Expedition Robinson completed…including sand flees

Sometimes I think that I was actually born blond. Standing in line to check-in for my flight to paradise: Krabi. After a while I realized that the guy behind the desk (of Thai Airways) was wearing another suit than the other attendants of Thai Airways. This could mean 2 things: either he was helping out the Thai Airways attendants because they were so busy or he was just using the desk of Thai Airways to check-in the people for his own airline. When it was finally my turn it appeared that it was the 2nd one and of course he couldn’t do my check-in. Ok, back in line now really at a Thai Airways desk including Thai Airways attendant (double checked it to make sure). After a waiting time of in total approximately one hour it was finally my turn. ‘Solly madam, this desk is only fol stand by guest. You can check-in ovel thele.’ One hour further and still not checked-in (good thing that I left home early). Off to my 3rd desk, arrived there, 30 seconds later, checked-in! One hour of waiting for nothing, that’s a good way to start a short holiday.
Upon arrival my driver was already waiting along with my fellow tour-mates, a group of young and English speaking Thai. A whole day of exploring sightseeing spots waiting for us. From hot springs to very blue pools to caves to giant trees (by the way the biggest tree wasn’t there anymore. Why? See the pictures) and to sea shell fossils. This all with a whole day of sun (very rare in the rainy season), thus very very hot and humid.
One of the first things that caught my eye when driving from the airport to the first beautiful spot were the forests, some of them are Almere-forests! I think this needs some explanation. A number of years ago I had to move with my parents to Almere. Almere is a city in Holland which is build on new land. This means that the whole city is carefully planned, including the forests. Every tree stands in a straight line and the distance between every tree is exactly one metre, not a centimetre more or less. The Almere-forests are significant for the rest of the city, right… boring!! So my first observations of Krabi were a little bit worrying.
My worries disappeared soon, Krabi appeared to be beautiful.
Next day: Island hopping. From one beautiful island to another. White beaches, blue seas, green forests and rainbow fishes.
After a tiring day I decided to have a meal in the restaurant of the hotel. I received a free meal coupon anyways. There was nobody in the restaurant since it is low season. I was in the middle of a chit-chat with the waitress when the GM walked in. He suddenly said: jij bent Nederlandse he (you are Dutch right)? My first thought was like oh no, why do you always find those Dutch people in the weirdest places? After talking for a while it appeared that he was also a graduate of Hospitality Management at the CHN-university so we had dinner together. Heard a lot of gossips about the golden oldies at CHN. A proof that the world is actually a small place.
My last 1,5 day I spend with shopping, swimming and laying on the beach (sometimes with my umbrella since 2 days of only sun were to good to be true during the rainy season).
It is a strange thought though that in this area the Tsunami stroke not that long ago. There are no traces to be seen, apart from some warning signs. It gave me a kind of a double feeling.