where cider meets condensed milk: Koh Phi Phi

where cider meets condensed milk

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Koh Phi Phi

Here's Koh Phi Phi-- a gorgeous place! The clarity of the water and whiteness of sand on the Andaman coast islands were staggering, and I liked the scenery here more than on the other coast. It was hard to find lodging on Phi Phi because about 50% of the resorts were damaged or destroyed in the tsunami. Everything about the islands reminded me of the horror of what happened last December. Being on Phi Phi on new year's day 2006 was spooky, recalling all the terrifying news footage Annabelle, Rose, Michael and I watched from the relative safety of our Koh Phangan resort, just a few hundred kilometres away and one year previous. Sailing in on the ferry into the crowded Phi Phi harbor on January 1st, I could still remember all 4 of us a year before, perched nauseous over untouched toast and fruit, as CNN continually updated the death toll as it climbed into an ever-larger six-digit sum.

That strip of land below is called Ton Sai-- the port/ town/ center of island life. On the left is the actual bay (Ton Sai), and the bay on the right is Loh Dalam. When the tsunami hit, the water was sucked out of Ton Sai first, then came crashing over the pier and overland, and moments later another monster wave (estimate-- 3 stories high) came in through Loh Dalam. It flattened and/or flooded all of the hotels and resorts on that stretch of land. There was no higher ground to run to, and the bi-directional wave impact caused undercurrents and whirlpooling. Many people drowned quickly, particularly those who were trapped in hotel rooms. Many others were severely injured by debris and the force of the water.

This is one of many memorial sites on Ton Sai-- a tree surrounded with flowers, plaques, banners, photographs, and stories. I believe this is where the Princess and Charlie resorts were, where dozens of guests and staff members died. We were both crying before even making a lap of the tree. The death toll estimate for Phi Phi from the tsunami is about 1000. Nearly 2/3 of Thailand's fatalities were on Patong Beach, where we had been the day before, but there doesn't seem to be much attention paid to that fact around the town, and it felt like business as usual. Other tourists that had visited Phuket in the past said that Patong looks exactly as it did pre-tsunami: overbuilt, overpriced. Phi Phi has clearly not recovered yet, and there is so much palpable sadness amongst the shopkeepers (many whom operate from tents, rickety tables, or folding chairs inside the skeleton of a building), tourists, and the destroyed beaches themselves.

April out in beautiful Loh Dalam bay, with the ghostly expanse of trees to mark where a village of resorts used to stand. It's very shallow, and you can walk nearly to the mouth of the bay and only go knee-deep. We kayaked from here, around the smaller lung of the island, and finished at the Ton Sai pier about an hour later.

That sign reads "tsunami evacuation route"-- don't know if it was put up for when people were trying to leave Phi Phi, or if it's a future precaution.

April and I spent 2 nights in a bungalow overlooking the sea, on a secluded beach called To Koh. Our friend Kristen, another JET from our orphanage trip, recommended it, and she actually was still there when we arrived. There were about 15 small bungalows, one family that runs it, one family dog, our own personal cabin mouse, and about 10 million ants. We moved over to Ton Sai for our last night, and had more fun being in town. Our place there just opened 2 weeks beforehand, and it was more like a lovely hotel room in bungalow's clothing. Electricity all day long, mirrors, TV, beautiful clean beds, no ants in sight... we were in heaven. Champagne backpackers again, after too many crawly friends!

We hiked around the island our first day, caught the sunset from a viewpoint above Ton Sai, and had to fumble back through the jungle in the dark to get back home. The next day we did a snorkeling boat cruise to Phi Phi Leh with 2 other teachers that happened to work for NOVA in Okayama city. (Sean: "Oh, we live in Japan, too! But you've never heard of the place we live. It's called Ok-a-yama.") It's a small world after all! We hung around town our last day, bought bootleg DVDs, shopped, and returned twice to an amazing little bakery before leaving for Krabi. (Good bread is hard to find.)

April, me, NOVA superstars Sean and Amber.

This is Maya Beach, where "The Beach" was filmed. Leo was nowhere to be seen.

Longtail boats to navigate around the island. There are no roads or cars on Phi Phi, though there are occasionally motorcycles.

April and I swimming in a bay of Phi Phi Leh island.

A happy shot overlooking the bay to counterbalance sad tsunami thoughts. Peace!

posted by Raychaa @ 6:44 PM

1 comments:

At 2:16 AM, Anonymous said…

enough of the thailand pics!!! we want to see the famous ok-city swan boats! and race them while you're at it!