Journey to Aceh

Before the tsunami, Lamno was a small town situated at the foot of a hill, not far from a beautiful bay. At the town’s centre was a thriving market, busy with fruit sellers, food and coffee stalls. At the beginning of every rainy season the market overflowed with typical fruits of the season like durian (also called the king of tropical fruits), rambutan, cempedak (a kind of jackfruit) and mangosteen. From the bay fishermen would wade ashore carrying crabs, a  variety of fish, and some would even carry lobsters. While from the hills, farmers would be pushing one or two carts of coffee beans. Indeed, for a long time Lamno coffee had been celebrated as one of the best coffees in Aceh. The most popular Solong brand of coffee in Banda Aceh came from the hills of this area.

It was at the market that Lamno’s economy evolved. It was also around the market that one could find the Post Office, Community Health Centre, the Telecommunication Office, an old inn, and a wooden building standing in a wide expanse of garden. Above all, Lamno was famous throughout the whole of Aceh as the cradle of beautiful girls. “When I was young I often went for short visits to Lamno, travelling by bus from Banda Aceh, looking for blue-eyed girls,” said Fahruradzie, a reporter from Aceh.

People said the fair-skinned and blue-eyed girls from Lamno were descendants of Portuguese sailors who were shipwrecked in this area in the 16th century. According to elders of the village, many of the shipwrecked newcomers settled and raised families along the shores of the area, not far from the foot of Grotee Hill. It was this area that was most severely devastated by the tsunami. At least 22 villages and their 8,000 inhabitants along the shores of Lamno disappeared from the map of Aceh.

Download CHAPTER 10 – History Ceased in Our Village