Yesterday Mike and I took a tour of the Phi Phi Islands - Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Leh. Phi Phi Don is the main island where people stay. It was also one of the places hit by the 2004 Tsunami. Phi Phi Leh is most famous for being the location for the movie, The Beach, and it too was hit by the Tsunami.
Although the Tsunami happened almost 2.5 years ago, much of Phi Phi Don is still not cleaned up or rebuilt. As you will see in the photos the locals are still working on bringing Phi Phi Don back to where it was. We were both somewhat suprised to see the island in the shape that it was in. We had expected things to be back to normal - everything clean and shiny new - but it's not (except for one of the beaches, which is absolutely beautiful). Goes to show you how tough it is to rebuild structures, a community, a life - after a natural disaster. We are both glad we got to see what we saw there, afterall, we were in Thailand on Dec.26, 2004. You see pictures on the news or in the papers, but it's nothing compared to seeing it in real life. It was kind of a sad, yet inspiring visit to the island. Sad because it reminds you of what happened, yet inspiring because you can see people coming together, determined to get on with life.
Phi Phi Leh was also neat to see. For any of you that have seen The Beach, remember the lagoon where the guy gets attacked by a shark? Remember how blue the water was and how majestic the whole scene looked? THAT is the location we saw. However it does look different than what is shown in the movie. Let's just say that the movie included quite a bit of special effects. Maya Bay (the location) is still quite beautiful, however all the tourist boats definately takes away from the natural beauty of it all. We didn't get to walk on the island, but we were able to swim/snorkel at Maya Bay for awhile. Well enough of my babbling - go check out the pics!
MJ More thumbnails ...
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