Thursday, January 24, 2013

Hua Hin


Well a whole week later, and I am finally able to post about Hua Hin. I’ve had so many adventures since then but let’s see what I can remember…

I have learned that complicated and last minute travel was not just a one time experience here in Thailand, but instead is more of a cultural norm that we have become accustomed to. We headed out for Hua Hin two Fridays ago without even really knowing how to get to the bus station. After taking a water taxi, walking over a mile, almost getting hit by a motorcycle, and missing a bus, we were finally able to find a taxi to take us to the bus station for a reasonable price. Upon our arrival at the bus station, we were able to get a mini bus to drive us 8 the three-hour drive to Hua Hin (for around $6 each). Since we weren’t able to leave on our journey until we got out of work at 5, we did not arrive in Hua Hin until about 11 that night.  We checked into our hotel, grabbed a quick bite to eat, walked around until we found a beach, and headed back to the hotel to sleep before 12:30pm.

The next day we woke up bright and early (well I did, the boys always have to sleep until at least 10) and searched the Internet for something to do.  Since the Internet didn’t provide the kind of things we were looking for (info on a secluded beach) we contacted some of our Thai partners. The result was the name of a beach that was popular among locals and quite secluded.  That is all we needed, we gave the name to two tuk-tuk drivers and 8 of us were on our way to the beach. We were very pleased when we got there, and arranged for our tuk-tuk drivers to come back at 4pm to pick us up (which we ended up pushing back until 5pm because we never wanted to leave).  The beach was amazing, and was made better by the perfect 85 degree weather with a breeze.  Not only was the air temperature ideal, but so was the 80 degree water. As soon as we found a place to set our stuff down we were all in the ocean, playing in the waves, for over an hour.  I had been feeling a little down that morning but having fun in the water was the perfect cure.  Here is a picture of the beach (sorry about the quality I only had my cell phone, not my real camera):



After turning into prunes, we decided to finally get out of the water and go find some lunch. Right off the beach was a hotel that had an outdoor dining area. I ordered my favorite dish, green curry (I am probably going to turn green because I eat it so much), and promptly began tearing and sweating as I ate this spicy Thai dish. It was still soooo delicious!  After lunch it was obviously time for a nap on the beach, I was partly in the shade and I actually got cold, which I didn’t think was possible in Thailand! Here is a picture of Trevor and JP taking naps:



The last part of our beach day was spent on a long walk to the large rock formation that you can see in my picture of the beach above.  It probably took us about an hour and a half to walk there and back, which ended up being perfect timing for our new 5pm pick-up time. There were local students there on a field trip, tons of crabs and hermit crabs, people on horseback, and even two golf courses!

That night was filled with people getting sick. There is some odd illness going on in our group (which I was lucky enough to get last week for 2 days) that seems like food poisoning but somehow several of us got it all around the same time.  One of the girls got really sick almost as soon as we got back from the beach and ended up going to the hospital around 1am after she threw-up blood. It was scary but she is all better now. Around 5am the next morning Taylor got sick and is still having stomach pains to this day, although he is feeling much better.  Like I mentioned, I got this illness last week and had to miss a day and a half of work but I am completely better now and didn’t get it nearly as bad as some of the rest of the people.

Anyway, on a lighter note, Sunday in Hua Hin we went to an amazing waterfall.  Some how Taylor still wanted to go to the waterfall we had planned to go to even though he was sick and not really feeling much better yet. It took us about an hour by mini bus to make our way out to the waterfall called Pala-U. This is another one of those places that is really hard to describe so I will show pictures instead…







There were 11 levels of this place. It was not just a giant waterfall (which is kind of what I was expecting), instead it was more of complicated hiking paths with small waterfalls and a river flowing down.  I was not well prepared and decided to stop with Taylor at level 5 since I was wearing very slippery sandals and was worried that I would fall.  The other 5 that went with us continued up as high as they could until it started to downpour. Some of the only rain we have seen in Thailand came on a day when we were stuck outside with no buildings around. Luckily by the time it started to rain heavily, Taylor and I had made our way back to the beginning of the trail and were able to sit at a picnic table with an umbrella while we anxiously awaited the safe return of the other 5.  They eventually made it back about an hour and a half later, completely drenched and with stories to tell.  Needless to say it was a long and uncomfortable ride back to Hua Hin in the van that we had gotten soaking wet.  Here is JP post soaked from the rain:




After that we found another minibus to take us back to Bangkok around 7pm and were back at our hotel (eating pizza) by 10:30pm. We then had a short 4 day work week (even shorter for me since I was sick 1 ½ days) and instead of heading out Thursday night for a long weekend in Chiang Mai, we opted for a weekend spent in Bangkok with our Thai friends, which you will have to wait until next time to hear about…… J


Kaily



5 comments:

  1. The beaches look beautiful, you certainly are in a different world then us in New England! We can't even get above 10 degrees! That means that there is literally a 100 degrees difference btw. here and there...CRAZY!

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  2. The adventure of a lifetime continues....we can't wait to be a part of it!!

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  3. I guess swimming in Penobscot Bay even in the summer will be out of the question for you now. What a wonderful time you are having; and it's all such a worldly learning experience. Thanks again for taking us with you. Hugs

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  4. Your trip to these waterfalls sounds wonderful. That is something I would love to see. Keep up all the great work I know you are doing.
    Love,
    Aunt Cindy

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  5. Hi Kaily, I cannot believe how quickly your adventures are drawing to a close. You will have so many wonderful memories of your trip...I am sure you are glad you chose this venue. You will be a seasoned traveller for sure!
    Love Aunt Judy

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