I remembered my last visit to Banda Aceh four years previously. It had been quiet and dark after the disaster and there were a lot of religious police around which had made me nervous. This time, on the flight there I made sure I was wearing long sleeves and pants and brought a pashmina scarf to cover my head. I was surprised when the taxi driver told me, "It's not necessary, Mbak. They can tell you are not a local. Anyway, you look Filipino. Syariah law is only for the locals." He told me Aceh is more relaxed these days, especially in Banda Aceh itself. I also only now found out from him that the province had actually changed its name in 2009 from "Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam" (NAD) back to "Provinsi Aceh".
I really didn't recognize Banda Aceh at all. There was a smart new airport, the roads were good, the buildings were all new, there were wide pavements, tall treesit was a clean and tidy new city! All the westerners who used to work for the nonprofit organisations were nowhere to be seen. The provocative billboard posters reminding you of the Islamic laws were gone. I followed the advice of the taxi driver and wandered around without a head scarf to see if there was any reaction. Nobody seemed to notice. Noone was looking at me, I didn't feel out of place, and I was not approached by the religious police.
The Acehnese like nothing more than getting together over a cup of coffeemorning, afternoon, evening and night. It used to be mostly the older gentlemen gathering at warung kopi, but now Banda Aceh was awash with cafes full of a younger generation. A lot of them were open 24 hours and they all had free WiFi, although, as the evening wore on, more and more of the customers were men. This cafe culture rubbed off on me and the coffee in Aceh is excellent. Most of the girls were indeed wearing jilbabs, but not all of them, including some who did not appear to be ethnic Chinese. There was even one who had her hair dyed all differ ent colours. They all sat together at one table; boys and girls, those wearing jilbab and those without, locals and Chinese, smokers and nonsmokers. Aceh had really changed, and I felt a lot more comfortable.
One evening in a cafe I was approached by three pretty girls. They were wearing tight clothes, white leggings and jilbabs. White clothes, and super tight to the point you could see their bra and panty lines!? I was somehow embarrassed for them. It seemed ironic they were selling a foreign brand of cigarettes. So, here we were, with these three girls cheerfully trying to sell me cigarettes, when BANG, BANG BANG! The doors and windows of the cafe were suddenly shuttered and all the customers had mysteriously vanished. I thought there must be some kind of police spot check because I was buying cigarettes; I had no idea it was actually just time for shalat maghrib6 and all the cafes had to close. I was left sitting by myself, waiting to see what happened next. Well, as soon as shalat magrib was over, the cafe reopened and the customers returned.
The next day I was out trying some local food, eating Acehnese noodles, Ayam Tangkap7 and some other dishes, when I had a mischievous urge I simply couldn't resist. So, I opened my Twitter account and asked if anyone knew of any nonhalal food in Banda Aceh. I got a very quick response and one of my followers told me there was a Chinese noodle place near the Methodist church. Following their instructions, I found myself in front of a house without any kind of sign in front. On the terrace was a small kitchen with two long tables. Because I didn't really know if this was the right place, I slowly approached the cook and asked, "Do you sell pork noodles here?" My heart was pounding I felt like I was a criminal trying to close a drug a deal! The cook just smiled and nodded back to me. So, I ended up voraciously devouring a bowl of noodles. To be honest, the taste was nothing out of the ordinary, but somehow because we were in Aceh it was twice as enjoyable!
In the elevator of an upscale hotel I found a poster advertising a local band performing in the hotel bar. In the picture was a fairly typical looking rock band, but featuring two girls in jilbabs. This was quite a contrast to what you would see in Jakarta where the girls were always in skimpy outfits. That evening, my curiosity aroused, I went to hang out at the bar. Not surprisingly, there was no alcohol on the menu. So I asked the waitress (also wearing a jilbab), "Kak, do you have any beer?" She said that yes, they do have beer, but customers have to ask for it because it was not allowed on the drink list. So I was served a cold beer in a cold glass unlike in Jakarta during the month of Ramadan where we have to make do with beer served in a teapot. The band on the poster soon appeared and more customers arrived, most of them older men, of course. And then the two female singers came out. Even though they were wearing jilbab they sang energetically and the way they danced did not leave much to the imagination! Once again, I was somehow embarrassed for them.
The next morning I woke up early to the sound of splashes as someone dove into the pool just outside my room. So I took a look out of the window. There were two girls swimming in their office clothes! They were not even wearing the muslim style swimsuits we often see in Jakarta, but these two were actually in smart shirts and long pants, although they had removed their jilbab. I thought they were just playing a game, jumping into the pool, but no, they were at it again the next day, and the next, every morning, in their office clothes one of them even had a sequinned top on once!
Visiting the beaches around Banda Aceh, Lhoknga, and Lampuuk always made me want to jump in. The beaches are gorgeous with white sands, blue seas and clear water. However, remembering the girls at the hotel put me off. What is the fun in swimming fully clothed? You can't even move comfortably. So I reminded myself to be patient, we would get our chance to swim on Pulau Weh where there were lots of foreign tourists and the atmosphere would be less forbidding.
On Pulau Weh I deliberately chose to stay in a bungalow owned by a westerner, hoping to find somewhere more relaxed. Ha! As soon as we checked in they told us, "Because you are Indonesian I have to ask to see your KTP8." This was not for the purpose of checking us in but to ascertain my religion. If I were Muslim I would not be able to share a room with a man unless I showed my marriage certificate or family card. In the restaurant there were signs informing us that "Moslems are not allowed to order alcohol". The owner apologised, "Sorry, I have to do this, otherwise people here might close down my business." Ok, Sir! Whatever!
When I realised how strict he was, I thought I would go for a long walk and find a quiet corner to swim in, afraid I would be told off by this very serious bule. I noticed there were a few westerners sunbathing in their bikinis, so I stripped down to mine too and dove in. It was a rush realising I was swimming in my bikini in the only Indonesian province to follow Islamic law. I was so enjoying myself rolling around in the sea, right up until the moment I wanted to go back up to the beach. Oh, no, there was suddenly a group of local men hanging out there watching me! When I came up they were all struggling to take photos of me on their phones, and one even asked if he could have his picture taken with me. I was so embarrassed! But somewhere inside I was pleased to find that, even with a body as large as mine, there were still some people, somewhere, who took an interest!
Aceh in a Bikini
Rating: 4.5
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