To: Friends and Family

19 April, 2005

Check in from Khao Lak

I’m in Khao Lak now. I left Phuket this morning with my driver, Mr. Noy. In Cambodia, Chi, the driver we hired spoke very good, though broken English. Well, Mr. Noy from Phuket Town spoke no English…other than Thank You. Communicating proved a bit of a challenge and was exhilarating at the same time. There was no intermediary; just what I was able to figure out how to communicate to him. It took the proverbial “third time’s a charm” to get to the volunteer center at Khao Lak Nature Resort—roughly a two-hour trip from where we started in Phuket. At the first false stop, he asked for directions from a security guard and took us in the wrong direction. At the next stop Khao Lak Resort (note it is missing the *Nature*)--I asked a Thai woman -- who spoke English -- at the resort for directions. I then asked her to relay to my driver in Thai how to get to the Khao Lak Nature Resort. She was gracious enough to do so. Okay, so in the end there was an intermediary, but I had to get here!

He dropped me off and I went to check-in. As it turned out I was at the wrong volunteer agency office---there are two volunteer agencies headquartered at the Khao Lak Nature Resort. The office where I needed to be was about 200 meters down the hillside. Regardless, where I was standing was where I needed to be to check into their accommodations. One place to sign in to volunteer and one place to sign into accommodations. So I checked into a room after a bit of a misunderstanding between one of their volunteers and one of their Thai (non-English speaking) workers. I was led up a very steep hillside (and remember I do hike in the Shenandoah on steep hillsides so I have a frame of reference for steep) to a bungalow that was nestled in a grove of trees near the crest of the hill. From the outside it was quaint, however from the inside it left quite a lot to be desired, e.g. air conditioning. Since the hillside climb in 100+ degree weather had left me drenched in sweat I knew in the coming weeks that after a long day building houses this would be the last place I wanted to come to as my home away from home. At that point, however, I did not have the energy to deal with the situation because I needed to register with the volunteer agency. I went down the hill, which was much more pleasant than the steep climb up…and then farther down the hillside to the other headquarters.

I filled out the requisite paperwork and inquired about accommodations in town. I had found out by that point the town of Khao Lak was about 5 kilometers away--too far to easily walk. The volunteer who was working the front desk was there with her five-year-old son. She arrived about two months ago and had a good frame of reference for what Khao Lak has to offer. She told me about a local corner market and that there was a place behind the corner market, a few hundred meters off the main road, called Happy Lagoon Bungalows—a couple hundred more baht than the accommodations available at the resort---but in my estimation well worth it for air-conditioning. I had to make the trek to town to see if they had any availability. When I asked if there was a shuttle I was told, “nope, we just hitch into town. The locals are really friendly.” So I hitchhiked for the first time today. I walked out to the side of the road and patted like I was dribbling a basketball at about waist level. (In Thailand, the US hitchhiker’s thumb is only for indicating “OK”, not “I need a lift”.) To my surprise and pleasure the first truck that passed pulled to the side of the road and let me hop into the cab with him. He knew the corner market and dropped me off there.

I made my way down the road, through a grove of rubber trees and passed a small group of bungalows on the left. They were not signed, so I thought that perhaps I needed to go farther. As I rounded the bend I came into sight of the devastation of the tsunami. It was one of the most unsettling sights I have ever witnessed. On the drive to Khao Lak I saw several indications of the destruction of the tsunami, but to be face to face…no window and hundreds of feet between me and the destruction was a true reality check. I glanced around for a few minutes. The only thing that kept running through my mind was the reports I heard a few months ago... “Thailand in much better shape that Sri Lanka and other locations hit by the brunt of the tsunami’s destructive force.” I witnessed splintered boards, shattered concrete structures, barren dirt stretches, sporadic flip-flops in the sand, broken glass, smashed cars by the roadside, remnants of walls surrounding nothing but debris, workers and their machinery in constant states of motion to rebuild this place...all against a backdrop of a beach from all of our concepts of a seaside paradise. My stomach still– and this is hours later--feels a cavernous queasiness to think that this is ‘much better shape’ than those other locations.

I shook myself back into a focused reality. I rationalized that there was no resort on down that road to find. I stopped by the open-air restaurant at the place with no signage to ask if they knew of a place called Happy Lagoon. The bartender smiled and said “This is Happy Lagoon.” I asked if they had any rooms to which he answered yes. I asked to see the options available to me as I didn’t want to accept anything until I had an idea of what I was accepting. The second room was a dream...not the Marriott, but lovely enough a place to call home for two weeks. We agreed on a rate and I signed up for it.

I made my way back to the main road. It took a little while to get a ride that time hitching, but finally a motorcycle stopped for me. He was a tailor in one of the local shops. He asked if I was a volunteer and profusely thanked me when I acknowledged I was indeed here to volunteer. He told me that he was a “local” volunteer and was happy to offer rides to the volunteers in Khao Lak. His people, as he referenced are in great need of assistance and are honored to receive whatever generosity people choose to share. It was so heartfelt. When he dropped me off at the volunteer agency he invited me to stop by his shop anytime and have a cup of tea—not as a tourist, but as a friend. The Thai people are so willing to open their homes and their hearts to people...we in the West have a great deal we could learn from this Buddhist society.

I went to the volunteer desk where I registered for the volunteer room and asked to check out. I was met with a smile and the pre-supposing question of  “so you moving down into town?” I’m sure I’m not the first to switch accommodations. :-)

I gathered my stuff from the room and as I got out to the road one of the local buses was passing. I flagged it and boarded for the ride down the mountain. One of the locals on board in his only English pointed out to the barren vistas as we wound down the mountain and uttered---tsunami, tsunami.

I dropped my stuff by the room and there were six or eight young people outside doing laundry. Youngsters from around the world (US, Germany, Sweden & South Korea) who are here doing mission work for another week. I had a nice conversation with them about what they had experienced thus far in their stay in Thailand.

I gathered up my camera and tripod to head to the beach to take a photo survey of what is here. It was a couple hours before sunset and I strolled along the beach chronicling some of the things I encountered. The one that was most strongly impressed in my mind was a grove of trees—three ancient looking trunks in particular caught my eye. I noticed them from the beach on my stroll down and decided to check them out more closely on my return stroll up the beach. As I walked up the banks to the base of the trees sunlight reflecting from three pieces of plastic caught my eyes. Upon closer inspection the plastic was wrapped around dried out stems of what was once a bouquet of fresh cut flowers. I realized these were markers left where tsunami victims were found. I fell down to my knees on the sandy ground with the weight of that realization…that a few short months ago this coastline was ravaged by a might force of nature and the fragile state of human life ended here—within my arm’s reach-- for three people. Though their faces nor their names nor their nationalities will ever be known to me I feel a bond with them. I spent the next hour or so around those trees and those markers….listening to the powerful cresting of waves onto the shore, watching birds fly overhead, seeing occasional passers-by strolling on the beach, hearing the sound of a vehicle’s motor passing on the closest roadway and a roaming dog’s bark, feeling the wind as it shifted coconut fronds high overhead…while I watched the sunset.

The next two weeks will be focused on my volunteer work, so don’t expect to hear anything via e-mail. I’m sure there will be a great deal to share after. Until I sign back on I wish you all well.

love, jace