What Anna Did

Yummy thai food Part I

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:41:58 -0500

Yummy thai food Part I

Floating Cabins, Sri Lanna National Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:39:01 -0500

Floating Cabins, Sri Lanna National Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Video

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 10:30:13 -0500

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Cooking Class, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 06:45:12 -0500

Cooking Class, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Hot Air Balloon Festival, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 06:38:08 -0500

Hot Air Balloon Festival, Chiang Mai, Thailand

The White Temple, Chiang Rai, Thailand

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 06:21:12 -0500

The White Temple, Chiang Rai, Thailand

Chiang Rai, Thailand

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 05:18:08 -0500

Chiang Rai, Thailand

Video

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 04:02:09 -0500

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The amazing Floating Lantern Ceremony for Yeepeng at Sansai in...

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 03:00:00 -0500

The amazing Floating Lantern Ceremony for Yeepeng at Sansai in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 03:08:22 -0400

Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep is a beautiful Buddhist temple (Wat means temple) on Doi Suthep mountain in Chiang Mai.

Pai, Thailand

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 00:36:54 -0400

Video

Sun, 09 Oct 2011 11:58:26 -0400

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Jungle Flight, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Sun, 09 Oct 2011 11:16:13 -0400

‘Jungle Flight’ is a series of tree top ziplines set in the jungle near Chiang Mai and we had a fun/scary morning there. There was a troop of us as my friend Lauren was visiting aswell as our other friends Euan, Glen and Cathal.

Pulau Weh, Sumatra, Indonesia

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 13:08:43 -0400

Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 12:59:24 -0400

Slight diversion from the usual post format, but in this case the words are more important than the pictures.

Banda Aceh is a small city on the Northern tip of Sumatra. Its the capital city in the province of Aceh and was hit really badly in the 2004 boxing day tsunami as it was the nearest town to the epicentre of the earthquake which preceded the tsunami. Around 167,000 people died and 500,000 were left homeless.

During our visit we met a lovely local called Pidos, who took us round Banda Aceh to show us the things to do with the tsunami. He lost 14 family members in the disaster and we felt very grateful and moved that he wanted to show us the around and tell us about the tsunami, despite the loss he had suffered.

Most of the town was destroyed when the tsunami hit - first was the earthquake which caused considerable damage, then followed the tsunami with waters flowing 7km inland, completely wiping out most buidlings. Nowadays there is little evidence of the destruction that the tsunami caused when you look at the fully rebuilt town. Huge efforts and amounts of aid from UN countires helped rebuild the city in the years that followed the disaster.

The first signs of the tragedy were pointed out to us by Pidos when we drove past one of the 4 mass graves found in the city, it held 46,000 unidentified bodies. Thinking about this number of people right there in front of me that had lost there lives really brought home to me the enormity of the event and was deeply saddening.

The significance of the tragedy that happened along with the memories of the many many victims is preserved in the Tsunami Museum, a beatifully designed building. The museum is informative, with very poignant memorial spaces.

PIdos also took us to see a 2600 ton ship that had been washed 5km inland by the wave. You really get a sense of the force the water had as the boat is absolutely enormous and there are still signs of the houses it crushed on its way in underneath. The boat still sits in the exact same location that it stopped moving and it feels completely surreal to see it amongst all the rebuilt hoses and streets, so far a way from the sea.

One of the saddest points of the visit was seeing a memorial park next to the boat. In the park there is a wall covered in photos of the aftermath of the disaster, showing many of the dead victims. Seeing image of body after body after body was very upsetting - you feel a sense of detachment when you are watching reports of an event like this back home on the news, safe in your house thousands of miles away, but nothing brings it closer than seeing hundreds of pictures of the dead while standing in the town the tragedy happened in.

I will never forget my visit to Banda Aceh and I’m grateful I was able to pay my respects to the people who lost their lives. If you will be in the area at any point and require a guide or driver, I highly recommend you contact Pidos (061) 082161253231 - he speaks excellent English and is the most lovely man.

This is the entrance corridor into the Tsunami Museum. It was almost pitch black, with water falling down the walls splashing you as you walk into the museum. It was very thoughtfully designed as walking down you instantly begin to think about the tsunami and it’s effects.

Model of Banda Aceh before and after the tsunami.

Model that shows how the Mosque was one of the only buildings still standing after the tsunami hit.

The museum.

The 2600 ton ship that was washed 5km inland.

Ketambe, Sumatra, Indonesia (Part 3)

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 12:37:37 -0400

Ketambe, Sumatra, Indonesia (Part 2)

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 12:22:00 -0400

Ketambe, Sumatra, Indonesia (Part 1)

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 12:14:49 -0400

Mum and Dad came out to visit us to experience ‘backpacking’ and we had a great 3 night stay at Cinta Alam guesthouse, with 2 days of jungle trekking with the excellent Abu as our guide. Ketambe is an area on the edge of the beautiful Gunung Leuser National Park in the Aceh province. While trekking in the rainforest we were lucky to see lots of amazing wildlife including 6 orangutans, a viper, Thomas Leaf monkeys, a flying gekko, an owl, loads of hornbills, giant and mouse squirrels and lots of cool insects and plants. Amazing!

Melaka, Malaysia

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 11:55:51 -0400

Georgetown in Penang, Malaysia (Part 3)

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 11:38:51 -0400