I nearly died twice when I had my diving trip in Sabang, Aceh. Firstly, I got dragged by the current that I left all of my dive buddies. Secondly, my main regulator was broken that I was almost out of my breath, it was just in time that I remembered that I could use my octopus. It all happened during my birthday.

On the same day, the final dive turned out to be different. I went alone with my dive guide to an underwater hydrothermal vent. The water was a lot warmer than other diving spots. There were only little biodiversities that could thrive in the area. But it felt magical. There were millions of bubbles emerging from the sea floor. My dive guide and I were lying down there and relaxing for around 30 minutes. And when I got out of the water, I saw the biggest rainbow ever in my life. Maybe I shouldn’t melancholize everything and indulge in gratitude instead. Seeing the magnificent life underwater is a privilege.

I tended to indulge in sadness on my birthday. Because of my past trauma, birthday had never felt good to me. But on my 25th birthday, I promised myself that I should never put myself in sorrow. That was the first time I did my first dive in Pemuteran, Bali. Afterwards, diving becomes my annual birthday trip ritual.

There are three types of persons when it comes to birthday. Someone who would always have birthday blues. Someone who doesn’t really care about it that they wouldn’t even remember it. Or, someone who would totally celebrate their birthday. I used to be the first type. I’ve thought about it, that turning 25, to be an adult and being sad each year on your birthday is miserable and pathetic. I want the change and I got it.

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Going to Aceh and Sabang felt like turning back time. In Sabang, the city area is mainly preserved. There’s a chinatown that keeps the city alive. Despite the muslim majority in the province, there are still some peranakan runs noodle, jewelry, and electronics shops in Sabang.

While in Aceh, I got to visit the Tsunami Museum. They preserve the memories of the disaster killing over 200 thousands of people. I could say that the architecture of the building is quite impressive. I traversed the dome of the museum while there were some water elements installed—although it feels ironic to invoke tsunami effects in the building, I reckon that it could be triggering for the survived victims.

My most favorite spot that I visited in Aceh was the Putroe Phang Water Garden. The white Gunongan blends perfectly with the bright blue skies and scattered clouds. I could imagine how flourished the Aceh Kingdom was with the Water Garden. The Siron hills could be seen beautifully lined up in the south and there are some rivers streaming beside the Water Garden. It is told that this Water Garden was built for the consort of the Sultan Iskandar Muda.

I did went solo for this birthday trip, but it didn’t mean that I was alone during the trip. I met Olli from Finland when I was there. We were talking that how he couldn’t dive in his origin country because it’s too cold to dive there. He said that he’s been traveling the Asia for the past 6 months and Sabang became his stop before the final one in Bali.

Sabang Island is an island with all-around landscapes. It has flourished coral reefs, underwater volcano, lakes, and waterfalls. I and Olli went together to the Putra Laot waterfall by riding motorcycle. When we were on my way to the waterfall, I thought Olli couldn’t ride motorcycle because he’s a foreigner. But my assumption was wrong. When I drove too slowly, he immediately overtook my lane. Apparently he’s an avid motorcycle driver. He told me that he went on a motorcycle trip when he was in the Himalayas.

It was such a refreshing plunge to the waterfall. Although it was rainy that day—it made the pool unclear because of the sediments. There were some crowds of local kids going for a swim with us. One of the kids asked us a cigarette but we ran out of it. And it led a conversation between me and Olli about how bad is the law in Indonesia that the kids can smoke cigarettes.

Sabang is a small island. People live there would know each other. I got to know some of the island dwellers. One of them was the dive center manager, Kak Yanti, and her friends. She told me that she even could just take one of the bananas sold from the street stall even though there’s no AJP (Abang Jual Pisang) looking after the shop. She could just pay after she met him the next time.

Camera: Fujifilm MDL-55 Smartshot
Films: Kodak Colorplus 200, Canail Lab B/W