Hello friends!
This is a report of my long journey from Jakarta to Medan, Aceh, and Malaysia. Here is the parts:
NOV 13, 2016: Jakarta (CGK) - Medan (KNO) by Citilink QG836 Airbus A320: click here
NOV 13, 2016: Medan - Banda Aceh overland by bus
NOV 15, 2016: Banda Aceh (BTJ) - Kuala Lumpur (KUL) by AirAsia AK422 Airbus A320: you are here
NOV 16, 2016: Kuala Lumpur (KUL) - Jakarta (CGK) by KLM KL809 Boeing 777-200ER: click here
As usual, there will be pictures than words, as I'm not fluent in English and don't know too much about aviation terms. Any suggestions and feedbacks are appreciated. Thanks.
Before the main report, let me show you some nice snapshots of Banda Aceh city, a capital of Aceh Province. The region was very popular at the end of 2004, as a great earthquake and tsunami hit the region and destroy majority of the buildings there. More than 100.000 people died, and most of their bodies were not found. After many governments and NGOs around the world came to rehabilitate the region, Aceh has been recovered and life has been returned to normal there. Aceh was the only region in Indonesia legally implementing Islamic Sharia law, making pubs, bars, alcoholic drinks, and non-halal foods non-existent in the region. But people from other religions (Christians, Buddhists, etc.) can live peacefully, and there are also some churches there.
Masjid Baiturrahman, a large mosque and a symbol of Islamic Aceh region. Unfortunately it was in renovation at that time so I could not enter the mosque area.
The only Roman Catholic church in the city.
Peunayong, Banda Aceh's Chinatown.
November 15, 2016
It was time for me to left the homestay to the Banda Aceh's Sultan Iskandar Muda Airport. The homestay owner offered me a ride with his motorbike. He only requested me IDR 30.000 as a tip. It was far cheaper than taking a taxi to the airport which costed around IDR 90.000.
On the way to the airport, we passed Kuburan Massal Siron, a mass grave containing bodies of victims of the 2004 tsunami.
We reached the airport at 7.30 p.m, a hour before boarding.
Check in counters were not so crowded, and as usual, I did not have any things to do here as I had done online check-in before.
The airport had only 10 scheduled flights at the day, and our AirAsia would only the international flight.
Then I went upstairs and I was surprised that there was a long queue for immigration and safety check. Majority of them were Malaysians returning home after visiting the Aceh region. Aceh has becoming more popular to Malaysians.
After the immigration and security check, we waited for boarding. The waiting room was comfortable enough, with some facilities like "Kids Zone" and 4 PCs free to use.
Map of Aceh Province at the waiting area.
Then our aircraft arrived from Kuala Lumpur. The aircraft registration code was 9M-AHD, delivered on October 2007.
On the other side, a Batik Air A320 was ready for departure to Jakarta (Halim Airport).
The airport main building, viewed from the apron side.
The seat pitch was similar to other LCCs. Comfortable enough for a 90 minutes journey.
Then the aircraft flew to the sky, leaving the Sultan Iskandar Muda Airport, very smoothly. I could see Seulawah mountain range on the window. Very beautiful.
Not so long after that, the aircraft faced bad weather condition for about 7 minutes. Then the seat belt signs were switched off, and I could open the table.
Cabin condition.
Let's see any stuff in the seat pocket.
Safety card.
"Rokki", an entertainment portal that could be reached by your handset through their Wi-fi spot on board. I succesfully accessed their portal and watched some videos there.
"Santan" onboard meals catalogue. At that time, I did not buy any meal offered.
Around 30 minutes before landing. On the window we could see West Malaysian seashore.
Finally the aircraft landed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport smoothly without any problems. From the runway, our aircraft proceed to klia2, the LCC terminal.
There were AirAsiaX A330 aircrafts.
Time to say goodbye to our AirAsia 9M-AHD.
Another AirAsia at its right side.
Final snapshot outside the window.
Way to the main area of the terminal building.
After that, there was immigration check before the baggage area.
From the terminal building, we entered the Gateway KLIA2 mall. Here I bought a Malaysian SIM card.
And I left the KLIA2 building by bus to Malacca, 140 km from there. The journey took time about 1 hours and 10 minutes through the North-South Expressway.
thanks for the trip ! i didnt knew about the special status of Aceh
Aceh has been a special region for a long time, but before the 2004 earthquake and tsunami, it was a conflict zone, where our national army (TNI) had been combating the Aceh separatist movement (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, GAM), lead by the late Hasan Di Tiro, based in Sweden.
In 2005, the Indonesian government and the GAM jointly created a peace agreement, mediated by former Finnish president Mr Martti Ahtisaari. One point of the agreement is an implementation of Islamic Sharia law in Aceh. Until today, Aceh is the only region in Indonesia legally implementing Sharia law.