Pulau Banyak, Sumatra
The next chapter starts with that kind of experience that you don't want to have on any of your holiday. I thought since Nias and the Mentawaii Islands are such a ridiculously good surf destination Simeulue must be similar but less crowded. I flow into KL at night rarely slept, took a shower grabed my board and flow into Medan in the morning. My flight to Simeulue was at noon so a long wait and 3 flights later I had arrived.
The homestay was not as nice as in the pictures despite the old lady took good care of us. Us meaning I met Maja in Kho Phi Phi and we kept chatting about going surfing aswell, so she came along. We were lucky to have a door, other rooms had a blanket. You still could here the neighbors whispering through the thin walls. We for better the next day for surfing. But like the Argentinian guy at our homestay said: all the hype, all the pictures, it's all a lie. Most spots didn't work and actually never seem to work. Maybe on a specific tide, but the only spot working was packed with 15-20 guys and only one take-off spot. On top of everything we could not find a board for Maja, so we decided to leave after 3 nights whilst having 14 already paid. We got an offer to go on a floating house in a bay in the Banyak Islands not far away. But our budgets were tight especially after the not getting a refund for the last one.
We flow into Medan again, took a taxi to the night busses and had a 12 hour ride to Banda Aceh. Beachbreaks and reefs with a bungalow at the beach were making us go to the cheaper option as the Banjaks. But as soon as we got there noone spoke English, helped us little, no sink, no light, no windows in the bungalow and dirty things from the people before us. We within 1 hour we left while booking a flight to Medan. I checked if the offer of 40% off at the Floating House was still available and we booked it after all. Flying into Medan at night, taking a night shuttle across Sumatra to Singkil where a private speedboat picked us up in the morning. Two hours on the boat, two days with no sleep and no shower, several useless flights and car rides later we were in an isolated bay away from wifi, cellphone service, shops and tourists. Just a bunch of wave hungry but mellow surfers squeezed together on bungalows above water next to an island only filled with jungle and cobras. To be continued...
The homestay was not as nice as in the pictures despite the old lady took good care of us. Us meaning I met Maja in Kho Phi Phi and we kept chatting about going surfing aswell, so she came along. We were lucky to have a door, other rooms had a blanket. You still could here the neighbors whispering through the thin walls. We for better the next day for surfing. But like the Argentinian guy at our homestay said: all the hype, all the pictures, it's all a lie. Most spots didn't work and actually never seem to work. Maybe on a specific tide, but the only spot working was packed with 15-20 guys and only one take-off spot. On top of everything we could not find a board for Maja, so we decided to leave after 3 nights whilst having 14 already paid. We got an offer to go on a floating house in a bay in the Banyak Islands not far away. But our budgets were tight especially after the not getting a refund for the last one.
We flow into Medan again, took a taxi to the night busses and had a 12 hour ride to Banda Aceh. Beachbreaks and reefs with a bungalow at the beach were making us go to the cheaper option as the Banjaks. But as soon as we got there noone spoke English, helped us little, no sink, no light, no windows in the bungalow and dirty things from the people before us. We within 1 hour we left while booking a flight to Medan. I checked if the offer of 40% off at the Floating House was still available and we booked it after all. Flying into Medan at night, taking a night shuttle across Sumatra to Singkil where a private speedboat picked us up in the morning. Two hours on the boat, two days with no sleep and no shower, several useless flights and car rides later we were in an isolated bay away from wifi, cellphone service, shops and tourists. Just a bunch of wave hungry but mellow surfers squeezed together on bungalows above water next to an island only filled with jungle and cobras. To be continued...
Comments
Post a Comment