Day 104
Trip Start
Sep 14, 2006
1
98
169
Trip End
??? ??, 2007
Phi Phi Island,
Thailand
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
We boarded a boat once we arrived in Krabi and were on out way to Phi Phi island. I came here before in 2002 and marveled at the natural beauty on show. Since then it had been decimated by the tsunami and we were arriving on the second anniversary of the tragedy
1 Me on Phi Phi Don beach
. I had hoped to attend the memorial ceremony on the beach but we got there too late in the end. The island was a hive of building activity as the Thais reconstruct this top tourist site. Ko Phi Phi is lucky in that its beauty will serve to speed up the rebuild job other places like Sumatra will have to wait. Later on the beach I met a Swedish guy who was here in 2004 and survived the tsunami. He was in his bed when the wave struck and when the water came into the room he was able to climb up on the roof of his guest house and wait for rescue.As we swam in the clear warm waters I once again marveled at the bay and Neil got to enjoy it for the first time. "This is by far the most beautiful place I've ever been" he said, reminding me of those same thoughts I had in 2002.
I had an inkling that my Swedish friends Ida and Lova were on the island. They had been a few cabins down on my Trans Siberian train and we'd also "done" Beijing together. Later that evening I bumped into Ida by chance and soon I was chatting with them both and catching up. Unfortunately they were heading back to Bangkok the next day so our reunion was only brief - but they will be in Australia in March so hopefully I can see them again there.
