Tsunami Tourism Place in ACEH

Banda Aceh is the Provincial Capital of Aceh Province, formerly known as Kutaraja until 1962. On April 22nd, 2013 Banda Aceh celebrates its 808 years anniversary. Today, Banda Aceh is the beating heart of the Provincial Goverment administration for economic, cultural and tourism development.  Banda Aceh has fully recovered from the December 2004 tsunami boxing day which destroyed almost 60% of the city with approximately 75.000 victims. Kutaraja or Banda Aceh as the capital of the Islamic Kingdom of Aceh Darussalam is one of the oldest Islamic city in South East Asia.

Earthquake occurs at 7: 58: 53 am. Earthquake center located in longitudes 3.316° N 95.854° at least 160 miles west of aceh at depths 10 kilometers. This earthquake measuring 9.3 richter scale and is an most intense earthquake in the last 40 years that impacted Aceh, the west coast of peninsula Malaysia, Thailand, the east coast of India, Sri Lanka, even up the east coast of Africa. Aceh as city that casualty the world biggest and thousands of building destroyed, thousands of also lost a corpse is not found and thousands also geeks in interred in public.

In Indonesia, a quake swallows more than 170,000 fatalities. About 250,000 people in 13 countries died in the tsunami disaster, which occurred after the earthquake in the Indian Ocean. Dozens of houses were destroyed by the earthquake, mainly in Meulaboh and Banda Aceh on the tip of Sumatra island. In Banda Aceh, about 50% of all buildings were damaged by the tsunami. However, most of the casualties were caused by the tsunami that struck the West coast of Aceh and North Sumatra.

Now the disaster has passed, Aceh has risen to re-arrange everything has been damaged over the disaster. Aceh, located in the westernmost region of the Republic of Indonesia with its natural beauty and cultural attractions as well as the richness of the history of the past has been prepared to promote Aceh through the tourism industry in a sustainable and environmentally with fixed characteristics of mengkedepankan area, in particular the development of tsunami tourism with many relics of the tsunami.

Tsunami Museum

The existence of the Museum as a Tsunami museum in Aceh and international community pride, in addition to being a symbol of the strength and patience of the people of Aceh in the face of the tsunami disaster, also became an icon of tourism Aceh tsunami. The Museum was built by the architectural approach to the culture of Aceh with various collections and events of the tsunami, such as documentary film/4 dimensions, cartoons, paintings, hikayat Aceh Tsunami, poetry, short stories, plays, music or song, the story of ”Smong Semeulue 1907” and other local wisdom became the attraction and learning media effectively for travelers.

This museum was built with the concept of stilts-house as the typical of Rumoh Aceh (Acehnese traditional house) that can be used as an escape building during a flood or tsunami. Inside you can find a variety of dioramas of tsunami, some photographs about tsunami when it happened and after tsunami, earthquake simulation room, 4 dimensions audio visual equipment. All of them brought us the feeling of the real moments of earthquake. Besides that you could enjoy the cozy and pleasant place.

The “Thanks The World” Monument

Tsunami Monument "Aceh Thanks the World", is located in the Garden City of Blang Padang, in area of ​​8 hectares, is a symbol of Acehnese gratitude to the volunteers, NGOs, state higher institutions, corporate, civil, and military both national and international who have participated in Aceh construction after the Tsunami disaster. This monument has a lot of stories, It become more popular lately. This monument shaped the tsunami waves.

Acehnese people express their gratitude to the country contributed to Aceh rehabilitation and reconstruction through the inscription of friendship. On the inscription is written the name of the state, state flag, and gratitude expression ‘Thank You and Peace’ in the language of each country. There are 53 inscriptions in Blang Padang field. Blang Padang now days is an open public places to do excercise and relaxation. There are jogging track, soccer field, basketball, and the pillars to do the mild fitness. Every weekend, this field become a family favorite spot. On this area is also available a variety of culinary/snacks. Apart from the Monument, Acehnese people express their gratitude to the country that through the inscription of friendship.

PLTD Apung (Electrical Generator Ship)

Before the PLTD Apung is situated in current position, it was moored in the port of Ulee Lheue. The ship was pushed on to land as far as 2,5 km from the coast of Ulee Lheue by the Tsunami and set down in the middle of Punge Blang Cut village. According to the mouth to mouth story, many people survive from the wave by riding this boat. Today this electricity diesel no longer works to supply the electrical crisis. It now turns to be a historical site of Tsunami.

Fishing Boat on the Roof

A fishing boat is held on an inhabitant house and managed to save 59 souls by boarding on it, when the Tsunami’s wave hit Lampulo village. Because it has historical values, now the boat is used as an important monument to commemorate the enormity of the tsunami.

Mass Grave

Mass graves located in a number of places in Banda Aceh. The big one is in in Siron village, Lambaro, Aceh Besar. Number of fifty thousand people of tsunami victims were buried in here. Lambaro Tsunami Mass Grave has become a witness of Mega Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster in the last December 2004. Besides mass grave Siron, there are also other mass graves located in Ulee Lheue and Lhoknga.

Baiturrahim Mosque

In many settlements of coastal Aceh destroyed by the tsunami, the mosque was usually the only building that survived. This was the case with the old mosque of Ulee Lheue. This building survived the Tsunami and it can still function as a mosque and gathering place. Some of the damaged parts have been renovated. The highlight of the  commemoration of the 1st year of Tsunami was held in this mosque

Hotels

At Hotel like hotel Medan on the street Medan. A. Yani Number 17 Peunayong - Banda Aceh also displayed photographs stunami events. How does a ship stranded and embedded just in front of the hotel and many car piled, will add a strong impression of how tsunami occured

If you visit Aceh, these are hotels that you can stay for

1. Hermes Palace Hotel Banda Aceh 

Jln.T.Panglima Nyak Makam, Banda Aceh.
Telp: +62 651 755 5888 Fax.: +62 651 755 6999

2. Hotel Grand Nanggroe Jl. T. Imum Lueng Bata, Kel. Cot Mesjid, Kec Lueng Bata. Banda Aceh
Telp: +62 651 35788  Fax.: +62 651 35778
Website: www.grandnanggroehotel.com

3. Sulthan Hotel International  

Situated in the city of Aceh, Sulthan Hotel International is just a 5-minute drive from the Aceh Traditional Market. It houses a restaurant and offers free Wi-Fi access throughout its premises.

The hotel is a 10-minute drive to Hermef Mall and a 15-minute drive to Ulele Beach. The Sultan Iskandar Muda International Airport is a 25-minute drive away.

4. Hotel Medan.  

Jl. A. Yani No. 17 Peunayong - Banda Aceh
Phone. +62651 – 21501 Fax : +62651 – 23514.  Email : info@hotel-medan.com

Pacu Jawi, The Cow Race in West Sumatra.

When traveling Indonesia, or reading about the highlights of Indonesian cultures, you might find that a cow race is what to expect to see in Madura Island, East Java, called Karapan Sapi. That’s what I thought too, until one day a friend mentioned to me there’s a similar race in West Sumatra, called Pacu Jawi. Taking place in the Tanah Datar regency, Pacu Jawi race goes on for 11 months per year, moving between subdistricts in the regency, always taking place on a paddy field.

There are 14 subdistricts in Tanah Datar regency, and the chosen 11 get to be the hosts of the race, each one for 4 weekends in a row.  The Pacu Jawi race we got to visit took place in Nagari Simabur (Simabur subdistrict), just a little off Batusangkar town, the capital of Tanah Datar regency.

It was 11.30 when we arrived in Simabur, the racing cows had just started coming in. Some were numbered on their bodies and some weren’t. Children were trying to poke at the cows out of curiosity Diyan finally convinced me that I didn’t need to be scared to pet them, and so I did. The skin was a bit furry and soft, and the cow just stood against the fence calmly as I stroke the nape of her neck. Cows have really soothing eyes because they’ve got long and droopy eye lashes, both the male and female are pretty.

Food stalls and temporary diners were built near the race arena. Talempong, the traditional Minangnese music, was played by a group of men sitting under a tent. People, including moi, were waiting in excitement for the race to begin. We strolled around the arena, looking at the race preparation, talked to some locals, checking out the knick knacks and snacks being sold. We had finished our lunch at a stall just before the race began. Woohoo!!

Mr.Emi, the head of the Pacu Jawi committee, advised us on a strategic spot to view the race. We took place at the advised spot, at the corner of the finish line of the race amongst local spectators, children and adults, all cheering for the racing cows and the jockeys.

In Pacu Jawi, coupled cows run along the muddy field about 20-30 meters long. Each couple is steered by a jockey with his hands on the cows’ tails and his feet on the wooden contraption that bind the cows together. The jockey bites one of the cows’ tip of the tail to make it run, automatically followed by the other one. The jockey often has to bite the tail again in the middle of the race to make the cows go faster. Usually only a couple runs in one go, followed quickly by the next couples. Jockeys would stretch arms and legs as wide as possible to steer and keep the cows together. Too often they would fall in the mud and come out of the race all muddy, reminds me of pictures of Woodstock!!

Sometimes the cows go off the track. They run to the side and run through the audience! Sure a cow is harmless, meaning it doesn’t actually chase or ram people around, but with a big figure like that (I can only guess the weigh!), one should be able to fun fast enough to avoid being hit by a cow!

The cows that run the fastest and straight til finish line are the winners. I’m not sure what prize the winners get, but the price of the best cows a.k.a. the winners surely go up. A regular cow that’s bred for daily consumption costs about IDR 5-7millions (that’s roughly US$ 500-700). But a Pacu Jawi racing cow can cost at least twice the regular cow. There are even racing cows that can cost up to IDR 30-40 millions (about US $ 3,200-4,200).

The race was still going on and was supposed to end at 4ish PM, but we needed to leave sooner to get to our next destination, Harau Valley in a different regency. We only watched the race for about 2 hours but it was definitely entertaining and heart pumping enough! I would definitely recommend it to any of you who’s going to Sumatra on your trip to Indonesia. Some might see it as a mad mud race in the middle of beautiful and eye-soothing greenery, but deranged or not it’s a traditional race that totally rocks! 

Pacu Jawi is totally one of the Indonesian traditional attractions I love, at least to date. I had been eager to see it since a year ago when I just heard about it. I was ready to get dirty what with the muddy field in a rainy season, though it wasn’t actually that dirty if you weren’t the jockey. But it’s absolutely awesome! It’s full of action, it’s very traditional, it’s rad, it’s crazy, and I gotta take my hat off for the jockeys who are so brave and are undoubtedly fit! Would I recommend watching Pacu Jawi when you’re traveling Indonesia? You bet I would!

http://indohoy.com

Aceh Tsunami Museum : A Museum to commemorate the tsunami victim 2004

Aceh Tsunami Museum  is a museum to commemorate the 230,000 peoples who died in the 2004 Asian tsunami disaster, especially at Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam on 26 December 2008.

The museum is located at Jalan Iskandar Muda, Banda Aceh, the museum is open daily (except Friday) at 10:00 to 12:00 and 15:00 to 17:00. The building houses on stilts style is quite unique in that when viewed from a distance resembles a ship with a chimney.

The Aceh Tsunami Museum was designed by Indonesian architect Ridwan Kamil. The museum is a 2,500 m2 four-story structure; its long curving walls covered in geometric reliefs. Inside, visitors enter through a dark, narrow corridor between two high walls of water — meant to recreate the noise and panic of the tsunami itself. The museum walls are adorned with images of people performing the Saman dance, a symbolic gesture dedicated to the strength, discipline and religious beliefs of the Acehnese people. From above, the roof resembles a tidal wave. The ground floor is modelled on the kind of traditional raised Acehnese houses that were best equipped to survive the tsunami. 

Entering Tsunami Museum, we can sense of atmosphere at the time of the disaster occurred.  All are recorded in photographs Banda Aceh tsunami presented in the monitor screen in down hall. Before going into down hall called “wells prayer “ we will go through very interestering and architecturally building with its spiral walk way. In there, we will see the film, photos and info the earthquake and tsunami that we were unaware of before.

On the second floor contains a form of learning media library, props, room 4D (four dimensions), and souvenir shop. Some props are displayed among other things, the design of earthquake resistant buildings, as well as a model diagram of the earth fault. There are some facilities continue to be refined as the space disaster paintings, dioramas, libraries, 4-dimensional space, and cafe.

According to a museum designed by local architect Ridwan Kamil, the Museum was built with the function for commemorating the victims of tsunami disaster;  for tsunami research center and learning tsunami disaster; as a symbol of the strength of the people of Aceh in the tsunami disaster; as a legacy to future generations in Aceh in the form of messages that have occurred in the tsunami region; and also to remind earthquake hazards and tsunami that threaten the region of Indonesia. This is because Indonesia is located in the "fire ring" Pacific volcanic belt, and the path that encircle the Pacific Basin. Region is a local ring of fire that often by the earthquake could trigger a tsunami.

Finally, Just come to visit Aceh. Your visit to Aceh Tsunami Museum will not be in vain because the museum building is loaded with the value of local knowledge and are designed with the concept memimesis ship and from the outside looks like a chimney so far unique to be recorded in your camera.

Tanjung Puting National Park - The world's Largest Orang Utan Conservation.

Tanjung Puting National Park is a national park in Indonesia located in the southeast part of West Kotawaringin Regency in the Indonesian province of Central Kalimantan (Central Borneo). The nearest main town is the capital of the Regency, Pangkalan Bun. The Pangkalan Bun City is the main gateway to get the Tanjung Puting National Park.

Tanjung Puting sits on a peninsula that juts out into the Java Sea. The peninsula is low lying and swampy with a spine of dry ground which rises a few feet above the omnipresent swamp. The north of Tanjung Puting is characterized by gentle hills and gold-bearing alluvial plains. In the past maps of the region commonly portrayed a ridge of mountains coming down into Tanjung Puting. This mountainous ridge does not exist; in fact, nowhere does the altitude rise above 100-200 feet in Tanjung Puting.

Tanjung Puting National Park (TPNP) is famous for its Orang Utan ( Pongo pygmaeus) conservation, Certainly,  the world's largest Orang Utan conservation. The population of Orang Utan is estimated at 30,000 to 40,000 Orang Utans are scattered in national parks and also outside the national park.

Tanjung Puting National Park is the first location in Indonesia as an Orang Utan rehabilitation center. There are three locations for the rehabilitation of Orang Utans in Tanjung Harapan, Pondok Tanggui, and Camp Leakey.

Tanjung Puting National Park  are also a place of endemic and endangered species protected in the Tanjung Puting National Park such as  Orang Utan (Pongo Satyrus), proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus), red leaf Langur (Presbytis rubicunda rubida), bear (Helarctos malayanus euryspilus), deer (Tragulus klossi javanicus), clouded Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), and cats (Prionailurus borneoensis bengalensis).

Tanjung Puting National Park is covered by a complex mosaic of diverse lowland habitats. It contains 3,040 km2 (or 1,174 square miles) of low lying swampy terrain punctuated by blackwater rivers which flow into the Java Sea. At the mouth of these rivers and along the sea coast are found nipa/mangrove swamps. Mangroves teem with animal life. Tanjung Puting also includes tall dry ground tropical rain forest, primarily tropical heath forest, with a canopy of 30 meters (approximately 100 feet) with “emergents” exceeding 50 meters (approximately 165 ft) in height, seasonally inundated peat swamp forest with peat in layers two or more meters (approximately 7 feet) deep, open depression lakes formed by fire, and open areas of abandoned dry rice fields now covered with elephant grass and ferns. The tropical heath forest which is called “kerangas” in parts of Borneo, is only found on very poor, typically white-sandy soils and is characterized by medium-sized trees.

Even

The International Ecotourism Business Forum  to 9 in September of 2013 was held in West Kotawaringin. The event was attended by 14 international travel agencies and 19 national tourist agency.

How to get there

Tanjung Puting National Park is located in District Kumai, West Kotawaringin the capital of Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan. To get to Pangkalan Bun there are a number of ways;

1.  For those who start from the city of Banjarmasin (South Kalimantan) can ride the bus to Palangkaraya and then to Pangkalan Bun
2.  Also there are a Pelni ship directly to Kumai port from Surabaya and Semarang, usually go 2 times a week, to make sure the schedule can directly contact Pelni.
3.  You can also take a flight to the Iskandar Airport at Pangkalan Bun from Jakarta or other main Indonesian cities. Now there are Trigana Air and Kalstar flight served toward Pangkalan Bun City.
4. From Kumai to Pangkalan Bun you can ride taxi ride (about Rp. 160,000), or ride motor rental (IDR 25000-40000) and public transportation (Rp 5,000).
5. The trip down the Tanjung Puting National Park should use the boat (called kelotok by people in Kalimantan) for a few days. You will live there on klotok, and there you shower, eat and sleep and everything was done above your board. You will get an amazing experience during this trip to the Tanjung Puting National Park.

The important thinks you should know:

1.  You could also hire speedboad from Kumai for saving time. And better start in early morning.
2. Do not forget to buy tickets at the National Park office in Kumai before entering, there will be an additional charge for camera, boat parking etc
3. Entrance to Tanjung Puting National Park is start at Kumai River then into the Sekoyer River and Lakey River with black watery, and be careful of crocodile.
4. Travelers who wants to try jungle track have to be accompanied by a travel guide.
5. There are three camp is usually used  to see Orang Utan at the feeding hours, at Camp Tanjung Harapan, Pondok Tanggi and Camp Lakey.
6. Feeding Hours at Camp Tanjung HArapan  at 14.00, at Camp Pondok Tanggi at 9:00 and at Camp Lakey 14.00.
7. Discuss which your guide traveler first before continue your journey.
8. Do not forget to bring mosquito repellent

Hotels

There  are some nise hotels in Pangkalan Bun, Such as:

1.  Swiss-Beli Hotel Pangkalan Bun  Jl. Ahmad Yani KM.02, Pangkalan Bun, Kalimantan Tengah, 74113 Pangkalanbun
2. Grand Kecubung Hotel  Jalan Domba No. 1, 74111 Pangkalanbun.
3. Hotel Tiara  Jl.Pangeran Antasari no. 16, 74115 Pangkalanbun
4. Hotel Bahagia  Jl. Pangeran Antasari No.100, 74115 Pangkalanbun
5. Hotel Mahkota  Jalan Pangeran Antasari no 303, 74114 Pangkalanbun