Aceh as a special region with its own unique and characteristics.
The characters of Acehneese people are tend to be brave and stubborn, just like all people living at shores. That is the first impression I got when I stepped my foot on Aceh. Nevertheless that impression faded after I picked up my bag in the waiting room when they offered me some help sincerely and friendly. The journey from Jakarta to Aceh was quite tiring, although we travel using an aeroplane. There weren't much flight directly to Aceh. We usually have to transit at Medan before continuing our trip to Aceh. That makes it 4-5 hours journey from Jakarta.
As we know, Islam entered Indonesia for the first time from the coasts of Aceh. Traders travel across Arab and Persia to Malaka Straits in the eastern islands. Aceh act as a repairshop for trader's boats and ships. Sometimes they also do transactions with local people. But not until the end of the second century, Islam's teaching spread unconsealed by Ulama—a person with vast knowledge on Islam—which most of them came from Persia and India. And so in the 225 AC, the Islamic Kingdom of Perlak was proclaimed. It was the first and biggest Islamic Kingdom in South East Asia. Its first King was the Great Sultan of Alaidin Saiyid Maulana Abdul Aziz Syah. Aceh was then known as trading harbour city.
Actually, I have a lot of tourism and historical sites in mind to visit, but I can't asked much for I arrived at 4 PM. Along the way, I can still saw so many pieces which the recent Tsunami hit Aceh left, leaving the ground messed up and kill many lives.
Generally, the people of Aceh are farmers and fishermen. There are a lot of houses built near the shore and now they are nearly leveled with the ground. As for accommodation and hotel's, Aceh has many Melati grade motels. The fee are various from 100,000 to 200,000 rupiahs. But after the Tsunami, there weren't much left and wasn't properly taken care of. Most of tourist planned on staying more than a day, rented local people's houses. The fee was even cheaper, only 35,000 to 50,000 rupiahs.
The most cherished architecture in Aceh was the Great Masjid Baiturrahman. It's located in the center of Banda Aceh right next to Aceh Market, the capital city of Aceh. The masjid was still standing tall and well maintained despite the Tsunami which had the building drowned in a 3 meters of water. It has became an icon for the people for it has saved so many lives in the natural disaster. This Great Masjid has a long historical journey. In 1873, the masjid had been buned by the Holland during the invasion. But the rage of Aceh people has made the Holland rebuilt it in 1875. The Masjid has 5 domes. The main dome is the tallest of them all. Inside of the masjid, you can see unique and interesting carvings. The beauty of its architecture as well as its toughness was worth the people's proudness. In front of it, is a small pond covered with lotus, just 20 meters to the main gate. Eventhough the weather wasn't perfect for taking photos I did it anyway and planned to come back when the time's right to "capture" this beautiful masjid.
Banda Aceh also have a museum known as Musium Negeri which was located not far from the Great Masjid, only 3 Km and you can reach it in a matter of minutes. Inside the museum, there were parchments about culture, traditional dances, craftsmanship, carving, and local customs. There was one building that stood out among others in these block. You can see it even from across the street. It's Rumoh Aceh, a traditional shelter house shaped like a stage with a very narrow door. It has a very beautiful and unique wood carving of Acehneese motif.
The traditional house looked very well maintained and the museum was also well taken care of. There are many ancient collections displayed in this museum. One of them was the bell of Cakra Donya, this bell was a gift from Admiral Ceng Ho in the year of 1414. This was a prove of Aceh as a harbour city for a very long time and as a very crowded harbour city visited from people around the globe.
Suddenly my mind remembered the name Naggroe Aceh Darrusalam. In native Acehneese language, it means "a peace and flourished Aceh". Aceh's flooded with their natural resources. This has made Holland interested to do business with Aceh. As time passes, Holland became more and more strengthening their grasp over Aceh. They monopolize and acquaire all of Aceh's natural resources. It was said that Aceh is one of most difficult area ever to be occupied by the Holland among other area in Indonesia.
After I satisfied myself looking around Aceh's culture and history, I went to other historical site. The only place in Aceh where it didn't get wiped by the Tsunami was Gunongan. This place located in the middle of a city on a higher ground. Gunongan was a historical site from 1600. This building left by Sultan Iskandar Muda. In the past, the Kingdom of Aceh and the Kingdom of Malaya—as we know now as Malaysia—were very well acquainted. Gunongan was surrounded with a beautiful park. The structure has a hill and strong fort shape. At the first, I didn't realize what does this building meant for due to the strange form it has. It's unlike any other buildings. Right next to it, there was a museum containing the structure's history.
In the year of 1608, Sultan Iskandar Muda had a wife whom he very much loved. His princess named Princess Phang misses her hometown where she can see hills in the surroundings. While in th palace, there weren't much hills around. And so the Sultan built a fake mountain to match the princess' hometown so that the princess would be happy again and forgets her hometown. The princess did forget her sadness and spent most of her time on the fake Gunongan hill during the whole afternoon.
It was noon already, how time flies… After exploring the city, we were very tired and hungry. We were craving for traditional Acehneese cooking. When we were in Jakarta, we've had tasted Aceh noodle. Now it's time to taste the real thing! In addition, we will eat a crab. Hmmmh… just the image of the food has made us very hungry. The center for Acehneese food and beverages located in uptown area. During the day, this place was a crowded trading center. After night fall, it became a food court. One of Acehneese cooking's characteristic was its spices with a hot taste on your tongue.
We've tried Aceh Noodle, Martabak (egg-based food mixed with meat and vegetables), Goat Kare and Pliu Soup. All of them were Acehneese specialty food. We ordered it all so that we can have a taste of them one by one. Aceh Noodle taste not so different than the one we've had in Jakarta. What tasted different was martabak. Here, Martabak has the form of mixed eggs with an addition of flour. The goat kare tasted great! The aroma of spices, the spicy kare and the strong taste of goat felt so delicious. For goat lovers, make sure not to miss them. The last food we tasted was Pliu Soup. This soup has a very intense coconut milk with one of a kind taste of Acehneese spices and spicy liquor. It made us more eager to eat more, accompanied by other food. It's not just the place, but also the food that we were after. We would like to try the whole package everytime we visit a place, even if we missed only one specialty, our journey would feel incomplete. – continue to part II -
to see Aceh and Sabang Complete photo and article click
http://cometoindonesia.blogspot.com/2008/01/aceh-and-sabang-sumatera-indonesia.html
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