Hua Hin

We boarded a train again from Phetchaburi to Hua Hin. Once aboard, we were somewhat relieved to see other farang heading our way. As we neared the city, we began to feel the ocean air. The hotel that we had hoped to stay in was within walking distance of the train station. Because it was full, we ended up staying at a guest house which had a deck over the water for only 250 baht. The room was tiny, but it was a large improvement over the one in Phetchaburi.



All of the shops in Hua Hin were set up for older tourists with restaurants featuring egg and bacon breakfasts for 140 baht. Other restaurants sold Italian and German foods making us wonder who would choose to eat pizza in Thailand. The streets were also lined with souvenir shops, mini marts, and tailors.

After settling in, we took a walk along the beach immediately spotting tiny crabs scurrying across the sand.


Later, I discovered piles of moving snail shells which turned out to be hermit crabs. A Thai woman selling mangoes asked if we had them at home as she saw us taking pictures.



What we were really doing while walking was killing time until the night market. We had read in advance about soy milk in bowls served with Chinese doughnuts. Two bowls with one order of doughnuts was only 15 baht and Eric and I will now measure all that we spend against it.


After that, we had our first bowl of johk (porridge or congee) which contained balls of ground pork and had a raw egg cracked over the top. Every bite was soothing and delicious.


The next day we woke up before the rest of the city to take a taxi to Khao Sam Roi Yat, a nearby national park. Our driver dropped us off warning that we could walk up and down over a hill or we could take a boat. We chose to walk which provided spectacular views of the water below.


The main attraction at the park is Tham Phraya Nakhon, a two room cave housing a royal saalaa. To get there, we hiked up steep, rocky steps while being chased by two children hoping we would pay them to be our guides. We were amazed by how smooth the rocks and tree roots had become as a result of footwear on the path. As we came over the hill, our journey seemed worth it as we overlooked the peaceful cave entrance. Suddenly, behind us we heard a troop of school kids and moved aside for them to pass. As we waited, we realized that there were probably 300 kids all saying hello to us so we joined them on the walk into the cave.



When we returned to the town that night, we visited the great night market again for dinner. This time we decided to buy grilled squid on a stick which we had been eyeing for a while. It was not quite as fabulous as we had hoped but we did not want to join the other tourists at a fancier seafood restaurant. We also could not help but have another bowl of soy milk with doughnuts to end our visit to Hua Hin.