Saturday, 20th June 2009. Sometime after a routine breakfast at the hotel, the driver came to take me and wife to another place...
Oh. This time it is another driver, Kak Ann's main driver Pak Atar if I remember correctly. We were also using a different and new car, a Hyundai MPV if I'm not mistaken. We took a route which me and wife have never been through before since arriving in Aceh. The route practically goes east and north-east before following the coastal line to our main destination of the day which lies at an area called Lamuri...
On this route we passed a wider portion of Krueng or river Aceh...
A view towards the mainland. The Aceh river here is about 300 metres wide, very wide indeed compared to the parts which pass through Banda Aceh. There the river is about 80 metres wide in the city going to 140 metres wide at its mouth. You see, the Aceh river actually forks out into two outlets starting at a south-eastern fringe of the city creating some sort of big delta island in-between. So you could say it has two river mouths and here is the wider of the two outlets...
As we moved on it is common to see mosques like this. As shown in previous articles, this is the most common design for mosques throughout Aceh.
While there's also a number of houses on this route, vast tracts of uninhabited lands are more the norm...
I am not sure if this is the result of the tsunami which ravaged Aceh 26th December 2004. I think I did ask the driver about it and the answer was somewhere between a yes and a no. Yes as there were areas which used to be full of houses but got destroyed, no as there areas which has been left uninhabited for sometime for reasons I was not so clear about...
This is a view inland as we continue towards the east. So this view is actually to my right as east is towards the left of this picture. Apparently there's plenty of lands which are rather swampy. On the other hand, there are those which became swampy only after the tsunami...
As we got nearer to the coastal line, a set of hills which dominated the east-wards view of Banda Aceh began to take centre stage. I first caught notice of this hills from on top my hotel. Have a look at the old article Views of Aceh from our hotel early morning.... I understand that a new housing area has been built at its slopes, one that should be safe from any possible new tsunami attack...
OK. I can't remember why I actually took this picture. Is it the gates leading to the new housing area at the slopes of the hills? While it is still lead to the same hills, it doesn't look like the entrance to any housing area. Perhaps it was the design which caught my interest...
We soon reached the coastal parts...
Swampy tracts of land still dominates...
Hmm. This is a rather unorthodox looking mosque being built. Reminds me of the St. Basil Basilica in Moscow...
Here is a pix of the Basilica nicked from the Net, hehe! Just can't help it...
A few more minutes on the coastal route and we soon reached a part with a nice beach which deserves to be called a resort and recreational area...
The driver told me this area was totally devastated by the tsunami. But now it is back to its former glory just like the beach at Lampuuk I guess. Look at the article Catching the sunset over the Indian Ocean at Lampuuk... made over a month ago.
A different set of hills, albeit connected with the previous ones began to dominate the view. Later that day I would find out these hills have a certain significance...
While our main destination still lies about 10 km further, we soon reached a certain place which must surely be visited by anybody with interest in history. As the coastal road began to veer right to follow the contour which leads to the bay of Lamuri if I remember correctly, we took a left turn going to the shores.Well I know for sure the area around the bay is known as Lamuri, also pronounced as Lam Urik. But I'm not sure what is the name of the bay, so calling it as Lamuri too should be fine I guess...
Whatever, you can find this place by asking directions to "Benteng Indrapatra", or fortress of Indrapatra...
For here lies this ancient fortress which is said to be built sometime in the 7th century. That should be some 1,400 years ago. Actually there's another two such buildings here, so you could call the lot as fortresses of Indrapatra. I will write more about it in my bilingual blogspot SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART) . Have a look at it later. For the record, this is the 373rd article in this blogspot. To be continued...
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