Thailand, Kho Phi Phi island, Sunday, 26th december
10:00 am: After a morning dive Ann and Bob relax in a bay between two hills. Behind them dozens of bungalows, concrete frames with wood cladding and corrugated metal roofs. Up to 10 m high palmtrees are lining the beach. Curiously, the sea is receding a few hundred meters, people are running to the beach to watch the phenomenon, Ann tries to set her camera on video function. Suddenly the water reverses course, an ugly mix of sand and water comes rolling back. When it reaches a protruding corner of the bay a huge wave builds up and shoots over the trees. Bob screams: "We let's get away!". They dash behind the nearest bungalow, hold on to palm trunks, before they have time for a deep breath a dark, howling mass descends upon them, the bungalow starts moving towards them, desintegrates into dangerous debris, they let go. In liquid darkness they are twisted and thrown around, in their shock they hardly feel the countless bruises they receive. This is the end, they think, Ann tries to open her mouth to end the agony - in vain. At the peak of the wave, maybe after 50 seconds, they reach the surface, catch some air, but are immediately pulled back by the receding wave. Bob looses his shorts, is completely naked. Again they are sure to perish, more hits and bruises, then they find themselves about 200 m inland among the debris of their vacation paradise. But already the second wave approaches, they can see it, Ann has kept her contact lenses, Bob has his little rucksack on his back - a great protection. Both are far apart, Bob climbs a palmtree, below him are the remains of a kiosk. While Ann is swept away by the second wave, Bob raises his legs while the kiosk smashes against the tree. He falls back down into a chaos of rubble and dead bodies. Immediately he looks for Ann, shouts her name - no answer. He climbs through smashed bungalows uphill, finds a pair of shorts ans slippers, also some medication in a bathroom. On top of the hill - called View Point, about 150 people have gathered, tourists and Thais. Many are unharmed, they were reached by the waves. They start a fantastic rescue operation, seach for people, find tools and prepare stretchers, tear up bed sheets for bandages, hold the hands of dying people.
Ann has a similar fate. She lands about 150 m away from Bob and climbs up through shrubbery to a neighboring hill with about 50 survivors.They are a few hundred meters apart - to far to hear their calls. Bob get the cellular of a German and calls home. In Austria it is 7 in the morning, Boxing Day. He registers on the answering machine: "I am o.k, have lost everything, Ann is gone". Fortunately, due to a misplaced receiver, this message reaches Ann's parents with a delay of two hours. They must assume that her daughter has perished.
Bob searches Ann in spite of a deep cut in one foot, he looks at corpses, hands or legs protruding from debris, could it be Ann? Exhausted he stops his efforts. In the meanwhile, at about 10 hours European time, Ann is able to send an SMS to a friend in Munich whose phone number she happens to remember: "Been caught by the waves, am ok, have lost everything, please notify my parents, phone ...". Thus both parents know about the survival of their children.
Evacuation starts not before Monday, the 27th, since further waves were anticipated. They spend a long night under the stars and a full moon, among injured and dying people. The people untouched by the flood support them with all their means. Then Thai military helicopters arrive and transfer the injured to hospitals. Bob and Ann reach independently the hospital in Krabi. Ann is lucky to be treated by a competent doctor: sowing up slashes with an anestesia, cleaning of many bruises. Bob has a tougher time. Having been brought in later he is treated by nurses, they sow his wound without painkiller, nearly amputate a toe - he suffers terrible pain. At this point an old friend from Vienna discovers him, he lends him his cellular, gives him monry. Also Ann can call home and from there they learns independently that both of them are ok and in the same hospital. Finally they find each other, after 24 hours of agony.
During all those hours their parents called "hotlines" in vain, always occupied, endless waiting loops. Any number of contacts were tried to arrange for a return flight. Ann and Bob must procede to Phuket, one hour away, where there is an airport and an Austrian consul who can issue papers. Both are dressed in clothes donated by locals, the Thais are wonderfully helpful and well organized. By jeep taxi they get to the airport, Ann starts running a fever. The consul is far away in his office, beleagured by survivors. A scheduled Austrian Airlines plane is being boarded by passengers with tickets, those people who haven't lost anything. Now sign of a rescue plane from Vienna, announced in the media. Some connection home via Bangkok is being promised within 36 hours ...
Ann has 40° fever, Bob is stuck at the consul's, when Ann hears somebody talk Austrian - a smart captain speaks into a phone searching passengers, mentions immediate departure. She signals him feebly and asks: "Are you flying to Vienna?". He nods and she pleading: "Do you have room for two?". He frowns, calls his assistant nurse, they study their papers, "well yes, we should be able to manage, but we shall depart immediately. Where is your partner? ... at consul Ferner? I got to call him anyway!". Bob is called back without papers, they procede to departure in a cloud of bliss, at check-in: 800 Bhat airport tax. They beg the captain to help out. "What? Airport tax? This is a private flight, all charges paid!". Similarly they pass passport and boarding control, the shapely captain looks down on the Thai official: "Any problem? This is a rescue flight!", and everything is settled.
They are perfectly accommodated in the private ambulance jet with nine stretchers, there is a steak dinner. The flight takes 12 hours, with fueling stop in Dubai. After midnight they reach Vienna, are picked up by ambulances and taken to the General Hospital - five minutes walk from Ann's parents. During the day it even can be arranged that they share one room, in the afternoon the have the media-studded visit of the Austrian president. The full-scale check-ups don't reveal any hidden injuries, they ask for Wiener Schnitzel with potato salad...
For New Year's they shall be home!