Koh Phi Phi

We left Phuket early the next morning and caught the ferry to Koh Phi Phi. Our first impression of the island gave us little idea of the enormity of the destruction caused by the Tsunami. As we left the ferry, we were greeted by a little village of shops, tour companies and restaurants connected by cobblestone paths. We consulted our map as to the location of our chosen hotel, the Viewpoint, and as we followed the paths to the hotel, the destruction left behind by the Tsunami became more apparent. There were buildings with large, gaping holes in the walls, piles of debris and large tracks of sand with sporting nothing but a few scraggly palm trees, which we were later told, had been home to hundreds of bungalows.

As we were walking, we were passed by a young scruffy looking man pushing a wheelbarrow, who pointed us in the direction of our hotel and informed us that there was plenty of volunteer work to be done that day, but as the following day was Friday - the island volunteer's only day off - we would be hard pressed to find anything to do. We had planned to go snorkeling on Thursday and spend Friday volunteering, but given this information, we decided to check-in to our hotel, have some lunch and do what we could that afternoon, putting off the snorkeling trip until the following day. As we walked towards our hotel, we passed more shells of buildings, but also numerous volunteer projects in progress. One group appeared to be building a bridge, while another fixed the ornate stone walkway and yet another was working to repair a seaside bar. I looked forward to being a part of this group of people.

After lunch, we headed to the makeshift volunteer office and were given three options: we could help plant a garden, load scraps from scrap piles onto a truck to be carted off the island, or help clean a hotel that was hoping to re-open the following day. We were both looking for some hard labor and were leaning towards loading the truck, but the girl wasn't sure exactly where the truck was, so she pointed us in the direction of the garden.

When we came upon the gardening area, we found there to be about six or seven people working and both of us felt that we would be more in the way than anything else. One of the volunteers pointed us in the direction of another group of volunteers loading scrap into a truck and we headed off in that direction.

We joined a group of about seven going through a pile of rubbish and debris, and loading up a truck. Were handed two pairs of work gloves that had both seen better days and told that they were loading the truck with larger rocks and pieces of concrete to be trucked to another area, where they would be used in the construction of a runoff to drain stagnant water back into the ocean. We set to work loading baskets and once the truck was full, we joined the group walking to the next location to unload the truck.

The volunteers were from all over and most, it seemed, had come to Thailand on Holiday, but once they arrived in Koh Phi Phi and saw the need, they changed their plans and stayed to volunteer. Some had only been there a few days, while others had been there for months. Although we were only there for a few hours, it was easy to see that a small close-knit community had formed. Numerous times through out the afternoon, I thought how it would be neat to be able to stay on and help, but because we had only three weeks and they were chock full of plans, it didn't make sense for us to stay (although I couldn't help feeling guilty about leaving).

After two truckloads of concrete, we switched gears and began loading sacks with rubbish to be hauled to a dump near the pier where a boat would come and ship it to the mainland. Sifting through the rubbish was somewhat emotional, as each item brought with it thoughts of the owner and the events of December 26th. Steven found a cd of Christmas songs and I sorted through various personal affects including a to-do list, cosmetics and a Sony game boy.

At 4:00 p.m., we were informed that it was quitting time and we headed back to our hotel for a quick shower and a beeline for the nearest beach for a swim.

We had been told that there was a great view at the top of the mountain separating our beach from the other side of the island, so we hiked up the concrete staircase to the top and after taking in the view, made our way down the much less pedestrian friendly path to the other side. After a quick swim, not wanting to get stuck on the path after dark, we made our way back up.

At the top, we were stopped by a man who ran a local store who talked to us about how he watched the wave hit the island from the panoramic view offered from his front porch.

The following day, we rose early for our snorkeling trip. Steven had been scuba diving numerous times before, but I had never dove and the only snorkeling I'd done was during a "sea camp" trip in the eighth grade (which I had completely forgotten about until just this instant. I think I repressed the memory...).

We boarded a ferry with six others and were taken out to the nearby islands where they fitted us with fins and masks and pointed in the direction of the reefs. The first place they dropped us was quite rough and as I wasn't feeling well from the ride out and my snorkel kept getting filled up with water, I immediately thought that I wasn't going to enjoy this much and would just have to grin and bear it until we got back to dry land. Steven wasn't fairing well either, with a leaky snorkel, but at the second drop off, Steven, with a new snorkel and me, with a more settled stomach, both enjoyed ourselves swimming around the reef, following the fish and watching as they went about their daily activities.

The third and final drop was more similar to the first and although I did see a reef shark, I preferred the more shallow views afforded by the second.

The ride back on the boat found me sitting on the side of the boat with my head in my hands, feeling quite ill, and waiting anxiously for the boat to come to rest at the dock.