Scenes from Aceh

Here are a few other shots of Philip's time in Aceh. Only a few of them will recieve comment. The photo of the sign was amusing, suggestive of the possibilities that emerge in disaster relief. The sign says that the assistance was provided by partnership between Islamic Relief and the Seventh Day Adventists. The dark murky shot is of a typical Acehnese coffee shop - this one was in the village of Samalanga. The photo with a bunch of concrete houses is of a reconstruction project built by an international NGO in Ulee Tuy on the outskirts of Banda Aceh.

Buffalo curry feast

While in Aceh, my friend Matt and I visited a local Muslim festival involving the late night cooking up of a very large buffalo. The kari kerbau was indeed delicious. The shot with the big pot gives some indication of how much kari was cooked up. Only the pot was utilised two or more times.

More Banda

More of Banda. The photo to comment on here is the shot of the whopping great big sea-worthy iron machine - it is apparently the most famous tourism site in Aceh. It was picked up and carried three kilometers in-land by the tsunami wave (at its peak over thirty meters high). It swept right over the top of houses and fields and people and landed where the wave left it. It hasn't been shifted since. The road it landed on has duly adjusted its course. Placed there as if 'by the hand of God', said an Acehnese friend. It was indeed one of the most striking reminders of the wave. Something one could touch. While we were there a new museum and memorial gardens were in the process of construction.

Banda

We had a couple of opportunities to cruise around Banda Aceh. On one or two of these occasions we brought our camera. These shots resulted; less a coherent attempt to image Banda then that which caught our eye as we zipped by. We'll let the pictures explain themselves, with only one additional comment: everywhere we went in Banda was in the midst of a post-tsunami building boom. Buildings were popping up everywhere in various stages of (in)completion. As a result, 'reconstruction' had a decidedly (and not just metaphorical) concrete feel to it. This craze of construction contrasted sharply again with old world Central Java while bringing comparisons to mind of the wild exuberance of Malaysian economic planners.

Aceh Holiday

Aceh is a completely different kettle of fish from Central Java; during our holiday there we were struck by some of the differences. Culturally, Aceh shares many similarities with mainland Malaysia. These could be overplayed, but nevertheless food, speech, clothing, and music (they love Siti over there) all have clear cross-fertilizations. This is not surprising given the proximity of Northern Sumatera and the Malay Peninsula; but neither of us had fully expected it. The migration to and from Malaysia and Aceh is very high; with a fair portion of this being legal. The presence of Islam in Aceh is of course very strong and this plays itself out quite tangibly in the visual landscape. This photo is of the Grand Mosque (Mesjid Raya) in Banda Aceh. It was built by the Dutch only after they brutally colonised the province at enormous colonial expense. It is a remarkably beautiful structure, as were many of the mosques in Aceh that we saw.

Cheesy Grins

Those of you who follow the highly acclaimed Canvas may recognise this pic from an issue earlier this year.