Other Things to do in Sabang

In addition to the Sabang Marine Festival, which is only happens a few days a year, Pulau Weh has a few other interesting things to do. (Nomenclature: Sabang is the major city and one of two harbors on Pulau Weh. Pulau = Island in Indonesian)

Diving

First, we had a couple of days to kill before the Festival, so we moved Soggy Paws over to Pulau Rubiah (Rubiah Island), and did a couple of days of diving with Rubiah Tirta Divers. Several people, including Budi, recommended this dive outfit. One of the first in the area, and still run by the guy who developed diving in the area.

The Dive Center
The weather wasn't the best for diving--pretty breezy and some pretty big wave action--but we had a fun couple of dives.
A Nice Spotted Moray
A Chromodoris Nudibranch (Goniobranchus kuniei)
A Ribbon Eel (Wikipedia)
Puffer Fish
A Bright Red Crown of Thorns Starfish
Soggy Paws Anchored off Rubiah Island in the "Mined" Area
Being strategically placed on a major ocean highway, Pulau Weh was occupied by the Japanese during World War II. The chart still shows the area between the Pulau Weh "mainland" and Pulau Rubiah as a "mined area" on modern charts. We were assured that the mines were LONG gone, and it was safe for us to anchor there.

Tourists Going Out to Pulau Rubiah
Touring

Budi arranged for an all-day tour in a van that took us to a bunch of interesting places on Pulau Weh. If you want to self-tour, which some of the yachties did, you can rent a motorcycle and Budi will tell you where the highlights are. But we were happy being chauffered around by someone who knew where to go and could explain the background. I actually did the tour twice, once with Dave and Linda before they flew off to see Orangutans, and once with the group of yachties that were part of the West Indonesia Rally.

Dave, of course, is always stoked to see remants of World War II activity. But there are other interesting things--a bit of volcanic activity--a beach or two--the ferry port to the mainland, and a waterfall.

Our first stop was along the north coast, to look at the Japanese coastal fortifications.

A Signpost at the World War II Memorial
The Japanese Coastal Fortifications
One of a Number of Bunkers Along the Coast
The Large Cannon that Once Occupied the Bunker
Has Been Removed
One of the Cannons
All the Cannons are Now Lined Up Here
An Anti-Aircraft Gun in Someone's Back Yard
A Beautiful Mosque
The Local Hospital
(Established in 1912 as a Mental Hospital)
A House Built in Traditional Style, Now a Guesthouse
More Fortifications
The Big Gun at Anoi Itam
The Ferry Harbor on the South Side of Pulau Weh
Gunung Api Jaboi = Jaboi Volcano
(Now just a smoking sulfur pit)
Jaboi Volcano Remnants
Smoking Sulfur Pit
It is clove season in Pulau Weh. Everywhere we saw tarps laid out in the sun to dry the cloves.

Cloves Budding in the Trees
Cloves Drying
Driving along the coastal road toward the northernmost point, we stopped to take pictures at this pretty overlook.

What a Pretty Bay!
We Reach the Kilometer Zero Marker
(the northermost (almost) point of Indonesia)
As the next-to-last stop of the day, we hike into a waterfall for a swim.

Hiking in to the Waterfall
Finally at the Swimming Hole, with a Small Waterfall
The last stop of the day was at a little restaurant overlooking the Sabang Harbor anchorage. Sadly, no beer here! But we sampled some "rujack", an Indonesian fruit salad with soy sauce and spices. :p I like my fruit salad, au natural, thank you very much. But the view was stunning!
The Overlook from the Rujak Restaurant
Budi also helped the Rally group arrange a trip to Banda Aceh, to see the Tsunami Museum and the Banda Aceh museum. (Ferry to Banda Aceh and then a driver to take us around for the day). We covered the Tsunami Museum in our last post.

Tsunamis, Orangutans and Old Volcanic Calderas

Since we had a few days in Sabang before the rally moved on, and our crew, Linda, had still not seen Orangutans, Dave and Linda took off on a 6 day trip to see some sights in Sumatra. I stayed and watched the boat and hung out with the cats (and the other cruisers, here for the rally).

Budi helped them plan the trip... a ferry to the mainland, a car arranged to show them the Tsunami Museum in Banda Aceh, a nice lunch, and then to the airport at Banda Aceh. From Banda Aceh they flew to Medan in central Sumatra. There, they were picked up by Putra, a tour guide, who would take them on an Orangutan adventure in the jungle.

Dave's Account of the Trip...

Since we had arrived in Sabang almost a week early, Linda and I decided to go see the nearby Sumatran highlands, which included orangutans in the wild and Lake Toba, the lake I had seen on a chart 50 years previously.

The Tsunami Museum: On Budi's advice, we allocated enough time in Banda Aceh to spend an hour at the Tsunami Museum. At 8 AM on 22 December 2004, a major seafloor earthquake with a magnitude of 9.3 struck with an epicenter only 100 nm south of Banda Aceh, off the west coast of northern Sumatra. In less than 20 minutes, a massive tsunami with waves up to 30 m high started to devastate communities along the nearby coasts and eventually across the whole Indian Ocean. It turned into one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history, killing at least 228,000 people in 14 countries.

The Museum had hundreds of pictures of the devastation to the large city of Banda Aceh from the tsunami.
The Banda Aceh Tsunami Museum
The City was Flattened for Miles Inland
Incredible Devastation
Gunung Leuser National Park: After a short flight from Banda Aceh to Medan, Putra, the owner of the very basic but entirely adequate Fun Family Guest House in Bukit Lawang, picked us up at the airport. He was our exceptional guide for two amazing days in the jungle seeing many animals, including several types of monkeys and, of course, orangutans close up at a waterfall, and twice at our riverside campsite. Even the food was outstanding, produced by our own camp chef. From there, instead of hiking back to Bukit, we took Putra’s hour-long ‘local transport’ river trip. I can’t imagine there being a better, more enthusiastic guide. Contact Putra on WhatsApp at +62 813-7087-6718
Dave and Linda Ready for Hiking at the Park Entrance
Trekking Through the Jungle
The River that Attracted the Animals
And We See Orangutans in the Wild!
A Momma and a Baby
Our Little Camp by the River, Simple but Adequate
Taking the Easy Way Out of the Jungle
Our Cost for the Transportation and the Jungle Trip

Lake Toba: After three days in Bukit, Putra’s cousin drove us to Lake Toba, stopping along the way at viewpoints and to drop off a fellow traveler to do a volcano hike. Lake Toba is the 100km by 30km by 500m deep caldera of one of the world’s largest super volcanoes.
Beautiful Lake Toba
Lake Toba was formed by a massive volcanic eruption about 73,000 years ago, the largest explosive volcanic eruption the Earth has experienced in the past 25 million years. It triggered global climate change and had a major impact on early human populations worldwide, killing most humanoids alive at the time. Fortunately it didn’t erupt again while we were there!

A short ferry ride took us to Samosir island in the middle of the lake, where we stayed at an upscale guest house and ate at their restaurant on the water, both of which Putra had recommended. Nearby, a ten-story hotel was being built, evidence that Lake Toba has been ‘discovered’ and is no longer the remote destination it was 50 years ago.

We took a private day tour around Samosir island to see the usual tourist cultural sites – a market and an old local village and homestead – then over to the western shore to a waterfall and hot springs. The waterfall was impressive, the hot springs and restaurant were not. On the way back to our accommodations we drove over the sparsely populated center of the island where there were spectacular views, small lakes, forests, few locals and no tourists. We had refreshments at a small café high up on the cliff rim overlooking the lake.

Other highlights for younger explorers with more time might include a boat trip on Lake Toba, a climb to the rim of the volcano for sunrise and a multi-day trek into the jungle.

The drive back to Medan in a local van the next morning took us via a rural road over the far less populated center of Sumatra and into the countryside. From Medan a reversal of our outward journey got us back to the boat in one long day. After the festival, fueling, provisioning and a few dives at nearby Pulau Rubiah, we were ready to head south.

The Sabang Marine Festival 2024

The 2024 West Indonesia Rally, which we had signed up for, kicks off with the Sabang Marine Festival.
Sabang Marine Festival Banner
Sabang is a small city on Pulau Weh, a small island off the very northern end of Sumatra, Indonesia.

Where is Sumatra and Sabang?
Every year the people of Sabang put on a marine festival, celebrating the sea that is their livelihood. It is normally held around the first week in March. People from all over Indonesia come for the weekend to see the spectacle. And the cruising yachties are just part of that spectacle.

Budi, our agent and our friend
The Rally organizer, Raymond Lesmana, arranged for us to be well taken care of by local Agent/Cruiser's Friend Budi, and his wife Nani. Budi helped with checking in, procuring cell phone sim cards, getting Indonesian cash, gasoline, diesel, propane, groceries, and whatever else we needed. Budi and Nani organized transportation so we could see the sights in Pulau Weh, and participate in the out-of-town activities associated with the Sabang Marine Festival.

The festival started off with a boat parade, a welcome and some speechifying (in Indonesian) by local officials, and some cultural dancing.

The Fishing Boats are All Decorated for the Parade
The Black Dragon, Ready for Parade
Opening Festivities
All the Boats Parading Around the Harbor
After the boat parade, there were some special activities... a Flyboarder, some windsurfers, and parachutists.
A "Flyboard" - Looks like fun!
And Windsurfers and Parachutes
After the formal opening day festivities concluded, we mingled with the crowd and suffered through the inevitable "Hey Mister" and "Photo Photo", as everyone wanted their picture taken with us.
Photo! Photo! Please, mister?
Hey Everyone!
The next two days were filled with other activities, including a canoe race, some cultural activities on the beach, and a major parade in the streets of Sabang.
Dragon Boats Ready to Race

Celebrating the Daily Lives of Fishermen and their Families
A Fisherman Mending a Net
They Cooked a Giant Seafood Soup for Everyone on the Beach
The Parade - This Young Lady's Sign Says
Don't feed my Earth with Plastic Waste
The Marching Band - They Look Hot and Tired!
And a Traditional Indonesian Small Fishing Boat
Contact information for Budi, and details on anchoring and things to do ashore are all contained in Section 6.8 of the Indonesian Compendium, a free pdf available here: https://svsoggypaws.com/files/#indo