July 10th, 2016
Monday July 11th-off to Krabi (Railay)
Our day begins bright and early to say the least, the alarm set for 5am 😩. We have to catch an 8am flight to Bangkok where we will meet up with our friend Kim and carry on to a flight to Krabi. Everything goes smoothly, and we arrive on schedule. Kim’s flight from America, not so on time. So we explore our options…can I get our flights to Krabi set to the next flight? I have a discussion with AirAsia customer service desk….hmmmm….can’t rebook flights (for 1000 baht) until we’ve already missed our flights, what is the drop dead time for check in? Apparently it is 1:40pm for our 2:25 flight. So we decide that I will take our checked bag and go ahead on the flight and that Troy will stay and meet Kim from her shuttle and catch the next flight. When I went to check in and am trying to make a case for a later check in for Troy and Kim, the check in agent tells me to check her in at the kiosk myself, and print her bag tag then if her shuttle from Suvarnabhumi airport (we are at Don Muang) gets in by 2pm, her and Troy can quickly drop her bag at checked bag drop and run like mad for the gate. <fingers crossed at security>. Wondering what this says about security measures in Asian airports??? not complaining, just wondering….
Kim was on the 1pm shuttle from Suvarnabhumi, and it is usually a 60 min max shuttle ride. So maybe this will work! We print their boarding passes and Kim’s bag tag, and I’m off to security and troy goes to where we believe Kim’s shuttle will drop her. I time it and it is 3 minutes from completed security to the gate, so I’m feeling optimistic. We are texting Kim and realize how difficult it is for someone who has never been here to have ANY idea how “close to the airport” she is, when she has no idea where she is. Hahahahahahaha
We get the text that her shuttle has landed and I’m watching the the conversation between the two of them appear on the group message we have set up. They are NOT in the same place…..
When the messages stop…. I know they have found each other, and then I’m watching for them to appear. Troy texts when they clear security and I start the count down.3 minutes right….
The plane is boarding, it’s children and the elderly, I’m holding back, general boarding starts, I’m holding back, it’s final call, I’m holding back…..then I really have to go…so the begging starts…I plead with the gate agent-“please can we wait, my husband and sister are coming, they are running” & “please can we wait”. All the whole thinking, on no planet will they believe Kim is my sister-she is the fairest blonde on the planet-but I just thought it made a better sob story. Then it was a scene like out of one of those movies, where there is that music playing and it’s slow motion, camera panning across a crowded airport. I see Troy’s blue shirt and Kim right behind him. He has his baggage and Kim’s checked bag and she has her carry on and they are BOOKING it! And I just kept saying thank you thank you to the gate agent. We are laughing and troy and Kim are sweating and panting, it was quite a scene, thankfully it was just us and the gate agents left at this point,-nothing to see here folks-no show. Hahahahahahaha I can’t even believe it! They made it……
So we get on the shuttle to the airplane that was waiting for us out on the Tarmac. And we were off, Kim in hand 😃😃
The ride to Krabi was uneventful-thankfully-after all that excitement! We arrive in Krabi and perfect timing, caught the shuttle to the pier where we will catch the long tail boat to Railay. 150b per person accomplishes this, then the long tail to Railay is 100b. Everything is lining up perfectly, no waiting at any of these junctures. This is good for Kim, because she is exhausted, running on fumes as she has been up for about 36 hours at this point. I Met a very nice young travelled from France on the shuttle that I had a very nice conversation with, so that passed the time for me.
The long tail ride was awesome, welcome to Krabi!!!!! Didn’t get tooooo wet 😉in spite of being in the splash zone. That’s what happens when you are the last three passengers to load up, you are at the front…..Troy took the worst of it being at the very front of the boat 😳
Checked into the Avatar Railay. It’s an awesome boutique resort right in the beach of east Railay. There has been so much development since we were here 7 years ago with the kids. We did not stay on Railay, but came over as a day trip. For those details, you’d have to refer to that blog entry from 2009. Regardless, we live the hotel, it’s new, clean and very nicely done, gorgeous pool and very friendly staff. I think we will be very happy here.
We had supper at the hotel as the skies decided to open up right as we arrived. This is fine as we are all tired and will be happy to leave the exploring until tomorrow!
TTFN
