PARADISE
It is just a glance at a photo in a magazine, that’s all it
takes for a memory to be born.
Ginny has been spending time in Bangkok at the Thai House
Cooking School, sitting on cement, grinding green paste, yellow paste and red
paste that will transform dishes into authentic Thai cuisine. Chopping up
vegetables, and learning to cut carrots into flowers and immersing herself in local
Thai culture, she feels that it is now time for a rest.
It is not on her list of places to go, but a singular vision
from a magazine in a dentist’s room floods her mind. Her imagination calls her
to seek out the limestone islands that lie in the Andaman Sea, off the west coast
of Thailand. To see the unique beauty of the Phi Phi islands and capture
something of their essence in paint is a worthwhile quest.
Travelling by longboat through crystal waters, she arrives at
a white sandy beach surrounded by verdant jungle palms. Locating a teak bungalow high on a hill she
moves into heaven. Her gaze slips over the deck to where this alluring sea lies,
like ultramarine silk, outside her door. So serene, so soft, so deadly is this
water.
Last night at dinner her host told her of the tsunami that swept
over his beloved island one year ago and had taken over four thousand lives. He
spent three nights in the mountains watching the sea swirl and recede, leaving
havoc in its wake. The islands have been off limits to people whilst all damage
removed. Her host smiles and welcomes her as one of the first tourists allowed
back to his piece of paradise.
‘Beauty has a price
and so it goes with paradise, one person’s heaven can be a hell and hell can be
a heaven. It’s all a question of balance’, he explains. ‘Gaze at this vista and
remember to respect its terrifying beauty.’
