Banda Achea

Banda Achea Indonesia-The inside edge of time


Leaving Penang Malaysia coincided with our leaving behind of time and our convention to society. Society as we knew it was run by turning wheels, there was a time to eat, a time to sleep, a time to grow up. Time had become so ingrained into societies psyche that it ruled what you became and who you were, many people through out the age of time had let dreams slip by because time had told them that at this time in their lives they should have something that society deemed as needed.
It wasn’t my path. I crossed the Malacca strait by boat, the most common way to cross a strait unless you are a really good swimmer. Landing in Medan the capital of Sumatra my traveling companion, Tim and I sat wondering where to go, Nias was one option, an Island off the coast of Sumatra, Banda Achea was the other option, a twelve hour bus ride to the north. We flipped a coin. As such we ended up in one of Sumatra’s most northern provinces, Banda Achea.
Arriving we got a Luby Luby (local taxi) on the advice of exited locals who pointed at our boards and motioned for us to get in. It was mid morning as we drove to the fishing village of Loc Nah. Typically Asian was the flavor of the humid heat which rose from the baked earth, as the sun beamed its early rays through the dust and hubbub.
Bleary eyed, we climbed onto the back of the Luby. We looked a ridiculous sight with our surfboards piled on the back, packs heaped on our knees. Asia in all her glory was seeping out of everything that moved, this was real Asia not some cheap rip off, moreover this was real to me, a disassociation from the ways of the west.
A-frame mountains flowed into lush green rice fields, people went through their fields with a purpose and then all of a sudden we were at the coast.
We pulled our boards from the Luby and ran up to the top of the dune, our eyes were met with a reef wonderland. White lines peeled on the horizon promising a plentitude of surf-able waves.
Achea seemed to have this strange feeling of progress and regeneration. The constant feeling of political unrest and the grave history of the area made you appreciate how well everybody seemed to be doing.
Every morning the sun would rise, a red fire ball in the sky, a melodic prayer would eco through the streets from the local mosque and a few renegade surfers washed to Sumatra’s most northerly point would wander down to the beach.
This planet earth is a heaven, why spend a whole lifetime yearning for something and ignoring everything. To see heaven you just have to open your eyes, look at the world from a different perspective.