Warning: Early-Warning System Failed to Activate

All geared up and ready for a lucky day of fishing, we got to the place where we were to meet the boat captain, only to find out that the fishing trip was a no-go for today...that's when we found out the REAL reason a Thai guy was banging on our door last night.

Around midnight, we woke up because the electricity went off, ie the fan went off in our room and we started to be slow roasted. I looked out the window and sure enough, all electricity on the island appeared to be out. Oh well, not surprising considering the state of the island. As we were trying to get back to sleep, a guy came knocking on our door. I got up in my PJs to see what he was on about. I opened the door and could see 3 men standing there in the moonlight. One of them mumbled some things in Thai, and waved his hand around and said 'tsunami.' I thought he was some drunk guy going on about the damage to his hotel and just happened to pick our bungalow to share his misery with. There was no understanding on either part. So the guy said 'Yeah' and I closed the door and we went back to sleep. Well, when we arrived at the place where we booked the fishing trip, we found out that there had been an 8.7 magnitude earthquake in Indonesia, and everyone on Phi Phi island was being evacuated to the tops of the mountains in case of another tsunami. Everyone, that is, except us. A few hours after everyone hurried up the mountain, the tsunami warning was called off and everyone returned to their beds, while we were asleep the entire time. So our boat captain had no sleep last night, and therefore could not take us out fishing. THANK GOD THERE WAS NO TSUNAMI!!! It is frightening to think what COULD have happened. But after brooding over our stupidity all day, I finally came to the conclusion that the chances of another tsunami hitting Ko Phi Phi just 3 months after the last one are about a million to one, and that those who ran to the mountains were scared with images of the last tsunami just too fresh in their minds...at least thinking all of this makes us feel a bit better. And we've had plenty of drunks knocking on our doors before, but no one has ever knocked on our door to warn us about a tsunami; therefore, we jumped at the most familiar, logical conclusion, right??? And we found out later throughout the day that we were not the only ones who did not flee to the mountain. Ignorance is never lonely.

Anyway, bummed out about not going fishing but happy to be alive with all of the others on the island, we spent the morning and into the afternoon helping out by shovelling rubble (we volunteered with a group called 'Hi Phi Phi'). There is so much to be done on the island, that it's hard to know where to start. But they desperately need to get their drainage ditches in and finish their sewer lines before the rainy season starts. So, we helped to move a pile of rubble about a metre back off of the main road (all of the roads on the islands are really paths--there are no cars and only just a few motorbikes)so that a fence could be put up to block it off and we could uncover the old drainage ditch for repairs. The 'pile' of rubble was about 10 metres long and stretched about 30 metres back down to the water. It was very sad looking at all of the stuff, especially the clothes. And it was really hard work too, especially considering it was about 38C out. But it was so satisfying to help out with something that actually makes a difference in this world.

We quit when it just got too hot to bear (along with almost everyone else) and spent a bit cooling off in the ocean. We then wandered around the island looking for somewhere else to donate our labour to, but surprisingly everyone seemed to have enough help. This made us feel really good, knowing that with everyone pitching in just a little bit, things are getting accomplished. There is no lack of labour, just a lack of supplies. We returned to our bungalow for a much-needed nap, had a dip in the pool and ocean (neither of which were cool & refreshing, but felt good anyway), and then some drinks on the beach. After dinner at Hippies (we ate every meal at either Hippies or from a sandwich/pancake stall near our hotel), and then treated ourselves to a massage. It did not take long to fall asleep once we were in bed.