“Are you filming a vlog?” Asks Ryan, also known as Ray to his friends (and after sharing a meal, I was now on Ray-terms with Ray).

“No,” I responded, “why do you ask?”

Ray proceeded to tell me that he thought Banda Aceh had a lot to offer for tourists, but that there’s not much of a market for tourists here. In fact, many times I have found myself to be the tourist attraction, getting stopped for photos outside of museums. Everyone here assumes I am here to study something at one of the universities; all are shocked when I tell them that my main purpose, in reality, is more aligned with tourism (while this is a study trip, this second month is more for getting broader comparisons to Bali).

We started talking about Bali, where I had just spent a month and didn’t enjoy as much as I thought I would. We agreed on a few things. One, the beaches here are more beautiful than those of Bali. Although I had only seen the beaches of Sanur, they were not as paradisiacal as I had expected (maybe the ones at Kuta are better?) And I have not yet been to We Island (ironically enough, where most tourists go), but it looks like a paradise island, beautiful aqua blue water meeting white sandy beaches. Two, it’s quieter here than in Bali. It’s hard to get exact numbers on tourists visiting the islands of Indonesia, but here’s what I do know. In 2023, there were 11.68 million foreign tourists to Indonesia. Of those, 5.27 million went to Bali (45%). Of course, this doesn’t take into account the seasonal variance and if people went to more than one destination, but it helps give a rough idea. In North Sumatra in that same period (slightly east of here), there were only 179,000 visitors (1.5% of Indonesia’s total). Undoubtedly there are some more numbers here, to other parts of Sumatra and to Aceh itself. Even if you assume the same number of visitors visited Aceh, West Sumatra, and South Sumatra, you’re still only looking at a measly 6% of Indonesia’s total tourism. The island of Sumatra is also much larger than that of Bali, with a population density of 126 people per km², compared to Bali’s 750 people per km². The result is that this part of Indonesia is far less crowded and busy than what you would find in Bali. Finally, we agreed the food was better and cheaper here. For around 20K IDR (less than 2 AUD) I can buy a meal of rice, chicken, and vegetables and get an iced tea and a glass of water. In Bali, I would be extremely lucky and going out of my way to get just the food for that price. The portion sizes are good here too. So in general, I found the week here to be more enjoyable, as I wasn’t constantly surrounded by tourists and engaging in tourist practices that made me feel like I was in some fake version of Indonesia.

But I do need to address the elephant in the room: sharia, which is a very strict set of Islamic laws. I think it is hard to sell this region to tourists because of that. Now, as far as I can tell, sharia doesn’t apply to non-Muslims in Banda Aceh (but I believe it may be more strict the further west you go). But honestly, life under sharia is not as bad as I thought it would be (but I will caveat this with that I am a man and so sharia is just not as prescriptive for me). Firstly, everyone is expected to cover up, which means wearing long pants for men and women need to cover pretty much everything except their hands and face (and it can’t be tight either). This is undoubtedly the hardest practical thing to do, also because it can get so hot here. Secondly, and this is what might be hard to sell to tourists, is that alcohol is not sold here either. It’s just not available. Having said that, apparently the resorts on We island actually have a license to serve. I don’t drink alcohol, so this didn’t bother me. There’s no nightclubs or anything either; and most things close relatively early. Third, only married couples can share a room together (though I believe this is, again, lax on We Island). Fourth, everyone is highly religious here. I found myself taken aback trying to go to museums, because this is what a typical opening hours looks like: open 9am-12pm, closed 12pm-2pm, open 2pm-4pm, closed after 4pm. Luckily most food places remain open at lunchtimes, but they are not busy at all. You will also hear the prayers emanating from mosque loudspeakers at all hours of the day, starting at 5am and finishing late at night (but I find them quite beautiful, actually).

How much of this actually affects you depends, I think, largely on your attitude. I went for runs in the morning in shorts, which were probably slightly too short (ending just above the knee instead of past it). No-one seemed to mind or bother me. Most tourist attractions here only take an hour to go through anyway, and you can always go somewhere for the 2 hour break in the middle of the day. It’s not a party place, but if you’re not interested in a party place then that won’t bother you. There are apparently sharia police, but I never saw any in my stay here.

So what actually is there to do as a tourist here? Good question. There’s a few museums around, one for Aceh generally and one for the tsunami. This region was decimated in the 2004 tsunami, and although it has been largely cleaned up, you can still see some remnants from those days around. The most obvious of these are some markers of the tsunami, one of which is a power generating boat which got swept 5km inland. The government decided to leave it here as a monument and convert it into a museum, which I went to after doing the tsunami museum. I found it quite a touching experience to walk around these museums and witness the remains from the tsunami. There is something about it that puts everything else into perspective when you stare down how utterly devastating such an event was.

Would I recommend Banda Aceh? Yes, I would, for the right person. I think if you just want to visit some beautiful beaches, then going to We Island is probably a better choice than Bali. It’s relatively cheap to get to Banda Aceh from Kuala Lumpur, so it is not overly expensive (but it is a pain to get from here to anywhere else in Indonesia, as I am finding out). Accommodation here is maybe slightly more expensive, but this is compensated by the food being much cheaper (though you will have less “Western” options than you have in Bali). And, mostly, you need to speak some Indonesian or Malay. Almost no-one hear speaks English. Having said that, you can probably get by with hand signals if you really needed to. Everyone here has been very welcoming of me and supportive when I try to eat or go to museums or otherwise be involved in life around here.

I didn’t film a vlog for Ray, and I don’t know that this blog is an appropriate alternative. But hopefully it will help people who are considering exploring elsewhere in Indonesia, and bring a few more tourists to the area. At the same time, I would hate for anywhere to become as overrun as Bali!

My next plans are to head west to Sumatra for just under a week and then onward to Java where I will spend most of my time before finishing in Bali. If you have any must-see places for me, let me know in the comments!