Medan- Banda Aceh Ride
I never imagined that someday I will ride in Sumatera. An opportunity came up when I got an invite from Pak Yunus & Doc G to join the on their ride from Medan to Aceh.
Mau ikut touring ke Aceh gak?
Mau Pak! Ntar saya brangkat ke Medan
Oke. Ketemu aja di Medan Nanti
Baek Pak!
Polonia Airport Medan
I packed my riding gear into my kit bag and off to Medan via Firefly Airlines. The flight from Subang to Medan took 50 minutes flight time. From the low flying turboprop plane and I can see the approaching land mass that is Sumatera.
I was pretty excited as this would be my first time going to Medan – and riding bikes in Sumatera. It’s beyond my dreams!
After clearing immigration Doc Frank (my buddy- a Medan resident) was waiting for me. I met Doc Frank through Doc G in Thailand just a couple of month back but then that’s another story…
Downtown Medan
I did a quick on foot recce of some part of Medan while waiting for the rest of the gang to arrive from Jakarta – Doc G, Pak Yunus and Rudy and Dato’ Rahman (from KL).
Merdeka Walk, Medan
The view from 19th Floor of the JW Marriot were I stayed
Bikes at JW Marriot Medan
Our bikes was transported 3 days earlier from Jakarta via Merak – across the Sunda Strait to Bakaheuni-Palembang- Medan. Also on the same ride were the members of MEDDOCs bike club (mostly Harley riders). There was a big welcoming dinner hosted by MEDDOCS at place called Chemara – seafood paradise area west of the city.
After the stuffing ourselves we headed back to JW Marriot early because we had planned to ride the Medan- Brastagi-Parapat-Permatang Siantar-Tebing Tinggi-Medan loop the next day. 380kms ride.
Me and Dato' Rahman at Penatepan near Brastagi
Myself, Doc G, Pak Yunus, Rudy and Dato’ Rahman made the non-Harley riders in this large group. While the Harley guys are still snoring in their beds we scooted off on a little tour of our own. As usual we rolled off early after breakfast at 7 am for the ride to Brastagi-Kabanjahe-Parapat-Permatang Siantar-Tebing Tinggi-Medan.
Brastagi
180kms out Medan we reached Brastagi, the air was cool and the road was a bit damp. The ride up the hills were challenging, we have to fight for space on the road with tourist buses, trucks and holiday-makers (what else is new in Indonesia- 280 population – what do you expect!). Apparently this road is the main artery of ‘highways’ connecting east & west Sumatera – so every man and his vehicle were on the road that day!
Jagung Bakar in Penatapen
Makan Jagung Bakar, Kopi O and M15 energy drink. Just the thing to get the energy level up
It's all green here...I can see Medan city - 81kms in the horizon
Dato' Rahman aka Pak Datoek aka Banglong makan jagung atas gunung
Pak Datoek entering Brastagi
Near Parapat
We intend to ride up to Danau Toba but time was not permitting, we took a left into Permatang Siantar from Parapat. The road was filled with potholes size of moon craters and in some parts flooded with muddy water. We rode on and passed by quaint villages with unique small churches, population was relatively sparse – we’re riding through the Batak heartland!
A Batak restaurant at Permatang Siantar
The rough ride from Parapat to Permatang Siantar made us hungry. Stopped by this restaurant for lunch. Check out the menu board behind me – babi masak kecap – a house specialty was not in the menu that day. Just beside is the Nasi Padang owned by the same taukeh- go figure?
5.30 am ready to roll Medan-Banda Aceh. Here we go!
The Harleys guys were up early, after the obligatory briefing we revved up our engines. Onwards to Banda Acheh via Medan-Binjai-Longsa-Tanjung Pareulah-Lhoksukon-Lhokseumawe-Bireun-Sigli-Jantho-Banda Aceh. A journey of 680kms.
Myself, Dato’ Rahman, Doc G, Pak Yunus would later split from the main Harley entourage just after Binjai. Our bikes are too fast too follow the lumbering Harleys.
Tanjung Pareulah, Aceh Besar, Aceh Naggoroe Darussalam
There’s no RnR along the road to Banda Aceh so we stopped at a small grocery shop in Tanjung Pareulah.
Most residents here have relatives living/working in Malaysia.
“Slamat siang Bapak, saya dari seberang”
“Iya kalo gitu, titip salam sama sodara saya di Chow Kit waktu pulangnya nanti ya Pak”
Banglong bergulong at Lhoksukon
Kedebussssshhh. Banglong bergulong!!!
Just before Lhoksukon Dato’s bike got ran onto by a stray cat and he took a tumble. No injury to rider but the bike was slightly bent. With the help of orang kampung Pak Yunus manage to straighten the bike again and we were soon on our way again…but not before donating RP50,000 to the cat owner for him to buy 7 packets of salt to be distributed amongst his neighbours (I was told that it’s part of the local pet burial customs when a pet/lifestock is killed on the road). No questions asked and I do not want any trouble – this is Gerakan Aceh Merdeka territory!
Another Nasi Padang restaurant in Lhokseumawe
After all that drama we reached Lhokseumawe and stopped for lunch.
Nasi Padang lunch again
It was nasi padang again for lunch. There a lot of military activity in Lhokseumawe as it’s one of the troubled hotspots during the GAM insurgency. Behind us is a military special op guy (says so on his sleeve – TNI Koppasus – Komando Pasukan Khusus). We just concentrate on our ayam pop and tarung balado…
Pidie, Aceh Besar
4pm and we’ve just reached Pidie after passing Bireun (a fishing coastal town). It was here that we sampled the famous mee aceh.
Hotel Hermes Palace, the only 4 star hotel in Aceh. We stayed there.
After riding in the pissing rain since we left Sigli the road began to clear up a a bit and Iwe gassed our bikes to stretch its legs. dato’s bike clutch cable snapped and road side repairs had to be done. Rudy bought spare cable from a small kampong workshop (Honda Tiger cable fits the Cagiva with some modifications). We were soon on the road again again and it was getting really dark when we reached Jhanto 60kms out of Banda Aceh. The road twist and turns as we climb the mountainous region before reaching Banda Aceh. it was 10.00pm when we finally reached the Hermes Palace Hotel. The Harley group is 3 hours behind us.
Welcome to Banda Aceh
90% of Banda Aceh has been rebuilt since the Tsunami ravaged the city in 2004. From the hotel it looks really flat that you can see the ocean, no wonder when the Tsunami struck they don.t stand a chance.
Hello Banda Aceh and Goodbye Banda Acheh
Soon as we reach there we had to leave again. I advised Dato’ to ride on the van and hand over the bike to me. I didn’t want him to ride injured (sore ribs from the fall) all the way back to Medan.
R six got sick
Pak Yunus R6 battery gone dead. Just as well – Dato’ hitch a ride on the van and I got his bike and handed my ride to Pak Yunus, the one with broken horn and no brake lights (damaged after the crash). The say you’d better have horns than brakes in Indonesia…got to make people aware that you’re coming through. Its gonna be one hell of a scary ride back to Medan…
Visited the famous Masjid Agung Baiturrahman. The only building intact when the tsunami swept across Banda Aceh
Myself, Pak Yunus, Rudy and Dic G at the Masjid Agung Baiturrahman. My feelings was mixed between elation and sadness as I stood here at this miraculous site where hundreds of thousands perished during the Tsunami. Many had taken refuge at this mosque that fateful day. Doc G was here 2 days after the Tsunami to help victims.
Just to prove we rode all the way there, we had our picture taken in front of the Great Mosque.
Ngopi dulu sementara menanti hujan berhenti
Behind me is the PLN ship that was carried 5 km ashore during the Tsunami
Warkop - Waroeng Kopi
This warong was left as it is after it was crushed during the tsunami
Old timer survived the deadly tsunami, he was swept away from his village and clung onto a cocunut tree until being rescued by the Indonesian army 3 days later.
Near a town called Sigli
After doing the usual tourist bit we left Banda Aceh at 11 am. As we rode out of the city the heaven opened and we were pelted by heavy rain. We rode on in the pissing rain and my bike starts to cough and splutter – maybe due to low octane fuel or rain water had gotten into the the fuel tank. As the sky cleared I revved up the bike trying to clear the injectors. The situation improves and were were on our way again.
Longsa, Aceh Besar 114km fom Medan
We passed what felt like a thousand kms and we stopped at this Nasi Padang Restaurant in Longsa. I’ve been on the bike for almost 12 hours and my brain cells reduced to 2 units to guide me back to Medan.
JW Marriot Hotel, Medan 12 midnite. End of my ride Medan-Banda-Aceh-Medan
The ride from Longsa to Medan takes 2 hours, we were really tired and started to have tunnel vision. As we enter Medan we were greeted by zapping small bikes – pembalap liar aka Mat Rempit, they were having their weekend race on the city streets. Welcome back to Medan.
After a few missed turns, JW Marriot looms ahead signalling the end of our little adventure. as I turn off my ignition I felt a sense of relief because I survived this ride, just a few hours back I could have been easily wiped out by the crazy night express bus driver or got ran into by some animals on the unknown roads were were passing.
Checked -in and cleaned my self up and zzzzzzzzz. Woke up the next day , have breakfast and off to the airport. As the plane flew over Medan heading towards Selat Melaka – I was thinking to myself – I made It! I’ve ridden the Medan-Banda Aceh route. It wasn’t so hardcore as were rode on mostly smooth roads but the long hours on the bike plus the strange road-user ethics sure was very challenging mentally and physically.
Thanks Pak Datoek, Pak Yunus & Doc G and Rudy as well.
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