Just a few more fun pictures from my trip with Kat to Southern Thailand.

Going out in the boat, looking back at land

In the hotel pool with the sea in the background.

The inlet where they filmed the movie "The Beach"

Emily and Kat at "The Beach"

Yesterday before we left the island, we "hiked" up to the viewpoint to see this marvelous vista.

PhiPhi Island is really more like two islands connected by a central area of sandy land. This central area (that you can see in the photo) is where the town is built. Unfortunately, it is also the area that the tsunami hit the hardest. Though the wave was only a couple of meters here (I say 'only' in comparison with the 10 meter wave elsewhere) it hit from both sides and washed nearly everything away in the central section. One lady we spoke to lost her daughter and sister in the tsunami as well as five people that worked at her restaurant. She was spared, along with her husband and infant son, as they huddled together on the second floor. She resisted our sympathy and told us that hers was the story of everyone on the island. In fact, she was lucky.
The rebuilding effort has happened quicky and though there is still a lot of construction, there is again a town and thriving community - Thai and tourist alike.