Return To Paradise

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I’ m officially hooked. Rock climbing is my new passion. There is something incredibly exhilarating about clinging to a rocky pinnacle while balancing on a ¼ inch toehold 20 meters above ground. The two days on Rai Ley beach were fabulous afternoons spent hanging precariously on giant limestone cliffs and abseiling over the Andaman Sea’s emerald waters. By the end of our lesson, my muscles were trembling with fatigue, I was covered in caulk and scrapes, and my fingertips were bruised and bleeding, but I had found a wonderful new hobby. Amazing experience! I'd love to give a play by play explanation, but I’m ahead of myself so let me rewind a bit to catch you all up to speed.

Time flies when you are having fun and these past four weeks have passed in a colorful blur of sparkling blue waters, dizzying orange swirls of flames and fire, endless white beaches, and enough wheelbarrows of rubble to build a small village. When I left off, we had just disembarked from a memorable journey through Vietnam and Laos. While back in central Thailand, we spent a few days unwinding and meandering through Bangkok while taking advantage of ideal shopping opportunities. Perhaps we enjoyed the shopping too much. Liz and I sent 24 kilos of souvenirs home!! Presents for everyone - I promise!!

Ko Tao was my next destination for I was eager to test my SCUBA skills in some of Asia's premiere dive sites. I signed up for several fun dives and was soon swimming lazily along with barracuda, jackfish, angelfish, and grouper at Chumpon Pinnacle. The underwater life was teaming with schools of black and white sergeant fish, sea anemones, some rather moody triggerfish (they like to attack your feet), and one very friendly ol’ sea turtle that I named Sam. I also dove on White Rock, Green Rock, Twin Pinnacles, and SW Pinnacle. Although the visability was rather poor in several areas, I wanted to take advantage of the cheap rates and become more comfortable in the water before heading to the Perentian Islands of Malaysia.

It was actually low season while we were on Ko Tao, but the island was still packed with travelers from all walks of life. I could easily see myself staying on the island for several months, enough to earn my dive master’s license and get my fill of beach BBQ’s and pink sunsets. Unfortunately, time was still ticking and I had to shake myself out of my silly daydream to buy a ticket off the island. Becoming a dive master it just another item to add to my list of “Things to do before I’m 50.” (It just keeps growing and growing!!)

Next stop was Phuket. Although the west coast is visited far less frequently during the summer months, we decided to brave the rain and head cross country to more sparkling white beaches. Our overnight ferry to the mainland was quite similar to sharing a sardine can with a bunch of wiggly, smelly strangers. There were only 40 mattresses, but apparently the ticket lady had been a little too eager and had sold over twice the allotted amount. No worries though. We just doubled up on the mats and I pretended not to notice the five pairs of feet sticking in face for the duration of the evening.

Nearly 24 hrs later, we arrived across the coast in Patong Beach, one of the more popular beaches of Phuket. The town was a dizzying maze of criss-crossed streets, neon lights and way too many western men with young, Thai girlfriends. No need to go into detail there.

I was surprised how quickly the town had recovered following the tsunami. The beaches were clean, businesses were thriving and the town was absolutely packed with vacationers. We had arrived hoping that we would be able to lend a hand somewhere around the island. However, we quickly realized that our services were not needed in Phuket and were told that we were several months too late. On the other hand, we ran into many backpackers who mentioned that places such as Koh Phi Phi, Koh Lanta, and Khao Lak were still desperately in need of volunteers. These were some of the hardest hit areas and they were still struggling to recover and rebuild.

Previous to the tsunami, the Phi Phi Islands, part of the Haad Nopparattara Mo National Park was a pristine paradise and one of the most expensive hot spots in the Andaman Sea. After the events from December 2004, 850 bodies were recovered and a suggested 1,300 are still missing from little Koh Phi Phi alone. Furthermore, over 70% of the buildings were destroyed by the waves and only a few were up and running at the moment. Having heard these statistics, I wasn’t sure what to expect on the island or how much help we would be able to offer.

As soon as I stepped onto the rocking pier, the depth of devestation was immediately apparent. Directly in front of me was a massive expanse of open beach. Twisted palm trees, bent concrete structures, and piles and piles of rubble and waste lay all around. I was looking at an area where there had once been almost 400 bungalows. In one giant swoop, they had all been washed inland, leaving a path of destruction along the way. After unpacking, we wandered around and saw the many areas that have remained untouched since that fateful December day. Open bottles of champaign are still sitting next to sodden mattresses. A broken watch, stopped at the exact time that the waves hit the island, lay on a bedside table and doorframes swung slowly on their hinges, creaking eerily in the bright afternoon sunlight.

Upon inquiry, we learned that the main volunteer organization was called Hi Phi Phi and met on the beach each evening. We attended and quickly signed up for the following morning’s work group. It was incredibly addictive. For the next nine days, we sweated and labored over our project. Along with several other friendly backpackers, we volunteered to help rebuild Chili House, a guesthouse that was completely destroyed. The area was now a mass mile of rubble, debris, concrete, and various odds and ends that the angry waves had tossed inland. Our job was to clear the land, digging up as much mess as we could before the construction crews could move in.

The days were long and hard, but working with Hi Phi Phi was wonderful. I was lucky to meet so many amazing and big-hearted travelers. It was inspiring to see so many people from so many nationalities working together for one cause. Many volunteers were traveling clear across country to help out for one day, five days, three weeks, or several months. We met two brothers who had quite their full time construction jobs and had been on the island, working for free for six months. There were many, many others that had done the same. Having an entertaining group to work with made swinging a pick ax and hauling concrete around the island almost enjoyable. As we toiled in the hot afternoon hours, Koh Phi Phi locals passed by to offer friendly encouragement and kind words of thanks. Their honest graditude made our time in the sun worth every minute.

In the early twilight hours, several of us would reconvene at Hippie’s, a quaint little bar on the shores of Phi Phi island. There, we spent many hours watching the moon dance across the sky while listening to jazzy music and ooohing and ahhing at the flame throwers and fire dancers. These incrediably skilled men and women could twirl there flames so quickly, they were but a mere silhouette against the black sky. Pretty neat to watch!

At first, we only intended to stay on Koh Phi Phi for a few days, but we all fell in love with the island and the charming people. Everyone was extremely friendly, especially to the volunteers. I didn't want to leave very badly, but after nine days, our work site was complete and our visas were soon to expire. It was very sad to leave since there is so much work to still be done. However, it was encouraging to see so many new people arrive each day, eager to lift a hammer or wheel some rubble to and fro. Koh Phi Phi will be rebuilt in no time! Keep up the good work everyone!

Railay beach was our final destination in Thailand. On the shores of this rocky beach, we signed up with Cliffman Climbers and spent many wonderful hours dangling hundreds of feet in the air on a rope the size of my index finger (whoops - parents please disregard that comment.) My instructor was an amazing ape of a man. He could shimmy up the rock in the snap of a finger while it seemed to take me a considerably longer time to reach the top. The views were breathtaking sites to be seen and enjoyed before taking a deep breath and hurling/abseiling back down to the bottom (safe and sound on the sand.) I miss it already! We spent our evenings spent relaxing on the beach, watching the streaky sunsets and cheering on the volleyball and soccer games. Again, time ended here much too quickly (I seem to be saying that quite a lot lately.)

We left Thailand just in the nick of time on the final day of our visa. Our next destination is Pulua Perhentian Kecil where I hope to do some long afternoons of SCUBA diving.

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