Sunday, January 07, 2007
Sunday 7th of January 2007 - Phuket Town, Phuket Island, Thailand
Well, after a day and a couple of nights in Surin Beach I realised it was time to go. It was a very resorty area. Nothing like Thailand really with mostly tourist there only staying in the resort. And even if one did leave the resort there was just nothing much there. I ran this morning on the road towards Kamala beach and as I came down the hill to it I could see that this place had been very affected by the Tsunami. Signs on the side of the road read: Tsunami Danger area. And others pointed to "Tsunami escape route" and showed the way to safer grounds in case of another Tsunami.
It was cloudy and overcast and some rain was coming down as well. It seemed stormy. In the afternoon I took a taxi to Phuket Town and found a room in a modest hotel. Just a small room with a bathroom and a TV (seems TV's are everywhere). I'll only be there for two nights.
The lovely Taxi driver was a woman called Gae. We start talking. She tells me she is the only woman taxi driver in Surin Beach. I wonder if many Taxi drivers are woman. Maybe 10% but no more. I comment on the weather and the fact it's raining quite hard. "Before the Tsunami (26 December 2004), it never rained at this time of the year. But since then the weather has changed." Surin beach, she tells me, had no dammage from the Tsunami but just down the road in Kamala (as I noticed this morning) there was a lot of dammage and deaths. I ask her if she knew anyone who died. "Yes, my brother". She tells me he was 25. Then she tells me that she might normally have been working that day but took the day off. Had she not, she could have been swept like many others. She doesn't seem too bothered to talk about this. I admire her strength.
Well, onto new roads and new beginnings in 2007 whatever they may be. All the best to everyone who may read this.
Bye for now
Well, after a day and a couple of nights in Surin Beach I realised it was time to go. It was a very resorty area. Nothing like Thailand really with mostly tourist there only staying in the resort. And even if one did leave the resort there was just nothing much there. I ran this morning on the road towards Kamala beach and as I came down the hill to it I could see that this place had been very affected by the Tsunami. Signs on the side of the road read: Tsunami Danger area. And others pointed to "Tsunami escape route" and showed the way to safer grounds in case of another Tsunami.
It was cloudy and overcast and some rain was coming down as well. It seemed stormy. In the afternoon I took a taxi to Phuket Town and found a room in a modest hotel. Just a small room with a bathroom and a TV (seems TV's are everywhere). I'll only be there for two nights.
The lovely Taxi driver was a woman called Gae. We start talking. She tells me she is the only woman taxi driver in Surin Beach. I wonder if many Taxi drivers are woman. Maybe 10% but no more. I comment on the weather and the fact it's raining quite hard. "Before the Tsunami (26 December 2004), it never rained at this time of the year. But since then the weather has changed." Surin beach, she tells me, had no dammage from the Tsunami but just down the road in Kamala (as I noticed this morning) there was a lot of dammage and deaths. I ask her if she knew anyone who died. "Yes, my brother". She tells me he was 25. Then she tells me that she might normally have been working that day but took the day off. Had she not, she could have been swept like many others. She doesn't seem too bothered to talk about this. I admire her strength.
Well, onto new roads and new beginnings in 2007 whatever they may be. All the best to everyone who may read this.
Bye for now
# posted by AdeC @ 8:04 PM 
