Indo, Day 14: Banda

This morning I finished up working in the Sigli office and prepared to head back to Banda Ache for my morning flight. Unlike Nias, when given the opportunity to ask me any technical questions or relate problems, the staff had nothing to say. Things run extremely well there. So we actually got out of town on time.

The anti-malaria meds made me sick again this morning. First time I’ve thrown up, though. Too bad I still have four and a half weeks on them. They really suck. Maybe I should take my chances with the malaria. I only have half a dozen or so bites – how many could be malarial?

The drive back to town was beautiful (and not raining this time), but I didn’t take any pictures to save my battery for Banda. So stupid of me to leave my charger in Medan! We got to the staff house, dumped our stuff, then Flora (the Sigli finance manager), the drive and I set out to see some of the relevant sites.

Our first stop was the beach that marks “ground zero” for the tsunami. It’s a really nice coastline that reminds me of Oregon. Much rockier than Nias or Sigli. Actually waves. It was nice. We walked along for a while and talked about the wave. Fifty feet! And the coastline was 1km farther out before the tsunami than it is now. You can still walk through a dirt plane made up of rubble that once was worker housing for the nearby cement factory. 150,000 people died here.

After the beach, we went and saw the two boats that made it over 5km inland and are stuck on top of houses. They’re too big to move, so they’ve become semi-permanent monuments. None of the pictures are great because I started using my cell phone camera which is markedly poorer.

From there we went to the mosque. This is the city were Islam first came to Asia, and they’re proud of their mosque. It’s the largest in the country, and has got to be right at the top of the list for Asia. Flora donned traditional garb to be allowed inside the complex. I’ve never received so many dirty looks in my life. A western man walking with a local in traditional clothing. Not a welcome sight. We walked around trying to take pictures, but then my battery finally died. Flora made a joke that maybe we should walk around seven times and the walls would fall down. It’s good to see Biblical humor transcend cultures.

We talked a little about being a Christian operating in a Muslim world. They get that we’re Christian, and I think they’re becoming ok with it. In Sigli they have to crop our logo to make the cross look more like a plus or just use the words. I don’t think anyone here is militant, and they want (need) our help, but apparently we still have to make some concessions. I don’t think that’s very fair.

I had previously asked if anyone knew where I could find a machete. I saw some guys using one in the bush, and thought it would be a sweet souvenir. “Machete” proved to be a difficult word to explain and translate, and they ended up taking me to a place with traditional ceremonial knives. It’s pretty close, but utterly non-functional. Not quite what I had in mind, but it still looks cool.

Dinner was at a little coffee house near the staff house. It’s too bad I don’t drink coffee, being as this is where it comes from and all. I’ve heard about the special blend here…apparently many coffee houses also run drugs, and sometimes the coffee and marijuana get a little, well, blended. This didn’t seem like that sort of establishment. The food was the highest quality I’ve had yet. Not necessarily the best tasting, but the most western-like in quality. What I mean is, well, for starters, the meat wasn’t raised on the premises. And it was actually plump, not forcing you to scrape what you can find off the bone. Like it was bred to be eaten. And served boneless! Ha! I felt spoiled not having to work at my food.

Afterward, Flora decided we would get back to the house via Death Taxi. If you remember from one of my first posts on this trip, most taxis here are motorcycle sidecars. But not like sidecars we have in the US that are enclosed. No, these are pretty much a seat and a floor with a bar on the side and in front. Very open air. If you’ll also remember how I characterized “driving” here (going/doing whatever the crap you want and using the horn to keep you alive), you’ll understand the Death Taxi moniker.

It was fun, though. We took a loop around the city to see some of it at night. The air (I almost called it fresh) felt great and relatively cool. And there were only a couple close calls (red light? What’s that mean?). I really regret leaving my charger in Medan as I could have gotten some great pictures.

All in all, a fun day, and fairly touristy at that. I wasn’t expecting to be shown around quite this much, but it was kinda nice. Tomorrow morning I head back to Medan (pray the airport doesn’t shut down again) for the final leg of this trip.