Tracing the Tsunami Trail at the Aceh Tsunami Museum: An Emotional Journey That Inspires Hope (part 3)

Good evening, my friends, wherever you are, as usual. I hope you are all healthy and happy so you can go about your daily activities as usual. I hope you all have a pleasant day.

In this blog, I want to share some images of the Aceh Tsunami Museum, an iconic building that is a must-visit when in Banda Aceh.

So, please continue to follow my blog to see this place through the images I share later.

So, after I had had enough and was satisfied exploring the first floor of the Aceh Tsunami Museum, my friends and I continued our adventure to explore the area within the Aceh Tsunami Museum. We now found ourselves at the peace bridge, which is one of the paths that leads us to the next floor.

My friends...
After the tsunami, the people of Aceh received new hope and an extraordinary blessing: peace. On August 15, 2005, the Helsinki Peace Agreement (MOU Helsinki) was signed.
The illegal weapons found were destroyed and buried as evidence of the resolution of the Aceh conflict.

Inside this area, I saw an aesthetic bridge, surmounted by various flags from countries that had helped reconcile the civil conflict within my country. Below, there was a pond filled with ornamental fish.

Next, I arrived at the third floor of the Aceh Tsunami Museum.

Upon arriving on the third floor, I saw many rooms, including the painting room.

My friend...
This room presents a touching story of a tragic story, depicted in every brushstroke through the paintings on display. This room presents a moving journey through the most profound moments throughout the event, from the earthquake and tsunami to the recovery and reconstruction period in Aceh.

And among these rooms, I saw a visual screen among the hallways on the third floor depicting several images of the terrifying events after the tsunami struck.

Then I decided to continue my journey to the fourth and final floor, as exploring it all would likely take a very long time, considering that some of my friends were also rushing to visit other places they had listed on their travel lists for their time in Banda Aceh.

Upon arriving at the fourth floor, I found the atmosphere almost identical to the third floor: this fourth floor also boasts numerous spaces, including a cafe and restaurant.

On the 4th floor there is also a room to watch a documentary film when the tsunami hit and if we want to watch the film it takes about 15 minutes to finish. But it's a bit unfortunate because my friends couldn't watch that moment, because according to them it was one of the most emotional things, and to watch the documentary we will also be given a queue ticket considering that today is a holiday so there are lots of visitors who come to the Tsunami Museum and they mostly watch documentary films in this room

On the 4th floor we also entered several rooms, one of which also displayed several relics from the past, including a manual typewriter and the Koran, which is the main source of law for us Muslims.

The rooms on the fourth floor are numerous, and the artifacts from ancient times are incredibly complete.

After I had had enough of a quick glance around one of the rooms on the fourth floor, I entered the next room, which displayed a diorama depicting the earthquake and tsunami that occurred at that time.

My friend...
At that moment, I remembered the victims of the disaster, and I found it truly extraordinary and emotional. Through the sketch, I could also imagine the severity and enormity of the disaster that struck my region in 2004.

Long story short, after we explored the 4th floor of the museum area, we then went out and to get out of this building, a separate route was provided.

Along the way in the corridor to exit this building, I saw many pictures on the walls between the exit corridors and in the pictures there were also written short explanations, one of which in this picture shows a picture of the situation at Ulee Lhee the beach shifted towards the land as far as about 20 m due to the 2004 tsunami, now this new beach is crowded with visitors as if showing a new spirit to face the future after the tsunami.

And without realizing it, I had briefly explored the interior of the Aceh Tsunami Museum, from the first to the fourth floor.

This concludes our blog about the Tsunami Museum, which I am sharing for the final season of this blog.

My friend...
As I exited the tsunami museum building, I was immediately greeted by a monument outside with an inscription on it:

"On Sunday morning, December 26, 2004, a magnitude 9 earthquake struck Aceh. Its tremors circled the earth seven times, registering it on all earthquake recorders worldwide. The first tsunami struck within minutes of the earthquake. The tsunami continued to batter coasts along the Indian Ocean for four to five hours. The world recorded the tsunami as the deadliest disaster in history. 14 countries were affected, and 281,000 people along the Indian Ocean coast were killed or missing, 221,000 of whom were Indonesians.
The city of Banda Aceh suffered the most casualties, with 78,417 people, nearly a third of its population.
At that time, the Indonesian government declared a state of national emergency, marked by the flying of flags at half-mast.
The Aceh tsunami drew global sympathy, with aid arriving through various transportation routes. Iskandar Muda Airport briefly controlled the busiest flight frequency, and the route Emergency logistics and volunteers from within and outside the country, both civilian and military, entered.
The Aceh tsunami became a symbol of new life for Aceh.
Therefore, today, the monument is opened to remind us that Aceh did not rise alone.

This concludes what is recorded on the monument, and with this, I conclude my blog post tonight.
I hope you all enjoyed and were entertained by what I shared. I also extend my deepest gratitude to all of you who took the time to view and read my blog to the end.

Please leave your comments, support, and input, which means a lot to me so I can create a better blog in the future.

That's all for now, and I'll see you in my next blog.

About the author

Maulizar Mawardi or better known as @antonydossantos. I am a student. Like taking pictures, but not a professional photographer, insect lover, nature lover, looking for momentum is my hobby.