Sat morning Feb. 26 - Pulau Weh, "Freddies's" - sharing my balcony with a gray/white cat at the moment.

This place is every bit as great as I'd heard.I'm even able to use wifi even from my bungalow balcony, where I am right now, while I look down about 50 feet to the beach and listen to the sound of small waves rolling in.Tall coconut palms are all around me; on one side the jungle begins right next to my balcony.As darkness fell last night I walked both ways along the beach, which is steep and narrow.No one out there but me.The sand is totally clean and litter-free - as I found out later, because a huge storm 3 weeks ago washed all the sand away down to bare rock, so what's here now has accumulated since then.The water is clean as well, transparent turquoise, though it's so bright right now that it's just reflecting white from the haze overhead.I went snorkeling soon after I arrived ( after applying sunscreen very liberally! ), borrowing a mask from here, and saw a variety ofsmall coral and colorful fish though not many of them - but I never got that far from the beach.Freddy says there is a good chance of seeing turtles.But the main beaches for coral/fish are elsewhere on the island - accessible by boat from dive shops.

There are not that many people here from what I have seen - a dozen or so, mixed families and young couples, mostly EuropeanIf ACS folks were told the place was 'full', it may be because many of the bungalows seem to be shut ( leaky thatch roofs from the looks of them ), as is the next place down the beach.I've seen a few people snorkeling and a Swedish guy I sat with at dinner last night is off fishing, but I think most people here are mainly interested in 'doing nothing in beautiful surroundings'.Lots of readers, lots using wifi or just sitting quietly.I've already swapped 7 books - shelves and shelves of choices, though most are not in English.No need to worry about running out of reading material this spring, that's for sure.

Last night's buffet included two types of pasta as well as a broccoli-pepper Italian salad and spicy corn, plus French onion soup and a light pumpkin cake with a bit of citrus flavor.Tonight will be fish and ?The Swedish man, I met has been here a week and said so far the menu has been different every night.The breakfast buffet includes homemade muesli and French toast as well as whole-grain bread, lots of fruit, real coffee, plus all the usual stuff.Freddy ( about my age, South African, came here after the tsunami and decided to stay ) seems to do most of the cooking but has a staff of 3-4 helping, including his 20-something son.

Freddy says I can get an ojek ( back of a motorcycle ) tour of farms/villages/markets etc. tomorrow morning,I'd like to see what's around as well as get a variety of photos, of course, and here at the resort there's nothing distinctive visually.I also took an ojek here from the ferry yesterday morning, about a 20 minute ride up and down some steep hills and through incredibly lush, bright-green jungle.I was able to have a basic conversation in Indonesian with the driver.

Today I'll walk further along the beach and do some more ambitious snorkelling.