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Dec 28, 04
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(First Hand Account from South East Asia)
I was worried about my friend from high school Leah, who's on a co-op placement in Sri Lanka for her international relations program at U of T, when I heard about the disaster. I called her parents in Ladner to find out if she was ok, because she told me that she'd be travelling to India with a friend during her Christmas break.
I just received an email from her this morning. {this is diva posting from cubed's account, since i still can't post under mine} Hi Everyone, Finally I am in a place where I have time to send an email and provide further details. The last few days have been quite crazy and Jess and I are only now able to take some time and recollect ourselves. Not sure if you’re all aware but I am currently in India, not Sri Lanka. Jess came to visit me for Christmas break and after spending two weeks in Sri Lanka we took a flight from Colombo to Chennai in Tamil Nadu (South India). Once in Chennai we had planned to quickly catch a train to Kerala on the West Coast of India. However, trains are quite busy this time of year so we were required to wait until the 27th to go. We booked the train and decided to head South to a coastal town call Mahabalipuram to spend a couple days before heading back to Chennai to catch our train to Kerala. We were in Mahabalipuram when the tidal wave hit. We had just ordered breakfast at a place one road in from the beach, which is quite a lucky location because it meant there was a two-storey beachfront hotel across the street which blocked the force of the wave such that it did not hit the restaurant we were in. When the wave hit there was absolute chaos, as it had wiped out everything on the beach front…local’s houses, stalls, restaurants, hotels and guest houses. It took a while to figure out what had happened. Vehicles were racing down the small roads blaring their horns, shop keepers were closing their stores and pulling down the metal gates, people were running everywhere, shouting and crying. It was really scary. Jess and I didn’t know what to do. Also fortunate for us was that we had chosen to stay in a guesthouse that wasn’t on the beach front and instead were about 100m in from the beach. We were both pretty sure all our stuff would be gone by the time we got back to the guesthouse though, as everyone else seemed so panicked, but it turned out the water hadn’t made it that far. We scrambled around packing our stuff because on our walk/run back to the guesthouse we had seen that the main road was crammed with cars and people headed out of town and we wanted to get out as well. Someone had said the situation may turn quite nasty as many people had lost their entire livelihoods and many had also lost loved ones, plust there was a chance another wave may hit. When we got out on to the road though there were no buses and those that were on the road were absolutely crammed. We fortunately ran into three other backpackers (later found out two were from Canada while the other was from England) who were headed out of town. One of the Canadians had been trapped in his room when the wave had struck, he was staying right on the beach and was only able to get out of his room because the door broke down after the water had risen to a certain height. He was quite shaken, I think maybe in shock actually, he had no shoes and was just in boxers having lost all his stuff, luckily i had some extra flip flops to give. The English guy had also lost all his stuff but had managed to grab his small backpack with his passport inside. After trying to find a vehicle we could share we realized we would have to walk out of town on the main road and hopefully catch a passing bus further out. There were literally thousands of people on the road, all with bundles and bags of things they had managed to throw together. I saw a woman carrying picture albums, which was really sad. There were a lot of really upset people. We still didn’t really know what had happened, just that the ocean had risen, although we had heard a rumour there was an earthquake in Chennai. We walked for about an hour and a half under hot, hot sun and I was really wondering what the heck we were going to do, I felt like i was in the middle of nowhere. After trying to squeeze on to a number of buses we found a taxi driver that was willing to take us to another small town about 2 hours inland from Chennai called Kanchipuram. I was so relieved, but felt extremely bad zooming past all the families and other travellers, but there was only enough room for five people. Even after driving for about an hour there were still people lining the sides of the road. I don’t think there were that many people living in Mahabalipuram but i guess because the entire coast was affected people were coming from other nearby towns as well. When we arrived in Kanchipuram Jess and I found a guesthouse then ran around trying to get in contact with our parents and others and trying to find out what exactly had happened. In the process I found out how badly Sri Lanka had been hit and was really concerned about my roomate, Aneesa, as she had been in the tourist areas of the South at a beach when the wave hit. There were a number of tense hours but I finally recieved an email from my project director saying she had contacted him and was taking cover in a nearby temple. I still haven’t heard from her but it’s good to know she is okay. We also realized that there was no way we could go back to Chennai to catch our train to Kerala so we cancelled our tickets and decided to head to a temple area (very far inland) called Hampi, which is where we are now. Yesterday we travelled for more than 20 hours straight. First on two local buses…real India experience…and then on a private super-delux bus, which wasn’t so super or delux. But finally we’re here. Arriving at 5am we found a guesthouse and crashed until noon. We’re both really drained at the moment but it seems like a nice place and we’ll probably stay a number of days, maybe even for new years. At the moment we’re unsure if we can fly back to Sri Lanka. Our flight is supposed to go from Chennai to Colombo in just over a week, both very badly hit areas, so who knows when airports will be open again. I may be stranded here a while. I wonder what Sri Lanka will be like when I get back. We had plans to get to Kerala so we would like to head there, however it was hit by the tidal wave as well, although not as badly, but we’re unsure if we’ll be able to go. So until we sort things out we’re in Hampi. I was feeling pretty anxious about coming to India before we arrived since i had heard a lot about how it was difficult to travel and quite an intense place (even when there wasn’t a natural disaster). But even though there’s been an earthquake and some difficult travel situations I still really like it here. We have met some amazing people, very helpful and friendly, and seen some beautiful sights. Hard to believe we have only been here 5 days since so much has happened. It was very draining seeing the reaction of people after the tidal wave. It’s such a terrible thing to happen, I can’t imagine how those affected are coping, some people lost everything. And it’s not just the number of people dead, for every person who died there’s an entire network of people affected, left to deal with the grief of losing someone, it’s just so horrible. Very emmotional seeing all the families walking out of town with their bundles and the panicked faces of those that couldn’t find their friends and family. I feel very fortunate that we weren’t staying on the beach, also that we chose to eat in a restaurant off the shore, things could have turned out very different I’m afraid. Actually, we had planned to eat in a restaurant that was on the beachfront which we had found in the Lonely Planet that morning, but even with the map in the book we were unable to find it and settled on this other place instead…very, very fortunate. I’m not sure the experience has fully set in for me yet, I still feel very removed/detached and in disbelief that it even happened. Maybe now that I have some time to slow down and think it will become more real, although I’m not sure I want it to. But I’m doing fine. I’ve received word that everyone I work with in Sri Lanka is accounted for and safe. Thank you so much for all your concerned emails and interest in my situation, hope this email finds you well. Take care, diva from cubed's account 
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Dec 28, 04
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wow, so long but so worth it:( i feel bad for her
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Dec 28, 04
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wow. i cant even begin to imagine how everyone that has been affected by this is dealing with it. glad to hear you're alright!
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Dec 28, 04
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i think a lot of people are going to be missing with the death count now at 44,000
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Jan 02, 05
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The whole Tsunami situation is quite depressing and tragic. I've been to many places in South East Asia. I was told that a place in Malaysia I visited was affected quite roughly..
I hope lots of you are considering those people who are suffering and perhaps contribute a donation of any amount.
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Jan 02, 05
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Shit,,, I don't know what to say... fuck I'm glad at lest they are ok.
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Jan 02, 05
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Wow, that's crazy, your friend is very lucky to be alive, good thing she didn't find the restaurant that she originally planned to go to.
My sister's friend's older sister was in Thailand when the Tsunami hit, luckily she was snorkling under water when the tidal wave hit, so she just got pulled under water and further out into the ocean. Once she realized what had happened, she had to swim through all the bodies in the water to get to shore. When she told me this story she was just shaking and was crying the whole time. It was such a amazing story and I couldn't beleive that I was actually talking to a actual survivor in person. It was so intense and emotional, I just hugged her and told her that everything is okay now, but she couldn't stop crying, I can't even explain how I felt at that moment. Its even hard to type thinking about that, everytime I think about it I just start to feel so strange. I'm just glad that the international community is helping with everything. I think there has been more than $2 billion donated, along with troops, clothing, water, medecine, food and doctors. I think every country is doing their part with helping the situation. Its just sad to see just how much our news is censored and how some things are not told or are twisted around, most to make the U.S. look good. I dunno I was watching and reading news articles/clips from other european countries and they helped out so much, but CNN isn't really saying that and that is so messed up. I'm happy that everyone is helping, but its not just a few countries that are helping, its actually every single country, but they don't say that on the news.
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