In this post I will share my experience while traveling around the city center of Banda Aceh starting from the Krueng Daroy river until ending at the Harapan Bangsa stadium. This is my experience a few weeks ago, precisely on January 29, 2026, at that time I and several of my friends traveled to the city of Banda Aceh with the aim of vacationing to Sabang Island, but that day everything felt very boring so I decided to go around the city center of Banda Aceh in the afternoon.
I traveled around downtown Banda Aceh alone because some of my friends chose to rest at the inn because the next day we would go straight to Sabang Island for a vacation, alone it was quiet but there was peace in it. The atmosphere around the city of Banda Aceh is quite hot compared to other areas, but in the afternoon we can find something very amazing, I can find many parks on the side of the road and see human activities that are starting to get busy.
And this is the view of the Krueng Daroy river, this river has a very long history to tell and it is related to the Sultanate of Iskandar Muda in the past. This river was built directly by Sultan Iskandar Muda as a sign of his love for his wife, Putro Phang, the peak of this river is in the Mata Ie forest and this river flows rapidly to the center of Banda Aceh city, but this river also passes through several other historical places such as Gunongan Park and Putro Phang Park, in the past the water in this river was very clean but now the condition of the water is very cloudy and dirty.
But now we can find many small parks and chairs built on the banks of this river, so that people can rest while looking at the view of this river and occasionally reflect on the long history of this river.After capturing the moments around the Krueng Daroy River, I immediately continued my journey to explore Banda Aceh again. Honestly, this trip didn't have a specific destination, but I always hoped to discover some amazing places.
From the main road, I managed to find a very amazing place, namely the Harapan Bangsa Stadium. Coincidentally, at that time, the inauguration of part-time PPPK was being held at this place, and I immediately took advantage of the opportunity to explore and immortalize this place.
This stadium has a very spacious outdoor yard and there we can find small gardens, nameplate monuments and several iconic monuments. The atmosphere at that time was very cloudy and the thing I was most afraid of was just rain, so I immediately accelerated my exploration of this place.
Actually, this stadium is not a tourist spot like in general, but this place is always crowded with visitors for sporting events and leisure activities, maybe spending time here with family is something that sounds very fun. Not long after that, something I didn't want happened, namely the rain fell very heavily, and at that time I immediately looked for a place to take shelter.
At that time I chose to take shelter in the stadium, and there I could see the beautiful view offered by the stadium, and according to the information I got from the officers there, this stadium is one of the largest stadiums in the city of Banda Aceh. The rain fell for quite a long time and made me have to spend quite a long time in this place, but the view in front of me was interesting enough to enjoy.
After the rain had completely stopped, I immediately decided to leave the stadium and start my journey home. At that time, I panicked because it would soon be dark and I still couldn't memorize every street here.
In front of the exit of this stadium, I managed to find a very amazing monument,and this monument is in the shape of a rencong,do you know what a rencong is.?
Rencong is a traditional weapon from Aceh that symbolizes the courage, toughness, and identity of the Acehnese people. For more detailed information, you can see it here
