Here we are in the heart of the most hardlined islamist Indonesian state, and we're having lunch in a Chinese restaurant! But no pork was served lah. ;) Ok, here're the gang: from right; Joseph, Suriana, Simon (greenish t-shirt; and he is chinese!), Fairuz, Azura (aka Manta Turtle), Lynn, Jack Jack and yours truly.
After lunch, we went straight to the pier to wait for the ferry to take us to Pulau Weh. It was hot. And muggy. And I was starting to sweat. A lot.
Here's Nazri (one of our Dive Masters and resident hunk) with Jack Jack (left), the DM-in-training. Oh, some of the better pics on this entire Weh series belong to him.
Our Mama Diver, the one and only Borneo Turtle, Yanni trying to look cool despite being dead tired and nursing a cough and cold which would plague her throughout the entire excursion.
Ah finally our ferry arrives.... and man, was there a huge crowd coming in and out! And Weh is supposed to be a secluded and
sparsely populated island. Well, sparsely by Indonesian standards, I guess. :p
We were lucky to be able to catch the fast boat, as it only took us about forty five minutes to cross the narrow channel of water to Weh, the most northerly island in the Indonesian archipelago. If it was the other slower ferry, we would have had to endure a 2 1/2 hour journey!
We were booked onto the Kelas Bisnis seats. Not bad lah... got aircon... got tv (but thankfully was not switched on!)... and no chickens and goats walking around....
A lot of the guys and gals managed to catch some forty winks. And I managed to catch them in the most unflattering sleeping positions.... Hehehe.... Oh btw, this post is dedicated to the lovely lady in the picture, Lynn.
The ever observant Su called my attention to this really long and red axe standing beside the emergency exit...
...which is called Pintu Darurat in Bahasa Indonesia, which means Emergency Door in English... as in a state of Emergency during a war type of emergency. Ok, we thought it was pretty funny at the time.
Here's Simon (yes, he really is chinese) with his really big melons. (Yes, he 's a he, not a she.)
So anyway, an hour later, we got out of the ferry onto Sabang, the main town in Weh. By the way, Pulau Weh actually means The Faraway Island.
Then we were bundled into three vans, all 25 of us and our ultra huge dive luggage, and brought on a really long and bumpy ride through Weh's hills and countryside before we reached Sunur Tiga where our hotel was located.
Here's a view of the small bungalows at the resort that we're going to call home for the next five days - Freddie's Sunur Tiga Guesthouse.
By the time we were all settled in, it was already 8pm.... so the moon was up. Oooh full moon. Which is good for us divers as that means we'll probably get clear visibility during our dives.
Early next morning, I took the opportunity to take a look around the resort and the beach that was right at our doorstep!
The resort was built into the side of a hill and they provided us with gazebos for suntanning and also to shoot the breeze after a hard day at diving.
The entire complex was built using wood salvaged from the recent tsunami and the owner made sure he only employed the local people to build it.
Most of the units were single bungalows on stilts and
every room had a sea view. It doesn't get any better than this. Although, I gotta say, some of the higher units was a bitch to climb up to every time.
Pantai Sunur Tiga is a relatively secluded beach, but it was very beautiful and waking up to the sound of the waves lapping at the soft sand will forever be etched in my memory.
Here's Lynn playing with the resort's pet dog, Malu.
Imagine this - settling into a deck chair with a ice cold glass of pineapple juice in one hand and a good book in the other, under the shade of a coconut tree, ...
...and from the corner of your eye, you notice you're all alone on this serene beach, as the breeze lulls you to sleep...
... and then as you open your eyes, right in front of you, the evening sun glides lazily down into the horizon. I love my life. ;)
Here we are in the heart of the most hardlined islamist Indonesian state, and we're having lunch in a Chinese restaurant! But no pork was served lah. ;) Ok, here're the gang: from right; Joseph, Suriana, Simon (greenish t-shirt; and he is chinese!), Fairuz, Azura (aka Manta Turtle), Lynn, Jack Jack and yours truly.
After lunch, we went straight to the pier to wait for the ferry to take us to Pulau Weh. It was hot. And muggy. And I was starting to sweat. A lot.
Here's Nazri (one of our Dive Masters and resident hunk) with Jack Jack (left), the DM-in-training. Oh, some of the better pics on this entire Weh series belong to him.
Our Mama Diver, the one and only Borneo Turtle, Yanni trying to look cool despite being dead tired and nursing a cough and cold which would plague her throughout the entire excursion.
Ah finally our ferry arrives.... and man, was there a huge crowd coming in and out! And Weh is supposed to be a secluded and sparsely populated island. Well, sparsely by Indonesian standards, I guess. :p
We were lucky to be able to catch the fast boat, as it only took us about forty five minutes to cross the narrow channel of water to Weh, the most northerly island in the Indonesian archipelago. If it was the other slower ferry, we would have had to endure a 2 1/2 hour journey!
We were booked onto the Kelas Bisnis seats. Not bad lah... got aircon... got tv (but thankfully was not switched on!)... and no chickens and goats walking around....
A lot of the guys and gals managed to catch some forty winks. And I managed to catch them in the most unflattering sleeping positions.... Hehehe.... Oh btw, this post is dedicated to the lovely lady in the picture, Lynn.
The ever observant Su called my attention to this really long and red axe standing beside the emergency exit...
...which is called Pintu Darurat in Bahasa Indonesia, which means Emergency Door in English... as in a state of Emergency during a war type of emergency. Ok, we thought it was pretty funny at the time.
Here's Simon (yes, he really is chinese) with his really big melons. (Yes, he 's a he, not a she.)
So anyway, an hour later, we got out of the ferry onto Sabang, the main town in Weh. By the way, Pulau Weh actually means The Faraway Island.
Then we were bundled into three vans, all 25 of us and our ultra huge dive luggage, and brought on a really long and bumpy ride through Weh's hills and countryside before we reached Sunur Tiga where our hotel was located.
Here's a view of the small bungalows at the resort that we're going to call home for the next five days - Freddie's Sunur Tiga Guesthouse.
By the time we were all settled in, it was already 8pm.... so the moon was up. Oooh full moon. Which is good for us divers as that means we'll probably get clear visibility during our dives.
Early next morning, I took the opportunity to take a look around the resort and the beach that was right at our doorstep!
The resort was built into the side of a hill and they provided us with gazebos for suntanning and also to shoot the breeze after a hard day at diving.
The entire complex was built using wood salvaged from the recent tsunami and the owner made sure he only employed the local people to build it.
Most of the units were single bungalows on stilts and every room had a sea view. It doesn't get any better than this. Although, I gotta say, some of the higher units was a bitch to climb up to every time.
Pantai Sunur Tiga is a relatively secluded beach, but it was very beautiful and waking up to the sound of the waves lapping at the soft sand will forever be etched in my memory.
Here's Lynn playing with the resort's pet dog, Malu.
Imagine this - settling into a deck chair with a ice cold glass of pineapple juice in one hand and a good book in the other, under the shade of a coconut tree, ...
...and from the corner of your eye, you notice you're all alone on this serene beach, as the breeze lulls you to sleep...
... and then as you open your eyes, right in front of you, the evening sun glides lazily down into the horizon. I love my life. ;)
3 comments:
Great travel blog. The dog's name is Balu. Pulau Weh is a very special place.
nice reading ur blog..
we r interested to go PUlau Weh this JUly, can we get more info from u??
Thanks for the correction, erm... John Doe. ;)
yen: Will gladly help you any way i can. You might get even more info on Weh by contacting Borneo Turtle (click on the link on my list of Favourtite things).
Post a Comment