Fellow traveler Fernando Milmo from Texas was relaxing on Palau Nias when the Tsunami hit. Palau Nias is an island less then 300 km from the earthquake's epicenter off the shore of Aceh in Sumatra, Indonesia, one of the areas hardest hit by the Tsunami. Before escaping the area unhurt, Fernando took these 20 sobering pictures of the tragedy, which he has posted along with a personal account of his experience on the website below. Click on the small pic to enlarge it.

http://www.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/5d633/#TL

http://www.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/5d6db/#TL

http://www.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/5d6dc/#TL

The world seems a bit surreal these days... The Tsunami has affected me more than any major disaster has ever done, and the pain, suffering and destruction of Asia lingers on my mind all day. Perhaps it is partly because I am planning a trip of my own, and suddenly my trip seems frivolous and selfish, an obscene squandering of resources by a spoilt privileged Western brat.

I have always known that there are better uses of my time and money than touring around the world, but that fact has really hit home during these last few days. My conscience is not applauding me at the moment.

My tickets are bought, however, and I will go ahead with my trip as scheduled. In considering my options for after I return, I am leaning more and more towards doing some long-term volunteering if my situation permits. I am single with no children, no financial commitments, no specific future plans and (I like to think) skills and experience that could be of use to help people somewhere in the world. I would also like to spend some time after my friend leaves in late April on further Spanish language courses and volunteering while deciding what to do next.

In the meantime, I have donated some of my travel funds to Doctors without Borders and encourage others to do the same!