Happy in Hua Hin

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Suzanne here...

The minibus to Hua Hin was a success. Half the price and journey time of the train and comfortable enough. All the other passengers were Thai, which makes you feel you are doing the right thing, if it's good enough for the locals. It was a bit of a crazy trip with birds in a box behind us and the driver with his foot glued to the accelerator. It seemed to us that there were a couple of near misses! Some of the roads were really flooded too.

I'd done a quick search of guesthouses at the hostel as I knew Hua Hin could be expensive. We made our way straight to one of them - Tientong. There was nobody there when we arrived which confused us a bit. We waited around and after about ten minutes a woman pulled up on a scooter, looking rather puzzled to see us. We asked for a room and she showed us three of varying price. We went for the cheapest and tried our first attempt at bartering, but she was having none of it. At 8 pounds a night we can't complain though, not in Hua Hin which is a bit pricier than some areas (after all, the King does live here). It's a bit of a walk from the town, but that is actually a good thing as it's a lot more peaceful. It's also clean, has air conditioning and a private bathroom.

Hua Hin is bustling, although not quite as much so as Bangkok. We've seen most of the town now, and spent some time on the beach. The sand is white and the sea warm. We've been trying to budget a bit more so have been eating in the night markets. The food has been really tasty, and very cheap.

Walked along the beach to Khao Takiab today. It was a long walk, but the weather was beautiful (if rather hot) and it was along the beach, so it was a nice walk. Went up to the temple and saw our first wild monkeys. Got a songthaew back, only 10 baht each so a bargain.

Moving on tomorrow, after three days here. Thinking of getting the train to Prachup Khiri Khan.

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