Pulau Weh

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Pulau Weh

June 2009

229

After last year's trip to Sabang on the Philippines, I decided this year to go to the Indonesian Sabang, or Pulau Weh. There are three places named "Sabang" in the world, and all three have a reputation as a dive destination; the third one is also in the Philippines.

From Banda Aceh Airport, it is a short taxi ride to the ferry port. The main problem is to pay the taxi driver, since the ATM in the airport is most of the time inoperational, and the moneychangers have extortionate rates. There are a few ATMs in town, though. From the ferry port, several fast passenger ferries and slow car ferries depart for Pulau Weh each day. To my surprise, the fast ferry departed exactly on schedule - I would never have expected this in Indonesia - and from the port on Pulau Weh it is another short taxi ride to Gapang Beach.

Gapang is not even a town, only a sleepy collection of houses, four or five restaurants, all serving identical food, and a few places to stay. The oldest diveshop on Pulau Weh, Lumba Lumba Diving , is located in Gapang, and a new diveshop has recently opened there as well. Gapang has a house reef, which is a very interesting place to dive and look for small stuff; I was on the house reef every day.

Besides diving, there is not much to do in Gapang. I found this unnerving at first, but after a time it was really relaxing. One of the highlights every morning and afternoon was the arrival of "Mama Donut", an old Indonesian lady carrying a basket with fresh donuts and some Indonesian kuih which she was selling for Rp.2000 apiece. They were really good - no comparison to Dunkin Donuts or the like. The Internet connection was broken after a recent storm, so I did not even get any email! I found this disconcerting at first, but after a week or so I realised how deeply relaxing it can be to be out of touch with everything!

After photographing the gecko, I tried to take a picture of the cricket, but I was too slow

Pulau Weh

Arus Balee [ 12 images ]	Batee Gla [ 8 images ]	Batee Tokong [ 20 images ]	Canyons [ 8 images ]
Hot Springs [ 4 images ]	Gapang House Reef (1) [ 20 images ]	Gapang House Reef (2) [ 20 images ]	Gapang House Reef (3) [ 16 images ]
Gapang House Reef (4) [ 12 images ]	Gapang House Reef (5) [ 20 images ]	Rubiah North [ 8 images ]	Rubiah Sea Garden [ 28 images ]
Sabang Wreck [ 4 images ]	Seulako Cave [ 16 images ]	Seulako Drift [ 8 images ]	Sophie Rickmers [ 4 images ]

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