Arriving to Pulau Weh was very painful: 4,5h of bus to arrive in Medan, 17h of bus from Medan to Banda Aceh, were we missed the boat by 10min and had to wait with another French couple for 6hours. When we arrived on Iboh beach in Pulau Weh, after 1 hour in a taxi whose driver had an absolute yet unjustified confidence in his tyres and racing skills, there was a power cut...but the next morning was great...a real postcard scenery with only few people!
On Pulau Weh, there is nothing much to do but snorkelling and diving. The prices were much lower compared to Europe (though not as low as Thailand) and there was a French instructor, so we gave a go to the Padi OpenWater diver certificate, which we both obtained after 5 dives and a lot of reading.
Diving was a fantastic experience, not only for the submarine landscapes (coral was badly damaged by the 2004 tsunami, but the fish are plentiful and their colors incredible), but for the pleasure of floating in midwater, effortless.
We were very lucky that Laurent, our great instructor, had a camera with him the last day!
From our quick impressions, Banda Aceh is a very peaceful and pleasant town, which has almost been completely rebuilt after the 2004 tsunami (140,000 deaths...). The two symbols of the tragedy, which show the scale of the wave, are the generator boat, swept 6km from the coast inwards, and the roof fishing boat.
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