Blogs from Hua Hin, Western Thailand, Thailand, Asia
March 10th 2012
To break the journey to Bangkok we had decided to stop overnight Surat Thani in order to catch the train to Thailand’s oldest beach resort: Hua Hin. Booking 2nd class train tickets, on the express train to Bangkok, on-line suddenly made train transport so much easier and worked a treat. The train ride was relatively comfortable and the free lunch and afternoon tea and cake were a pleasant surprise; maybe a lesson for British Rail!On arrival at Hua Hin Chris was pleasantly surprised to see a rather lovely looking 18 hole golf course, which had apparently been expanded from the original 9 hole golf course commissioned by Rama Vi in 1922. Hua Hin has a couple of claims to fame, which sets it apart from other Thai towns. The first is that the Thai royal family ... read more
Hua Hin Christmas and New Year
Published: January 7th 2012Asia » Thailand » Western Thailand » Hua Hin
January 7th 2012
The two hour boat journey over to Chumpon from Koa Tao was the roughest boat ride we’ve probably ever had. Fortunately we weren’t sick and managed to get onto the coach for our four hour trip up to Hua Hin. Once we arrived in Hua Hin, we dressed up our bags in tinsel and put our xmas hats on, before we got a tuk tuk to Kris’s house. When we arrived Kris was in the garden hosing down the driveway, and just laughed his head off when he saw us. It was so good to see a familiar face. Over the next couple of days we just chilled around Kris’s house with Ann Kris’s step daughter and Abi his three year old daughter. Oay his wife was in Bangkok working and wasn’t due back until Xmas ... read more
January 2nd 2012
2nd January ’12 Bangkok to Hua Hin Got up for the breakfast buffet banquet then packed up and made our way to the station. We did have reserved seats as the only tickets left were 2nd class, so there was no mad rush but the train was in so we got on only to find people in our seats. Their mistake so no problem and they were very apologetic and pointed out that they had cleaned the seats! The carriage was wooden with all the windows open and ceiling fans so it was nice and cool once we got going. Straight away Howard was back in little boy mode all bouncing around and excited. He kept wanting to stick his head out the window but as the buildings were so close to the train track he ... read more
December 30th 2011
Yesterday we arrived at the Sheraton Resort in Hua Hin for a day and half of rest and relaxation. The sky has been crystal blue and the temperature perfect. The pool was a little cool but we did stick our feet in for a bit. We spent yesterday afternoon on our balcony enjoying the peace and quiet. I worked on the blogs and Jason did some work. Never a break for him, even works on vacation. We went into town last night to yet another night market. The area is famous for its seafood and it did look good but we had plans to eat at the resort for dinner. We picked up some final items at the market and headed back to the resort. Today we spent the day hanging out by the pool and ... read more
Cha Am, a couple of days by the beach!
Published: January 7th 2012Asia » Thailand » Western Thailand » Hua Hin
December 30th 2011
From PKK we took a minibus to the seaside town of Cha Am, just North of Hua Hin. When the bus dropped us off on the main road we looked along the road to the beach and decided it wasn't too far to walk. With our packs on it turned out to be an optical illusion. It was miles!!! Nevertheless, we persisted, but when we got to the seafront we checked into the first hotel we found. Big mistake, it really wasn't very good!!!!!! Whilst we felt that Hua Hin was like Magaluf, Cha Am was more like Blackpool. There was one long strip of restaurants with a few hotels, a nice promenade area with shady trees and and enormous sandy beach. They were setting up for the New Year celebrations and one of the problems ... read more
Hua Hin - only for a night!
Published: December 26th 2011Asia » Thailand » Western Thailand » Hua Hin
December 23rd 2011
We took a minibus from Kanchanaburi to Hua Hin. Expecting it to be full of backpackers heading for the coast, we were surprised to find it was full of Thai families. We wonder if they paid a little less than we did as it was a bit on the pricey side at 400 Baht (£8) each. Some agencies wanted to charge us extra for our bags too! It wasn't a bad journey but the driver had no idea where to drop us off and we didn't know where we wanted to be dropped off! A recipe for disaster perhaps, but he stopped at a major intersection, pointed one way and said "Beach". That was enough information for us to sort ourselves out. Our initial impression was that we had arrived in Thailands version of Magaluf, a ... read more
Hue Hin- Beach weekend in December? why not?!
Published: January 11th 2012Asia » Thailand » Western Thailand » Hua Hin
December 12th 2011
The weekend after the King's Birthday we had another three day weekend for constitution day. Us teachers are not complaining one bit! The Mahachai gang (Lauren, Ben, Mike, Erika, and I) decided to take a trip to a popular beach destination for Bangkokians, Hue Hin. It's only about a two hour drive from Bangkok. We were excited to have a beach weekend for the first time since leaving Phuket. Our hostel was right off the road that had a nightly night market, convenient right? There were tons of older tourist there and families. Along the night market were stalls for the typical souvenir: clothes, jewlery, knock off dvds/cds, etc. After settling in our hostel we headed out to explore the area. The main area of Hue Hin is pretty compact and you can walk around easily. ... read more
December 12th 2011
Even in the short space of three months, I manage to find room for a little nostalgia. We're back in Hua Hin, the very first beach we visited in Thailand. Twenty-one destinations, eight countries and one enormous adventure later, being back here is like completing the circle. I love passing places and pointing them out, saying things like 'Oh, we went there for dinner that time, remember?' or 'There's the hotel that had the cockroach on the pillow!' Here in the sunshine, we've morphed seamlessly from travellers to holiday makers; come to Hua Hin and you will find us lounging on the beach or by the pool, cocktails in hand. And so this is it, friends. We're signing off, bowing out, saying goodbye. We leave you with a picture blog (as before, scroll down past the ... read more
No tourism, just great fun little break....
Published: November 27th 2011Asia » Thailand » Western Thailand » Hua Hin
November 26th 2011
The children were supposed to have a long week-end holidays but since they had three weeks off from school due to the floodings...this week-end has been cancelled a week ago. Well, I'm the kind of guy who planned ahead, way ahead, and to get a good deal, I have no problem to pre-pay my accomodation. So here is the dilemna...paid hotel nights...no more long week-end...you guess it, on the road we went. Hua Hin will be the place for some holiday makers, but not for all I have to admit. This is one of the reason for my blog title. There is not much in terms of "visiting" here once you came few times. Markets..we have better in Bangkok. Beaches...the beach here is simply ugly, or not even existent anymore. Temples...well, nothing great to my knowledge. ... read more
November 24th 2011
We headed 2 hours south of bangkok down the coast to a small fishing town called Hua Hin. We stopped here with the intent of resting for a night to break up the trip even further south to the islands. We ended up staying for about 4 nights after meeting some really awesome locals. We visited monkeymountain where there is a temple covered in hundreds of little monkeys. Our visit to this town really gave us some insight into the culture since we were able to spend a majority of our time with locals that which we are now close friends with. It was a tiny little town where you see the same people walking around constantly. Extremely quiet by day and wild by night. All the bars open up and the streets are flooded with ... read more
