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IMAGE: PHENSRI RUTLEDGE
contributes to help the local community as most of the benefits go to victims. The Ban Nam Khem Tsunami Memorial Centre is further north near the coast in an area that suffered very badly. Unfortunately, this doesn’t appear to be well managed and some visitors are quite disappointed in the faded photographs and cracking concrete.
Old Takua Town POLICE BOAT MEMORIAL Nothing brings home the power of the 2004 tsunami better for me than seeing Police Boat 813 that was swept 2 kilometres inland and is still sitting on site, now as a memorial. This boat and another that sunk killing all on board was anchored about a kilometre out at sea as a protection to members of the Royal Family who were holidaying in Khao Lak at the time. Adjacent is a two-storey International Tsunami Museum created by an American university in association with the local authority. A visit here helps to put things in perspective and your entrance fee and anything you buy
ACCOMMODATION We stayed for several nights in the excellent Khao Lak Laguna Resort which fronts the Andaman Sea. The resort has villas and extremely large well-furnished rooms which are set in delightful gardens. There are several restaurants, a spa with excellent service, two beachfront swimming pools, gym, sports facilities and a lounge with evening entertainment. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there and we expect that the same could be said for several other resorts in the same general area. There is some budget accommodation in Khao Lak but this tends to be away from the beach. GETTING TO KHAO LAK There are buses and vans from Phuket International Airport. It takes about 45 minutes to reach the main part of Khao Lak. There are also buses travelling the long route 4 from Bangkok. Feature supplied by: wtfmedia.com.au
turned to find the alpha male gorilla standing less than two metres away, the armed ranger was hiding behind me! It certainly set my pulse racing. I froze and avoided eye contact. For what seemed like an age we stood like that, but this obviously satisfied him and he slowly strode off. You are strictly limited to one hour with these magnificent animals – an hour is certainly not enough, but it is a priceless experience and it is an hour that you will have etched in your memory forever. For more information visit journeysworldwide.com.au
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“Gorilla” – apparently the first time the word was recorded was circa 500BC by a Carthaginian explorer whilst on an expedition along the west African coast. The name was derived from Ancient Greek Γόριλλαι, meaning ‘tribe of hairy women’. I contemplate this as I have sat amongst a family of these huge, impressive, awe-inspiring and yet nurturing, compassionate and gentle great apes. We had set out into the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, hiking through the low clouds and immediately the scene was set for “Gorillas in the mist”. Several hours later we sat with the troop as they casually went about their daily business, almost oblivious to us only metres from them at times. A youngster descended from a tree right next to us – we had been totally unaware he was even above us – then ran across and lay in a huddle with his mother and two other troop members. But it hadn’t started out so calmly. We had been hiking about three hours and were aware the troop were very, very close. The porters were instructed to stay behind, whilst the tourists moved forward. I was at the back of the group, only an armed ranger behind me. I was concentrating on something and felt the ranger push and move very quickly. I
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34 YOUR TIME MAGAZINE / July 2019
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