I don’t understand the “no women allowed” rule,,, but this is Aceh; where strict adherence to Muslim norms is pushed to a greater extent than the rest of the country.

I found a few interesting contradictions between what I read & expected to find in Aceh, and what I actually saw there. One example is the jilbab. I heard that there are laws here which require all Muslim women (post puberty) to wear the jilbab headscarf to cover their hair. I saw a lot of exceptions to that rule. I heard Acehnese women are not allowed to date western men. Tanwir says it happens all the time, as news of the Italian guy who got caught with his married Acehnese girlfriend/translator testifies to as well.