To: Family and Friends

24 April, 2005

First day off from volunteering...

“It seems as though one day here is like twenty...” that is a little snippet from the journal entry I started for today while sitting watching the early evening sky after sunset.

Yesterday, we finished the roof on the boatyard shelter project I was working on for the volunteer agency. A member of the Royal British Yachting Club showed up mid-afternoon. He was there to survey the project and determine if it was worthy of receiving funding. Apparently, the site met with his approval and he made a sizable donation on the part of the yacht club. Out of his personal generosity he paid for everyone’s ice cream. Ice cream is one of the frills we have at the boatyard. We lack a break room to go to for that afternoon snack and break from the heat, but we do have the pleasure of Billy the ice cream man showing up around 3pm each day on his electric blue motorbike outfitted with a modified side car (that functions as a freezer unit). The freezer unit always was loaded down with the best selection of portable ice cream treats south of the equator. When Billy was in a really good mood we also got a magic trick to further sweeten the deal!  

So, with such a great end to the workweek yesterday I decided to celebrate my first day off from volunteering with a treat—of the non-ice cream sort. Today, I took a day trip to the Similan Islands for snorkeling. I stopped by Khao Lak Land Discovery, which organizes day trips as well as multi-day trips last night before going home. KLLD organizes all of the details (from the driver who picked me up this morning at my bungalow, to the speedboat equipped with crew and equipment for the registered participants). The Similans are a series of islands that are about an hour and a half by speedboat off the western coast of Thailand. And when I say speedboat I mean full-tilt powerboat with two V-6, 200 horsepower engines---don’t really know what that means other than we were going very fast. The Similans are renown for their snorkeling and diving views. Everyone in the group who saw the underwater vistas pre-tsunami agreed they were not what they were, regardless they were breathtaking...I suppose before they must have been heartstopping.

We had four snorkeling opportunities. Starting out at Island #9 followed by Island #8 where we had lunch. You know those white sand beaches with the blue green water that tropical paradises are renown for having…well on one of those was where I had lunch today. We were able to walk around on the island before and after lunch. I climbed up a few hundred feet to the top of the rock formations that are the hallmark image of many of the postcards of the Similans. The climb was intense and a bit treacherous (but what is an adventure without a little envelope pushing---okay everyone who’s worrying stop...it wasn’t death-defying—just treacherous ), though when I found myself at the top it was worth it. If the pictures do it a tenth of the justice it deserves you’ll all be ready to book a ticket to Thailand and a speedboat to the Similans!

After lunch we visited two more snorkeling sites where we spent about an hour each. The locations gave way to shallow white sand bottoms on which lines of yellowish-white lines danced...underwater shadows from the sunlight passing through the breaking waves that are the surface of the ocean. The intermittent patches of coral and reef were at times ablaze with reds and blues when the light caught the coral just right. Then there were the fish...oh, how do I describe them!?! Imagine going to a pet shop where you take out the most beautiful specimens of fish, bump them up a hundred or so times in size and then set them free in crystal clear water that feels like a perfect bath. You then can peer down onto them as they play for as long as you like…or until you hear the whistle letting you know it is time to get back to the boat. This isn’t justice to the scenes but at least a sense of the morning & afternoon swims.

After the day of snorkeling I was dropped off at the bungalow. I ordered and ate my dinner then made my way down to the beach. I decided to take a slightly different route than I normally take each afternoon. This time I passed by a flowering bush with the exquisite heart shaped pendant drop blossom just like I saw in the Butterfly Garden in Cambodia. However, in the background of this bush resting on its side was a tsunami-ravaged red motorbike. Rendered useless by the wave a few months ago it lies where it came to rest...and shows the rust of exposure. Such a different background image for me to associate with the vibrant red flower blossom that I first saw a few weeks ago with butterflies fluttering around it.

I made my way on down to the beach and watched a beautiful sky that was a prelude to an even more beautiful sunset. I took a few pictures and left the camera sitting on the tripod wanting to capture a few more shots of the sun and sky before it slipped into the horizon on yet another day of this transformative trip. As I walked a bit closer to the line in the sand where the waves were lapping on-shore, just out of the focal point of the pictures I snapped only moments before, was a suitcase that washed ashore today.

Today is April 24, 2005...two days less than four months since the tsunami unleashed such a devastating toll on this shoreline. Yet each day since December 26, 2004 articles wash ashore…daily reminders of a day that none in this area will ever forget.

Two of those who will not forget are Maryia and her son Christian. They walk the beach each day at sunset...I see them each evening as I’m on the beach. The last couple of days Christian built a boat of plastic pieces he found on the shore. He likes to build things. His family owns and runs one of the local outfitters organizing scuba dives. Their livelihood has greatly been impacted by the tsunami, but they take heart in the potential that tourists will return in the coming years. They actually have a group tomorrow that will be a three-night excursion, so I'll not see them for three sunsets. However, they assure me that I’ll see them the evening of the fourth. I have no doubt I will.

Tomorrow morning marks my return to the job site. With the roof detail behind me, I’m not sure what I’ll be assigned to tomorrow. Time will tell...though no doubt it will be a day filled with the experiences of what seem like many days.     

‘til my next day off,
jace