Hua Hin: May 20th-22nd

This resort town is well known for being the place locals from Bangkok go to get away from the city and enjoy the beach. A three hour bus ride and 250km later we arrived in the center of Hua Hin. A stop at the tourist information center and we were off and pointed in the right direction to find reasonable accommodation. We checked a few guesthouses, some good and some bad, and then ran into a fellow American (Lindsay from Santa Cruz) who suggested the “funky” place she was staying at on the pier. Mode Guest House was definitely funky and then some. Literally located on the pier you could hear the waves crashing below your feet and out the window. For 200 baht ($6.25) a night we decided to go for it and make it our last ‘roughing it’ accommodation before splurging over the next three weeks when some of Ben’s family will join us on the road. A quick cold shower to cool us down and we were out the door to see the town. Lindsay joined us as we walked through the evening market that was set up in the heart of town. We picked up some of the usual - fresh fruit, small corn cakes, and soy milk. Seafood stands and restaurants were plentiful in the market, so we decided to go over budget and try some of the local catch. The first course was a standard favorite of Liya‘s, a hot pot of Tom Yum Kung (spicy soup). This particular version had fresh prawns and fish and probably wins the award for most spicy soup we’ve had. Course two was a big mixed plate of crab, clams, squid, and prawns all grilled on the open fire. Our favorites were the squid and clams while the dipping sauce that accompanied was full of aromatics and spice. A cold beer and Pepsi followed by fresh pineapple for desert and that was it. A fresh seafood dinner for two and less than $15 - did we mention we love Thailand? The remained of the evening was spent walking the night market. Lots of shopping, snacking here and there on some of our favorite foods or trying something new.

After a good sleep in we set out for our full day in Hua Hin. After some internet time catching up on email and calling family on Skype we headed to the beach for some sun. The walkway there was lined with vendors selling everything anyone needs to make it a great day on the sand. We bought a fresh coconut to make ours a cool one and continued on our way. To our surprise Thai men mounted on horseback awaited us with shouts on the beach. We weren’t in trouble, they just wanted to know if we were in the mood for some horseback riding. Liya said she was not about to get on a pony no taller than her, so we decided to use our own two feet. The tide was way out so heaps of beach was bare and all of the clam/mussel diggers were out to load up for that night‘s supper. Tiny sand crabs littered the beach with small balls of sand. Strange looking coiled piles of sand were all over the beach so we tried to come up with some educated guesses on what makes them and how. That resulted in us not feeling or sounding very educated…We sat under a balm tree and watched the world go by for awhile. We then carried on and walked with our feet in the water for about a mile. We made our way through construction site after construction site to the main road back into town. We stopped along the way and had brunch - pad thai for Liya and pad see eww for Ben, both were very good. Another great $3 meal! The walk back took us past a pasta factory, more construction sites and eventually to a big shopping mall. With A/C as the main attraction we walked in carrying a snack we picked up just outside. Fried bananas are a local favorite throughout Thailand and have become a favorite of Ben’s. This vendor had taro fries as well, so he couldn’t resist trying something new - 50 cent bag of goodies. The mall was big and beautiful with all of the big name brand retail shops. We looked at the list of movies playing at the theater and decided to wait for the new Indiana Jones film that opened the next day. Back outside in the hot weather we walked towards our guesthouse and decided to stop at the beach for a quick swim. The tide had come back in and Ben jumped in the warm water to do some laps. Liya stayed out and took some pictures as the sun began to set.

Showered up and refreshed we headed out for another evening in the night market. We scouted out some of the vendors that were popular choices among the locals during the previous evening, so our minds where made up on what to have for dinner that night. Stop one was at a stand where Ben has a bowl of jow (rice soup) with pork and tofu. He claims it is some of the best 20 baht (65 cents) he has spent in Thailand and was very very pleased with it. Liya has a bowl of noodle soup with chicken from a popular stand just next door - not too bad was the verdict. After some shopping only done with the eyes (no more room in the suitcases) we stopped at another stand where locals were eating the pad thai and chicken skewers with satay sauce. We had a plate of each and were pleased for the most part. If his stomach had the room for it, Ben said he would have gone back for more rice soup! More strolling and shopping took us past stands filled with: food, hats, colorful flowers hand made from soap, pirated DVDs and Cds, scarves and pashminas, more food, fresh fruit, counterfit wallets, sunglasses, and handbags. Just another night in the Thai life.

For a night cap we decided to splurge at the ubiquitous ice cream shop, Swensens. Wanting to order one of everything form the menu we finally chose ‘chocolate millionaire.’ Four scoops of ice cream, fresh banana, ice cream truffles, fresh whipped cream and hot fudge to dump on top. Wow! we were in heaven! It was a perfect way to end a great time spent in Hua Hin.

The following morning we made our way to the bus station for our 9:20am departure back to Bangkok. We grabbed some fresh pineapple from a vendor on the street and some cold water from good ol’ 7-11 (which, by the way, are located on every block in each Thai town we have visited - 60 cent Slurpees!).

It’s back to Bangkok, and this time around the special occasion is Ben’s brother, Nick, joining us from NYC!