The story of my trip to Simeulue Island

in LifeStyle4 years ago (edited)

Dear steemian friends all around the world

From today on until the next few days I will share stories about Simeulue Island, with all its natural beauty, the dynamics of local community life and some typical culinary delights that are synonymous with this island, all of which I will summarize in a few episodes of the story, for today I will discussing the route to the dreams island



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It takes preparation and careful planning to start a trip to this island, especially for me who lives on the north coast of Sumatra Island, to go to the ferry port on the South West coast of Sumatra Island, first have to go through several mountains on the long journey to the destination dock.

Currently there are six ports along the south west coast that serve crossings from and to Simeulue Island, namely Calang Port in Aceh Jaya Regency, Kuala Bubon Port and Ujoung Kareung Port, Meulaboh in West Aceh Regency, Labuhan Haji Port and Harbor of Tapak Tuan in South Aceh Regency, as well as Singkil Bay Port in Singkil Regency, to reach one of these ferry ports requires a road trip between 10-24 hours from our residence.

This trip I crossed from the port of Ujong Kareung, Meulaboh, where the pier was in a damaged condition, so the ship could not dock at the pier, to raise or lower passengers, the ship only dropped anchor a few hundred meters offshore, to get to the passenger ship first riding small boats owned by fishermen who are always there when the ship is about to enter or leave the port, and vice versa when passengers get off the ship

Sailing for a few minutes in a small boat is quite adrenaline-pumping, being swayed by the waves with the number of passengers exceeding the standard quota is a tense experience.



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The ship we are going to take to Simeulue Island is a medium-sized ship, with a passenger capacity of up to 300 adults, the facilities available on this ship are quite adequate, because this cruise takes a long time, around 12 hours of voyage, this ship provides rooms. which is rented separately, meaning that the passenger buys a ticket with standard service, but if the passenger needs more service, the passenger must return to pay extra.

At exactly 5 in the afternoon, the ship anchored with an estimate that it will arrive at Sinabang port tomorrow at 5 in the morning, in the middle of the sea, we still had time to enjoy the beautiful sunset from the middle of the sea

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The cruise continues, the ship is running at standard speed, the passengers are seen enjoying this voyage in their own way, but in the middle of the night the sky suddenly blackens, thick clouds accompanied by strong winds begin to sway the ship, the ship's speed drops dramatically due to the ocean currents which is quite strong and contrary to the speed of the ship, many passengers are panicked by this condition, but the calmness of the crew continues to convince passengers that events like this are something common on every voyage.

After the storm subsided a bit, I chose to rest in the room, I fell asleep as the ship wobbled against the current, I woke up when the sun began to appear on the eastern horizon, exactly 7 am, the ship docked at Sinabang Harbor, meaning it was due to a storm in the middle night taxi, our trip was late for 2 hours, however, we are still grateful, because we can all arrive safely on the dreams island



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All Text and Image in all of my Post are my Original Work


Thanks a Lot, Best Regards

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