I

and my wife have been travelling throughout Indonesia for more than 20 years now and there are still many places to explore. We love Indonesia!

Everywhere the people are so open-hearted and the nature is unbeatable.

This year we choose Aceh as our destination.

We wanted to have a closer look at the situation there 10 years after the tsunami. We were surprised about the good reconstruction of Banda Aceh.

If you don'€™t know about the disaster, it'€™s hard to see in the city. In conversations with the people we learned a lot about their situation right now and their experiences of the catastrophe.

The people of Aceh are really warm and welcoming. Thanks a lot!

After Banda Aceh we went to nearby Weh Island or Sabang for snorkeling and relaxing. Here we had a great time as well. Only one thing was a little bit confusing and that'€™s the reason I'€™m writing this.

Most of our time there we stayed at Freddies near Sabang. In the morning and evening we heard the call to prayer of a muezzin. That'€™s normal for us as we know we are in a Muslim country.

But it was a little bit curious because it'€™s not coming from a mosque but out of a small hut directly behind the accommodation and the loudspeaker is only directed toward the bungalows of Freddies.

Also the callings were different, sometimes from children and lasting much longer than the normal ones from the nearby mosque (especially in the evening for up to two hours).

After we asked some people we found out that it is only one man with one or two children.

The only explanation for us is that this is directed only against tourists (maybe to keep them away) and not only western tourists, but tourists in general because a lot of local tourists are staying there as well.

We felt very sad about Freddie, the manager. He is such a nice guy and a perfect host to everybody. But as this happens under the pretext of religion his hands are tied.

We were a little bit afraid because we didn'€™t know exactly how to deal with that.

Are there religious tendencies against tourism in general, or is it just a one-man show?

We hope the latter is the case.

Ulrike Effinger
Berlin