Monday, February 23, 2009

Koh Phi Phi, Thailand

Well...what can I say it has been very nice to get a bit of a break from grinding floor boards and lifting bricks everyday, but even paradise comes with a cost and impact. I don't seem to understand how everyone somehow thinks that if they get the Eco-lodge, or travel light that they are somehow less degrading to the tourism scene. Or the best one yet is the one where everyone comes to an island on a boat and everyone is looking to stay at a non-touristy beach. What?

Pictures of Koh Phi Phi from the late 1990's show an island filled with lush palm ladden forest. Coral reefs lined the white pristine sands like armed guards at an entrance gate. Tourism had very little steam in these parts as most of the western crowds where still busy tearing apart Koh Samui and Ko Panang. But like all beautiful places everyone wants to spend a bit of time away from there cares, shedding their burden perhaps onto the very beaches they lay upon. The case with Koh Phi Phi is no different, a blockbuster called the beach was filmed on Koh Phi Phi Lei, the smaller of the two islands and overnight everyone was packing their bags to find this once in a life time place. In no time at all Koh Phi Phi population grew the western travellers and soon, the climbing mecca of Krabi became a launch point for the herds.

In 2004, a tsunami kicked off, in I believe, Sumatra Indonesia. Sending a 40m surge of water toward every piece of land and coastline that it could reach. In literally minutes the small village of local fisherman and tourist, where gone. Claiming the lives of nearly 3000, people. Video footage from a birds eye view shows the small isthmus consumed by the serge, carrying with it buildings boats and people.

The aftermath played itself out in typical fashion. Look toward the government for some help, but the coordination and resources required to post such an effort made the Thai governmental support minimal and uneffective. The result, a completly rebuilt mini pedestrian only city packed onto the isthmus over the remains of the old site. As I understand it a few venture capitalist types swooped in on land and development, aiming to build a name for Koh Phi Phi and another destination for the LP's(lonely planet people) to circle in their itinerary.

Am I glad to be here...of course I am . It is a wonderful place and aside from the jam packed little town on the isthmus, things are lightly developed and left to their own. The snorkelling is wonderful and there are more Swede's in bikini's than you can shake a stick at, but I still have to wonder...are we loving these places to death? And should there be a point at which we stop the rampage on our landscapes?

Tuesday, February 10, 2009



Left, Lily and Adriana(Fast Eddie's little girl). Lily, is our cook and all around motherly figure. She is an amazing cook and I'm hoping to take a few new recipes home with me for those of you who don't mind the spice. Right, are some tracks from a very early return, Hawksbill turtle. SAhe came back and laid over 100 eggs two days later. Of which we are in possesion. They should hatch by the time I leave. This turtle is about 2 months early, so even though it is exciting it is also a bit concerning as to what is going on in the sea.
Stay tuned, love you all enjoy the pics.
Andy



Left, is Gaffer...local surfer, he also owns a boat which he fishes from and uses to Taxi people around the island in the summer. Center, the beach I look at daily this is just outside my chalet looking down the beach. Mostly jungle right up to the water. Right, Botok...most likely the best surfer on the beach, aside form Gaffer. He apparently won a comp on the mainland early this year and has a bit of an ego, but not much. Wave for wave...he' pretty darn good.





Septic systems put in the old fashioned way...by hand. Middle, Charlie and I havin at it. Right is Mike, Charlie and Bedin laying blocks. Left is the end product, before it collapsed and we had to dig it and lay the block again. This time I convinced them to put in baffles for lateral support. I'm experienced in things collapsing...aka big culverts. Don't over load those wall..sheer stress i tell ya! Anyway we gotter done and moved on to hole number two behind the chalets.




Far left is Charlie and Mike working on the floor boards...once we got done laying all the boards we had to grind them...with a 4" grinder. The boards are slavage from Singapore. All the wood is mostly second hand aside from some of the timber. The middle shot is the restaurant from the road. Bear in mind that before I arrived this was all jungle about 2 yards off the beach. The land has been leased for about 30 years and then they began the clearing. Reminds me very much of what it is like to build in the upper Skagit. The far right shot is the floor in the Chalets, we still have to put the walls in, but will wait to grind the floor first...yikes another floor. That when the Ipod comes in very handy.





Far left are the chalets as I first saw them. The center shot is after a week or walls and a roof. The building will ultimately be slpit into three accomodations with two bathrooms a piece. Each room can house seven volunteers. The shot far right is a look a the kitchen/restaurant. Since this photo we have finished the roof and wall on the kitchen and finished the floor as well. You will see other shots of a more finished product. The restaurant isn't what you would think of as a restaurant in the states,but is a generic word for a place to eat. This is where the volunteers will be feed.





The shot in the middle is baggage claim on Tioman, very nice! The shot far right is the first view I have of the beach in Juara. The plane landed in Tekek on the west side of the island then I had to hire a 4wd to take me to the east side, to Juara, which is where I live. The shot far left is a pic from my bedroom window, for those of you curious of how close to the beach I am. This is what I see every morning at about 7 am.








These are a few pics of Kuala Lumpur and Sinapore as well as the plane I flew into Tioman on. The plane ride was rediculously scary when we came in for a landing. The plane came in at a 90 degree anlge to the side of a mountain and then at the last minute turned onto a run way.