Things to See in Banda Aceh

Banda Aceh is located in the northern part of Sumatera and Indonesia. Aceh faced dark situation in 2004 when tsunami hit the city and caused many people lost their lives. It was completely a grief for not only the whole country, but also the world. Buildings were vanished, families were gone, very horrible situation. Nowadays, Aceh rises from adversity. Buildings and road construction leads to better city, hence, it becomes a popular destination for people who want to witness how terrible the tsunami was.

Museum Tsunami

The museum with beautiful architecture is a must visit place during your stay in Banda Aceh. It keeps all the memories when tsunami happened. First thing you'll see when you enter the museum is a dark passage with water falling right beside you, that's the height of the tsunami at that time. Next, there is a room with a bunch of photo slideshows during tsunami. An astonishing room with the names of tsunami victims. The room is dark but there's a small light at the ceiling with Arabic writing, "Allah". A very spiritual room for me. There are rooms with diorama, every single room educates us about tsunami. An audio room to watch the flashback.

n.b: opened from Tuesday-Sunday: 9 a.m.-12 p.m., 2 p.m.-4.30 p.m.

Friday opened from 9 a.m.-11.30 p.m., 14.30 p.m.-16.30 p.m.

closed on Monday and public holiday

PLTD Apung Ship

This 2600 ton ship is an evidence on how strong the wave at that time. It was carried by the wave 5 km far from the harbor to the city. A monument describing the time when tsunami happened and also the name of the victims in that area. Now you can imagine how huge the wave that killed around 150,000 people.

Baiturrahman Grand Mosque

Located in the center of the city, a beautiful mosque dominant with white color looks majestic and adorn the city. The miraculous mosque survived from the waves that destroyed most of the buildings in the city. Please be polite if you want to enter the mosque. For men, wear long pants, and for women, covered your body with long pants and sleeves, also bring a shawl to cover your head.

Lampulo (Ship on the rooftop)

A very quick stop before getting to Lampuuk Beach to see a boat stucked above rooftop. Many ships were carried and dumped above people's rooftop. Only one remains as the evidence of tsunami in Aceh.

Lampuuk Beach

Lampuk Beach is a favorite destinations for locals and tourist as it's close to the city. It is located only 16 kilometers form Banda Aceh. If you're a surf lovers, try to catch the wave in Lampuuk Beach. Many huts at the beach side for those who want to rest and enjoy grilled fish and coconut.

Notes

- From Airport to the city takes around 20-30 minutes. Transportations available are taxi and Damri Bus. Taxi may cost Rp 70,000 and Damri Bus cost Rp 20,000. But the bus in unpredictable in terms of schedule. Bus will stop in front of Baitturahman Mosque.

- Peunayong Road is a good area where you can find hostels and hotels starting from Rp 70,000. It's close to the town and easy to find food.

- Dress politely. As Muslim city, Aceh has strong religious side so please show our respect.

Traveled in 8 September 2013

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