Trip Report

I've returned from my trip to Lhokseumawe.

It was the first time I've ever ventured down the eastern coast of Aceh Province, and got a glimpse of what life would have been like on the western coast before the tsunami. We traveled down the Jalan Medan-Banda Aceh, which is the "highway" between the 2 large cities in Northern Sumatra. The road is the main way construction materials travel into the tsunami devastated areas. I must have passed countless trucks hauling cables, cement, wood, tractors on my way down. For those of you who's lived/traveled in developing countries, you know how a "highway" is nothing like the Beltway or Hwy 80. Instead, you find everything from heavy duty mega trucks, to vans, to minibuses, to bikes, to cows, to goats, to monkeys traveling up and down and across the road. Thus, making the 2-lane highway rather hazardous, with everyone trying to reach their destinations at a different timetable.

Lhokseumawe itself isn't really worth writing much about. The provincial town is smaller than Banda Aceh and not (over) crowded with aid workers. I even got some stares at the hotel - which I never get in Banda. I was able to finalize the lease on our office property pretty quickly. The landlord was really really nice and accommodating. I'll post photos of the house later on. It does come with a badminton court in the front yard! I'll need to put a couple of high wattage spot lights in my renovation budget so I can play badminton after hours. Beware: I'll be a pro when I come home . I do live in the land of badminton - the current world champ hails from Indonesia.

My hotel at Lhokseumawe was the worst $35/night hotel I've ever stayed at. The place probably had the highest density of mosquito per square meter of anywhere I've ever been to*. I killed 14 before I went to bed but still had 'em bzzzzzz-ing in my ears all night. Def did not sleep well. At least next time, I'll be in our guest house. Bye bye Hotel Plaza Samudra Internasional!

I'll probably be going there again later next week or maybe the following week. Definitely will be making very frequent trips down east.

*In an indoor space. Highest outdoor mosquito density was a miserable hike I took on the Schoodic Peninsula in Maine.