When I arrived in Banda Aceh I wondered if people would be receptive to discussing the tsunami. I needn’t have worried as my taxi guide started telling me his experience as soon as we left the airport.

He was at the airport when the tsunami struck, which is miles inland and high enough above sea level. He lived with his family on the coast, so they never had a chance of survival. Their bodies may have been washed out to sea, or inland. Most survivors would never find out the fate of their loved ones as the dead were quickly buried in one of the mass graves around the city (the biggest of which has over 40,000 bodies).

As he told his tsunami story I thought how could you ever get over such a disaster. I was glad I left my sunglasses on while he was recounting his story.

The Tsunami haunts this city. Banda Aceh was the closest big city to the epicentre of the Indian Ocean earthquake that set off the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004. With 167,000 people dead or missing, everyone has a tsunami tale to tell.

For a city that had 60% of its buildings destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami there is little evidence that would hint of the devastation. Driving into the centre of town I was shown where the water reached and where the new parts of town begin. I would not have known otherwise.

Around the city there are a number of tsunami monuments that can be found without a guide.

Aceh Tsunami Museum

The Aceh Tsunami Museum is designed to resemble a tidal wave from above. It also serves a functional purpose as a tsunami shelter should the city be so misfortunate again.

Upon entry to the museum you walk through a darkened hallway along a gangway. The high walls have water washing down the sides and the hallway is so narrow you can feel the spray, while dripping water echoes below. It’s unnerving.

In the museum there are photo galleries of the destruction of the city as well mangled up items salvaged from debris.

There are video rooms and geological interactive displays explaining the nature of earthquakes, volcanos, and tsunamis.

Banda Aceh Padang (main field)

Across the road from the museum is the padang (field) which has a very literal tsunami monument.

Tiles around the monument highlight the chilling statistics.

Around the field there are monuments dedicated to every country that provided aid to the city.

Tsunami Boat

The fishing boat that rested on a house has become an iconic image of the tsunami in Banda Aceh. 59 people rode this boat to safety until it eventually lodged on top of a residential home. And as if the earthquake and tsunami wasn’t enough drama, they were stuck in the boat while crocodiles were swimming in the surrounding water.

Floating Electric Generator Ship

This electricity barge was washed 5km inland to its final resting place in the suburbs of Banda Aceh. You can climb to the top of the ship and see the coast in the distance.

Grand Mosque

The Grand Mosque is most famous landmark in Aceh. It was the only building left standing after the great wave receded.

I have been self employed for close to 10 years now, but there have been occasions that I have taken up the odd day job. There was that time in Mumbai where I was a Bollywood voice over extra. Recently in Melbourne I got back on the factory floor for a day to help pack boxes for a friends business, and in December 2010 I was an extra for a big budget disaster film in Thailand.

I was in Bangkok when got an email about a film that was needing western extras. The film, The Impossible, is about the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami starring Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts. The scene they needed extras for was being filmed in Surat Thani, in southern Thailand. The days pay would barely cover my flight but I wasn’t doing it for the money, I just wanted to experience a day on the set of a big budget film. So I got a flight Surat Thani and arrived at the hotel where the rest of the extras were being put up for the night.

The work day began with us being picked up at 4.30am to be taken to Surat Thani airport, which is where the filming would be for the day. Once we were at the airport we began what most extras do on set. Wait.

[Early morning start on set for The Impossible in Surat Thani.]

By mid morning the production team had worked out what each group of extras were doing. I was then sent outside to begin a new round of waiting in the hot morning sun. I didn’t know many details about the film other than it was starring Obi-Wan Kenobi. Once we were outside we got to see the film set for the first time, and the reality of what the film was about kicked in. This is going to be a heavy film.

[Dummy bloated corpses on the set of The Impossible]

The set had taken over the whole airport, which was closed to flights for the day. The airport was transformed into a post-tsunami command centre with dummy bodies, makeshift morgues, missing persons noticeboards, and a temporary office.

I ended up in two scenes. One at a desk in front of a computer (not much acting required there) doing an admin job. A change of costume later and I was now in a scene coming off a bus from a recently landed flight from Europe, looking for a loved one.

[Missing after tsunami]

The Impossible

Two years after that day of filming, The Impossible has now been released. I had almost forgotten about it until I saw a recent preview so I was eager to see the final result, and to see if I had made the cut.

The Impossible is based on the true story of a Spanish family of five (anglicized in the film) who survived the catastrophe. The film begins on December 24 with the family flying to Phuket for their holiday on Khao Lak. Everyone knows the story of the tsunami, so you know there is two days before the tsunami hits. Watching these two days of holiday normalcy is almost unbearable knowing what is about to happen.

Then there is the tsunami scene. The special effects of tsunami is unbelievably realistic, as you can see on this preview:

YouTube: Trailer : The Impossible

The films narrative is based on this families story of survival in the two days after the tsunami. Some reviews have been critical of not portraying local stories, and the thought crossed my mind while watching the film as well. However this film is one story out of millions that could have been told, and it is not meant to be a broad sweeping documentary. And their survival story is truly staggering, and according to one tsunami survivor it is realistically depicted.

As for my scene I didn’t make the final cut. While it was a worthwhile experience to see movie making behind the scenes, being an extra is not something I would rush to do again.