|
Ko Pu and Ko Jum are all about their
beaches. Some of the nicest and quietest stretches of sand can be found on
this little island, and while the damage from the tsunami was substantial
the clean-up is well under way.
The biggest problem is the coral that got
washed up on the beaches all the way down the coast. North Beach (Billee,
King Cabana, Ko Pu Valley, Luboa Hut) seemed to have gotten the worst of
it, but every beach sustained some damage. Besides the coral, the jungle
and underbrush where the beach meets the land was uprooted and is a f'ed
up, tangled mess in some places. Ting Rai Bay and North Beach got it worst
and the erosion of the land in Ting Rai, where thousands of tons of
orange/red soil from the headlands between the beaches was pulverized and
thrown out into the bay. The seawater in front of Ting Rai Resort/Oonlee
Bungalows was muddy for a full month after the waves, but had cleared out
nicely when I left Ko Pu in March.
There was garbage, splintered trees,
glass and plastic bottles everywhere. Much of that has been cleaned up in
front of the bungalows, but the absentee owners with empty lots haven't
done much to clear their parts of the beach yet, so it's still a huge mess
in spots.
The really bad news is that the cliffs
and rock formations (which took thousands of years to create) along the
sea at the headlands was simply obliterated. See my
Ting Rai Bay page for more on this
catastrophe.
At any rate, here's what I saw.
Got pictures of the tsunami damage on
KoJum/Ko Pu? I'll include them here if you
email them to me.
Click pic for larger view.
|
