Devastation...

Trip Start Nov 25, 2004
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Trip End Jan 26, 2005


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Thursday, March 3, 2005

So at the risk of being called 'disaster tourists', we headed to Ko Phi Phi! I guess we were in a way but were more than happy to help out by spending our cash with the locals whose lives had so obviously been blown apart! It's at times like this that you realise how lucky we are living in England (those of you that do!) therefore avoiding most of the world's natural disasters because when you see what the water did to Phi Phi, it makes you glad that we don't have it to worry about! First impressions as the boat approached the island, was that everything was OK! We could see the outline of bungalows, shops and boats moored up in the harbour...but things are definitely not always as they seem.

We'd never been to Phi Phi before but we spoke to a guy from NZ who had been there only a few months before - and he was in pure shock at the devastation it had caused. Coming into the harbour, it soon became apparent that things were alot different and the devastation was immense - there was a huge ship in the harbour with a digger loading all the debris and rubbish from the beaches...a ship! People everywhere had bin bags picking up rubbish and labourers were working night and day trying to re-build their homes and businesses. We got a room at one of 4 hotels that are open on the island and even there you could see some of the bungalows had doors ripped off! On walking around the island, it just gets worse and worse. Phi Phi is basically 2 big hills with a sand bank that connects the 2 together where all the businesses, hotels and restaurants were located - now its just a wasteland looking more like a building site than a holiday resort and the stupid thing is despite all of this - it is still one of the most beautiful places we have been to so far. The beaches are flourlike (again) and the water is the bluest of blue! There's not many places in the world that can survive a tsunami and come out of it still maintaining its natural beauty! That's how we know that it will be back up on its feet (they reckon it will take 2 years!) - there were already lots of backpackers there so its only a matter of time. The determination and strength we saw on that island though will be something we both remember for the rest of our lives!

On a lighter note (or maybe not!), we successfully broke a hammock in our attempt to get 2 people in one! WHOOPS!
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