Eat, Sleep, Dive

Nov 4 to 9 Eat, Sleep, Dive

While it's truly sad to keep hearing all the stories from Bangkok, the closing of the university that, after all, have something positive for me. I got to visit this island. Pulau Weh. I think I have never been more relaxed or more at ease than here. It is like the T-Shirts say. Eat, Sleep, Dive. And that is exactly what I am doing. In between there's relaxing, talking, reading and just plain chilling.

The morning dive usually starts at 9.30 am which means breakfast at 8 and getting ready just before 9... everything is a bit more mellow here, no one's in a rush. And if the chef that prepares your breakfast (lunch or dinner) runs around in a Pyjama with cute animals on it all day every day, so be it. It's fruit pancake or omelet or sandwich or simply fruits. Mjam. The coffee is local, from Aceh but it is really strong and kicks in. Maybe I am not used to real coffee any more after the colored water they sell as coffee in Thailand.

Out on the boat for the first dive, come back and just relax, have some lunch until it's time for the 2^nd dive at 2.30 pm. I could keep doing that for who knows how long. Everybody here is happy and chilled. And so relaxed. There's plenty of books to choose from in the Dive Center Library, card games to play and lots of nice people to meet.

This lifestyle is why people pack up, leave everything and move to an island. There's people saying this is what Thai islands used to be 20 years ago before they became mainstream and everyone went there on their Package or Backpack Islandhopping trip. Let's just hope this place is still almost the same in 20 years. Some resort development let you expect otherwise but as long as the vibe and the people remain the same I got good hopes. I just know I want to be back some day.

Evenings are spent with dinner, chitchat, cardgames and if we're lucky some guitar and songs. Island lifestyle.
And there's the farewell party for Julia, one of the dive trainers that's moving to Koh Lanta, Thailand. 

Sunday Nov 6 is a National Holiday, Eid Al Adha, or Hari Rayya, however you want to call it. The divecenter is closed and so are many other places. Just to be on the safe side we head for provisions (which means bananas and instant noodles) to the village on Saturday evening. The village is 2 mosques a few houses and some living room shops. But you get what you need most here and it's only a few minutes of casual walk.

On getting back there's a surprise waiting for me. I knew that some of my fellow students from Kufstein, studying in Penang where headed for Pulau Weh. And here they are. 2 from Kufstein and 6 more exchange students from all over the world. All at the very same place. And plenty of more people arrived as well. This quiet island of mine has suddenly become very busy. But first things first, Sunday is there to relax. And since I haven't really left the beach yet I am renting a Scooter to explore Weh a bit. Siera, the Canadian part of the Penang party is joining me on my expedition and slowly we set off. I haven't driven a motorcycle in a while and though we were smart enough to get an automatic it takes some getting used to again. The roads are nicely paved, a real luxury in Southeast Asia and going around is a breeze. The people are the friendliest I have seen anywhere. Almost everyone is waving and shouting a big hello. Kids are running after us waving. And friendly faces and smiles all around. With every km on the road I love the island even more. We are also lucky enough that the monkey that block some parts of the road are few and quiet today, maybe even they are honoring the holiday.

Getting into Sabang pretty much everything is closed, but you still get a feel of the city. Harbor, shops and then pretty houses up the hill with stunning views. It's nice to drive through this small city. Pretty and colorful houses everywhere and a small or larger mosque every few hundred meters in between. Since we left Sabang I don't really know where to go. Roadmaps aren't really existent and the tourist map I have doesn't give good road information. But since we are here to explore we just follow the roads along the ocean, since the views are gorgeous. A few picture stops and a very scenic drive later we pass smaller and smaller villages. We are now a real attraction especially when it comes to kids, they are truly excited to see us. And we are excited to see them. They are all exceptionally friendly and the prettiest smiles ever. We follow and follow and follow the road, enjoy the views and the countryside. I eye the fuel gauge suspiciously. The regular 'bensin' stands that offer the bottles to fill up every few hundred meters are all closed today. As if I called it, the road we've been following for over 20 minutes is a dead end. Who cares. The views were fantastic and the ride back the same way is still exceptionally stunning. Though I am happy that almost back in Sabang we do run into a fill up station that is open today. Filling up the tank with a measuring cup and tin can is out of a different world, but oh so efficient in a place where everyone has a scooter that needs to be filled up frequently.

We ride back a different rode through the heart of Sabang, ride through, well you could call them suburbs. Sprawling large houses with frontyards and kids playing. Siera screams out. She has spotted a bald eagle sitting in a front yard and we stop for closer inspection. The owners of the house notice us and invite us in to look at the bird closer, turns out he has a broken wing and they take care of him now. Shows again just how friendly and open the Acehnese are. They speak with us in all the English they know and the kids run here to inspect us closer. After Siera has played enough with the Eagle we continue our discovery tour. At the next photo stop with a scenic view over the harbor all neighboring kids run up to us, the adults come closer to take pictures with us, especially the blond and curly haired Siera, that's such a rarity here. When it starts to rain they are kind enough to invite us in to protect from the rain. Since for now it's only a light drizzle we politely refuse and set on the way back to Gapang Beach. And again I am impressed by the friendliness of everyone here. One more halt on the way since kids would like to show us their chick that just hatchet and are showing it very proudly. We get to hold it, take some more pictures and are too said we don't speak any Bahasa Indonesia to chat with everyone. I love this island more and more.

Two more days of diving and relaxed evenings and I have decided I need to leave at some point otherwise I will spent all my free time (and all my savings) here. The plan is to make my way to Lake Toba, the biggest volcanic lake on earth, on Wednesday. Since I haven't booked flights or transportation yet, I'll let Sumatra surprise me.