I always look forward to the weekends here on Simeulue, but with
mixed feelings; it’s a nice time to relax and not think about work, and I
have loads of fun with the group of expats here, but I inevitably end
up spending time by myself at home when the rest of the crew are busy
doing other things. Still, a weekend in Simeulue usually involves an
early morning game of tennis with Nam, sometimes Jon and Steph (who are
both learning to play), and a bit later on in the morning some of the
government guys.
We get up to all sorts of fun
activities: at night we usually watch DVDs, drink G and Ts, play
cards. The days are spent hanging at the beach, kayaking out on the bay,
a mammoth bike ride, a coffee at the little waterside café, or going on
a boat trip to one of the nearby islands. I haven’t actually
experienced this latter adventure yet, last time due to the
disappearance of our captain on the day, but I hope to do it soon. The
islands are apparently beautiful and perfect for swimming and
snorkelling. And with no-one around we might actually be able to enjoy
swimming just in our bathers! Heaven (or in this case, Allah) forbid!
My
boss, Paul, is a big bike riding fan, and often goes on mammoth cruises
around the island in the heat of the day. He used to be a professional
road bike rider and is a riding machine! He loves getting out and
tackling the mammoth hills on the island. On Friday we drove up to
Salang, our project area, and he biked it back to Sinabang. It’s a 2+
hour drive, let alone biking, but you can probably go relatively fast on
a bike considering you can ride around all of the potholes! Paul’s bike
hikes are usually a bit too much for me, as I try unsuccessfully to
keep up the pace and end up getting exhausted! It’s good when the others
come along, as they are usually interested in the more leisurely rides
along the relatively flat coastal road.
We often drive
for an hour to a lovely place called Alus Alus, which is the south east
coast of the island, and overnight at ‘Jock’s shack’, a beautiful wooden
beach house that is owned by – well, I think you can guess. He no
longer works in Simeulue, but he has rented the house to us.
Unfortunately due to a lack of security and our patronage limited to
weekends, the house has recently been the victim of a spate of
vandalism. Each time we’ve ventured to Alus Alus, something else has
been destroyed. First it was the electricity, followed by the water
supply system; then the toilet was smashed up; then they broke in
through the port holes and roof, and stole things from inside.
The
last time we went, the place was a mess. The little that remained of
the water supply (a hose from the water supply at the mosque across the
road) was totally gone, the front window was totally smashed out, half
of the wooden fence was gone, and they’d even started removing panels of
wood from the walls of the house. The toilet, which was smashed last
time, was now totally wrecked and the room that housed it almost all
removed. People had scrawled graffiti on what was left of the walls that
basically said, ‘destroy this place, we don’t want foreigners here.’ It
was really sad. I don’t think there was any animosity between Jock and
the Alus Alus locals, and there certainly hasn’t been while I’ve been
here. What was most annoying that people clearly have done this to
profit themselves; I’m guessing all that nice wood has been used to help
people build their own houses! Even the mosque across the road has two
planks of wood across the gate, which seem to have been plundered from
our fence! Last week we went and spoke with the head of one of the Alus
Alus sub-villages, in an attempt to prevent further damage but I think
it’s too late. My guess is that it all started with local kids looking
for something to do, and has escalated into a free-for-all. I guess
eventually the place will be dismantled.
Which is a
real pity, because it’s a lovely place to sit out on the balcony
watching the waves crash onto the shore, to read your book or listen to
music. We’ve had lots of fun cooking meals there by torch or
candlelight, boogie boarding, swimming and generally relaxing. It’s been
a good place to get to know the crew. I just hope that we can continue
to enjoy it, even in its dilapidated state. Waking up to the sound of
waves on the front balcony is a nice experienc.
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