Magical Aceh

So, I'm doing another business trip. I never posted about my previous business trip here because it usually in a tight schedule that you couldn't even went anywhere beside your hotel facilities. But this time was different, because the trip was visiting smaller cities, the schedule was quite loose.

I was given a duty to be a facilitator or moderator in an FGD for one of government institutions, another duty was to be an interviewer, interviewing the local institution head. Because my client is a government instituon, they treated me like government official guest hahaha. They provided a car and driver to picked me up in airport, afford all my accomodations there also giving me a short little vacation, lol.

So, I arrived at about 3 PM at Sultan Iskandar Muda International Airport in Banda Aceh, the province's capital. The flight from Jakarta was near 3 hours, it was quite longer than flight to most  of another big cities. So, I reccomend you to take full service airlines, because they served you full meal and they had in flight entertainment, The moment the plane was going to landed, I stunned. The view from above is so breath taking, Anything about Indonesia's natural beauty looked like they all lay down there, from the hilly mountain, forrest and cliff also the beaches and the islands.

Baiturrahman Grand Mosque

Upon my arrival, I asked Mr. Surya, my driver, to take me to the famous Baiturrahman Grand Mosque, the mosque that survived during the tsunami. Unlucky me, the mosque plaza was went under renovation. So I can not see (and taking selfies at, lol) the iconic picture which consists the pool view and mosque in the background. But, without the plaza, the mosque is already looked wonderful, isn't it?

From the mosque, we headed to my real destination, Meulaboh, a city in west coast of Aceh province. Mr. Surya were asking me if I want to visit Aceh Tsunami Museum before leaving, but I afraid that I would arrived at hotel late night, I felt quite tired (and hungry, :D), so I asked Mr. Surya to went straight to Meulaboh and visit anything interesting on our way.

The first stop was Keude Leupung. Which is an Acehnese Restaurant. They offer mostly seafood menu and of course, the famous Mie Aceh or Acehnese Noodle! The taste was not so different compared to Mie Aceh in other cities, but tasting Mie Aceh in Aceh is exciting, isn't it?

Magical view during the trip

After stuffed my stomach, we continued our journey (the view was magical), and this time we stopped at the Puncak Geurutee. Another unlucky me, the weather was unfriendly. It should be a nice view of clear blue sky and sea with small little islands. But okay, I can google it later.

Not so good weather at Puncak Geurutee

In Meulaboh, my colleagues were so kind. Between works we visited some places such as the destroyed beach (I forgot the name) where I can witness how devastating the tsunami was. I also visited some monuments and tried the "kopi terbalik", which is a local fresh brewed coffee served in an upside down cup.

Kopiah Teuku Umar Monument. He was shot dead at this place

After 3 days in Meulaboh, I went back to Banda Aceh. I really need to catch my flight but I have like 2 hours before the flight. So I took my time to visit Aceh Tsunami Museum. The museum was amazing, it really gives you the feel of the tsunami victim. And there was a chamber where a list of victim names is carved on the wall and a prayer was played on the speaker, at the roof of the chamber there was glowing Allah calligraphy. I got so emotional there, I even cried. The experience there was so immersive. But I needed to go fast to the airport.

(sorry for very few pictures. I broke my phone before I have the chance to upload it)