In Banda Aceh

Yosh, I’ve been here in Banda Aceh for 2 weeks. And 2 weeks more till I go back to Jakarta. I got a project job here (it’s not related to previous post 😀) for 3 weeks to help to build a system for Meuraxa Tsunami Drill. Let’s skip about the event (and the system, I’ll write them next days), and look around the city!

I went here by plane from Soekarno-Hatta to Sultan Iskandar Muda (transit in Polonia). It’s my first experience stopping in SIM actually, cause everytime I went back to Aceh, I’m going to Lhoksukon plane stop airport, the nearest place to my reminiscently hometown Lhokseumawe. Yeah Lhokseumawe FTW! Because of bad weather, my flight to SIM was delayed for 3 hours for sake, luckily my flash is always with me *kisses flash* (no hotspot in Polonia). SIM is a very small building for a Malaysia an international airport.

On the first weekdays I got very busy. My work responsibility is like… can I make it??! So I was starting to walk around the city on Saturday. First destination: Baiturrahman Great Mosque. It’s great, as usual. Next destination: Taman Sari Kerajaan Aceh. I don’t know why I love history so much, so archeological of kingdoms are must visited! There are many sites of Taman Sari. First: Gunongan. It’s a gift from Sultan Iskandar Muda (a king of Aceh Kingdom on 16th century) to his queen Putroe Phang (from Pahang, Malaysia). Aceh people relate very closed to that neighbour country. Instead going to Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Bali or other Indonesian great places, they tend to go to Kuala Lumpur for holiday and to Penang for medication. Nooo wonder, since our ancestors are also related to that neighbour (selain emang lokasi yang sangat dekat).
Alkisah, Putroe Phang sering merasa kesepian di tengah kesibukan sang suami sebagai kepala pemerintahan. Ia selalu teringat dengan kampung halamannya di Pahang. Untuk membahagiakan sang permaisuri, ia membangun sebuah gunung kecil (Gunongan) sebagai miniatur perbukitan yang mengelilingi istana permaisuri. Hari-harinya banyak dihabiskan dengan bermain bersama dayang-dayang di sekitar Gunongan, sambil memanjatinya.

Damn, why our queen was so childish? Gunongan is indeed a nice place for playing around.. but not for whole days! I got bored after 30 minutes there (maybe because there are no dayang-dayang to serve me). If I were her, I would rather help my husband to lead the country better than playing in a “gunung-gunungan”. Di area ini ada bak mandi nya Putroe Phang, dimana ditengah-tengahnya terdapat lubang untuk dayang-dayang meracik shampoo organik khusus untuk Putroe Phang mandi. Selain tempat bermain Putroe Phang, wilayah ini juga dulunya dijadikan sebagai tempat peristirahatan prajurit-prajurit kerajaan yang disebut Kandang (di sebelah Gunongan). Saat ini disana merupakan persemayaman Sultan Iskandar Tsani, menantu Sultan Iskandar Muda.

Entry ticket.. hemm mystic ahaha. Waktu gw datang pintu pagar terkunci rapat. Untung lagi ada bapak-bapak di deket pagar, langsung aja hajar “Pak, pak, boleh masuk ga?” Ehh ternyata dia welcome banget, dan jadi tour guide private kami. Well, of course then we have to pay him for his story and accompaning seikhlasnya (suggestion: more than 5000 IDR per person).

Next Taman Sari sites: Museum Negeri Aceh. There are Lonceng Cakradonya, Rumoh Aceh, and museum. Penjelajahan Taman Sari gw lanjutkan keesokan harinya dengan mengunjungi makam Sultan Iskandar Muda dan keturunan kerajaan lainnya. Lalu singgah bentar di Pendopo gubernur di sebelahnya. Hehe iseng banget ya! Gossips:
1) Pendopo merupakan bekas istana Kerajaan Aceh.
2) Ada jalan bawah tanah dari istana ke Gunongan (tapi belum ditemukan sampai sekarang)
3) Jika Lonceng Cakradonya, bunyinya sampai ke seluruh Taman Sari. Dahulu digunakan untuk memanggil para prajurit berkumpul. Sekarang lonceng ini sudah tidak bisa berbunyi lagi karena anak lonceng di dalamnya sudah tidak ada.

I also visited Taman Ratu Safiatuddin and Kapal Terdampar. Kapal PLN itu saksi bisu kehebatan tsunami. Ngeliatnya bikin takjub sendiri, dan agak merinding gitu (btw, sekarang sedang dibangun museum tsunami oleh BRR)
Selain tempat wisata, of course I do some wisata kuliner!
1) Gunung Salju. Well lebih tepatnya wisata kuliner kenangan haha because it’s a restaurant that me and my friend often came to eat. Try the original ice cream! Try. the. ice. cream!
2) Mie Aceh: goreng, basah, tumis, rebus… you name it. But my favo is the fried one. I mean, the SPICY fried one. More spicy more yummy! The most famous one is Mie Razali I think, tapi ada tempat lain yang lebih enak kok (di daerah Penayong juga, but I don’t know the name)
3) Roti Cane. Beda lohh sama roti cane yang biasa dijual di Gampoeng Aceh Bandung Well basically the taste is same. Kalo di Bandung, gula/susunya ditaburin di atas roti. Kalo di Aceh, gula/susu ada didalam rotinya. Ga cuma gula/susu, ada juga isi srikaya, strawberry, nangka, coklat, dsb
4) Kopi Ulee Kareng. Kabarnya mengandung ganja lohh
5) Ayam Tangkap. Hohoho dah lama jadi orang Aceh, baru kali ni nyobain ayam tangkap Disebut juga Ayam Sampah (lihat saja bentuknya)6) Phenomenon in Banda Aceh lately, many burger shops in the street at night, don’t know why! Don’t eat there, there are many mosquitos. Actually the mosquitos are everywhere. Banda Aceh is full of mosquitos!! Ga di rumah (sepupu), di kantor, di jalanan.. gw selalu digigitin nyamuk, bahkan soffell tidak mempan. Susah memang jadi gadis manis.