At the end of 2011, after hearing that police in Aceh province in northwestern Sumatra -- Indonesia's most religiously conservative region -- had arrested local punk rockers and shaved their heads to "reeducate" them, I vowed I would never visit.
Tea Leaves
How tourism can soften hard-line Aceh
Indonesia's most buttoned-up province opens up, somewhat, to visitors
Schoolgirls in Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province, in northwestern Sumatra. The province is making efforts to bring in tourists after long being off travelers' radar. (Photo by Marco Ferrarese)
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