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Published: April 6th 2005
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Island
James Bond Island. Happy (Thai) New Years!! Today is the official start of the Thai New Year, and the celebration lasts 3 days. I just arrived in Chang Mai, which is a 14 hour train ride north of Thailand. But let me catch you up with my previous 2 weeks first.
After my last blog (about Bangkok) I headed back down south to the Island of Phuket. Phuket is one of the better know islands of the coast of Thailand, and was one that was effected by the tsunami. Since I was in this part of the world I figured that it would be worth while to see the after effects of the great wave. Phuket was nice, but a little busier then I like my beach towns (I am start to be an expert on beaches and beach towns, I know exactly what I like and dislike, god knows I have been to enough of them by now.).
So one day while I am in Phuket, I am hiking down the rocks to the ocean and I spot this weird walking fish (like a mix between a salamander and a fish…..kind of like those snake fish at home that are screwing
the after effects
me after the wave took me out (and my camera) up our local lakes). So this fish thing is in the rocks right where the waves are breaking…but all the waves are small so I figure I’ll go down there any check things out…..with my camera….that I really really love. So I get the picture and then I look up and see another TSUNAMI WAVE!!!!!! But only for a split second..next thing I know the wave is slamming me down into the rocks, the last thought I had was “SAVE THE CAMERA” so I try to toss it to safety (well hardly safety…it probably would have broken on the rocks. So here I am getting tossed around the rocks, I get pushed down into a hole…finally get a foot hold and get out….thinking “I cannot believe this happened to me”, I was in complete shock from the loss of my camera. I look all around and finally spot it at the bottom of the hole…just sitting in about 3 meters of ocean water (which just happens to be GREAT for camera’s…especially digital ones). Swim down, get my camera, and then think about crying…but no, I am too frustrated and mad at myself...smart move…..so there goes my nice expensive camera (but
retard
me....you like? at least the memory card still works). I pout for the rest of the day and then waste a lot of money and time on another camera the next day. Errr..I am still mad about the whole thing.
Another day, I went on a boat tour of an area called Phange Bhay (or something like that). ABSOLULTEY breathtaking, I mean this is what you see in the Asian scroll paintings…steep limestone cliffs dropping 100’s of meters into the water…islands like you could never imagine…just look at the pictures (and then keep in mind that pictures never do justice)
My last day in Phuket I went to the area that was affected the most by the tsunami….everywhere you can see construction and big green fences that are used to hide the damage from the tourists. I will say, they have done an amazing job fixing things up in certain areas. But then there are other areas where it is just rubble. I met a guy who was selling drinks from a cooler, on a pile of rubble that used to be his restaurant.
(once again I have way to many pics for this blog)
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