Hua Hin Happenings
I am not a huge fan of roller coasters. It is mainly because I am afraid of heights but all the twists and turns and ups and downs don’t do much for me either. Thailand’s government reminds me of rollercoasters. In our last post, we talked about their Test and Go program and how it shut down with just a few hours notice. Now, poof! Just barely a month later, it is back up and running. But for thousands of unlucky travelers, that month caused a lot of emotions (and wasted money).
Anyways, since returning, things are back to how they were. With the exception that I now work for a friends’ supper club at his house. It is called HAAWM and I encourage everyone to check it out on Instagram.
After looking at Emily’s February schedule we saw that there were two four day weekends coming up. We decided that we should find at least one new place to explore. For the first long weekend, we chose Hua Hin (and the greater northern part of the Prachuap Khiri Khan province). We didn’t know too much going into it besides that there are beaches, a water park, and a lot of Thai folks go there for vacation (seeing as it is only a three to four hour drive south of Bangkok).
We did some research and found that there were some pretty unique things to see in the area outside of just chilling on the beach. We decided that for a long weekend, Hua Hin could provide a nice getaway and be around more nature.
We packed our day packs and headed to the van terminal that would take us there. It was nice to see the scenic changes as we traveled south.
Upon arriving at Hua Hin, we checked into our Airbnb at a place called Daddy’s Home. Yes, we specifically chose this place almost solely on the name. It turned out to be a quite comfy, little room with a beach a 10 minute walk away and a five minute walk from both Cicada and Tamarind Market.
We found a moto rental nearby and grabbed lunch at Ogen, a Mediterranean restaurant that was surprisingly tasty.
It was here we started to notice some things about Hua Hin. The most blatant of which were how many older white people there were. Not just older white men with young Thais, like is common to see, but older white men with presumably their older white wives. Now this may seem nothing out of the ordinary to hear but it’s something we have not experienced since being here. It felt like we were in Florida where everyone comes to retire. (We later found out that Hua Hin is sometimes nicknamed the Florida of Thailand for this very reason.) We were definitely some of the younger people throughout our trip. In fact, we were on the beach at one point and a couple walked by and said, “aren’t you two a bit young for this beach?” and laughed. We were. It is not often we can claim we were the best looking pair on the beach. But we will take it. :P Other aspects that hinted to the age population this community served was the slower traffic, bike lanes, and how people actually allowed ambulances to get through traffic. I am sure there are enough white folk and Karens to have had some sort of say in how things run in Hua Hin.
After lunch we rode south to Pran Buri Forest Park.
This park is known for its mangroves. In case you do not know what mangroves are, I’ll let our resident researcher, Emily, explain.
Thailand’s coast is full of rich mangrove forests, which are an important ecosystem for the local people as well as providing nutrients to the surrounding seas. The mangroves also protect the coastal environment by blocking the waves and reducing erosion and flooding. Unfortunately, due to climate change and rising sea levels, the mangroves are negatively impacted, which means the local communities and land is in danger.
Image from the Global Value of Mangroves for Risk Reduction
At Pran Buri Forest there is a kilometer long boardwalk that winds through the mangroves to observe this unique ecosystem. Mangrove forests are home to many fish, water birds, and swamp-y animals like crabs. We saw so many mud crabs and other little critters along the mangrove floor.
Towards the end of the boardwalk, there was a place to get on a boat for a short tour through the canal to see the hundred-year old mangroves and visit a local fishing community who lives around the Pranburi River mouth. We said yes to the boat ride, and enjoyed a nice stroll.
We also got to see all their colorful boats along the way. The boating area definitely smelled of shrimp and some boats even had fishermen processing their catch. Their boats all had a similar shape and shared a colorful vibe. It seemed like some of the men might live on the boats or at least spend a lot of time there since many were showering, eating, brushing their teeth, and just hanging out on their boats or on the docks. We saw large monitor lizards and some interesting looking birds along the canal as well.
After our time at the park, we decided to rest for a bit at Pran Kiri Beach, nearby the park.
We headed back for dinner at Korean Conner. We weren’t expecting to eat at so many non-Thai restaurants on this trip but good reviews are hard to dismiss sometimes. When we saw that a Korean man (presumably) was cooking the food, we knew we made a good choice. And we did! It was a delicious meal, we enjoyed the homestyle vibe, and the owners were friendly.
Emily and I rested at Daddy’s for a bit before walking over to Tamarind and Cicada Markets. Both were similar in that they had lots of food, live music, small, local vendors selling art, crafts, and various other goods. Tamarind Market was more food centered and Cicada had more small stalls as well as an outdoor space for small entertainment shows. We enjoyed walking around and thought both spaces were fun. It seemed to attract a lot of locals as well as tourists on a Saturday night.
We started the following day driving south, but much farther this time. We stopped at Khao Kalok Beach for a rest stop and walked along the beach briefly. At first, we didn’t think many people were on the beach until we walked closer to the edge where we then saw several groups of people enjoying meals. They were all in the shade of the giant rock next to them, shielding them from the sun. We found this funny and a very Thai thing to do.
We continued our journey to Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park where we would be spending the majority of our day. According to thainationalparks.com:
“Covering about 98 km² … It is the first marine national park of Thailand. Khao Sam Roi Yot means "The mountain with three hundred peaks" and refers to a series of limestone hills along the Gulf of Thailand with the highest one at 605 meters tall. The northwest corner of the mountain range is called Thung Sam Roi Yot and is mainly freshwater marsh covering nearly 37% of the national park which makes it the largest wetlands area in Thailand.”
Our first stop was to visit the famous Phraya Nakon Cave. It is inside the cave where an opening lets in light to a small temple/shrine. Under the right light, it is especially awe-inspiring.
Let's hear from our top researcher again about this cave. Take it away Emily…
According to the sign in front of the Khuha Kharuehat Pavilion inside the cave…
“King Rama V ordered the building of The Tetrahetron Pavilion on 20 June BE 2433 (1890). This pavilion was built by hand at Bangkok, and then taken to the location and assembled by skilled construction engineers. The Trahedron Pavilion is the symbol of Prachuap Khiri Khan Province.”
We got to the parking lot and could tell it was a popular spot. We made sure we had water since we weren’t entirely sure how long the hike to it would be. Almost immediately we knew we weren’t prepared for the steepness of the hike to the cave. While the trail wasn’t a long distance (even with a beach to take a break halfway through) it had its moments of steep, rocky inclines. Along the way we saw an area of trees occupied by monkeys who seemed quite keen on staring at passersby. That is, when they weren’t munching on leaves and berries in the trees.
The whole cave from start to finish was a beautiful and sacred place. The top where the sun shone through made for the whole space to really show its beauty. The pavilion was at the far end of the cave.
Off to the side was an area with statues of monks where people gathered to pay respect. And next to it on the stone wall were the handwritten signatures of previous kings who had visited, starting with King Rama V.
We stayed in the cool cave for a while, to rest and to dry ourselves from our sweat-soaked clothing.
Afterwards, we headed back. Once we got to Laemsala Beach (the halfway point) it seemed as if you could take a boat back to the parking lot. We asked a security guard if that was the case, and before we knew it we were on a boat headed back. Thank goodness we didn’t have to hike back up and over the headland to get back to our moto. Not because it was hard, but mainly because we hadn’t eaten yet and we had very low energy by that point. #notwhimps
After we returned to the starting point, we decided we didn’t want to wait to find a restaurant but instead just eat at one of the stalls next to the entrance of the trail. We paid too much for what ended up being mediocre pork fried rice. Lesson learned, go just a bit out from the national park and find some better, cheaper food.
Once back on the road, we stopped at Hat Sam Phraya Beach to relax for a bit. The only other people on the beach at the time were a small group of monks hanging out near the edge of the beach.
Emily and I used that time to figure out where we would head next. We decided to moto to the opposite side of the national park and visit the marshes at Bueng Bua Wood Boardwalk.
The drive around the park was beautiful. Similar to what we saw in Koh Sok, we passed many beautiful karst rock formations, so we can only imagine this area south of Hua Hin was also once an underwater reef, which is why the limestone contains many holes and jagged formations. Much of the areas we hiked were limestone rocks.
We also passed by many open fields as we moto’ed towards Thung Sam Roi Yot, the largest freshwater marsh in Thailand. The sun was unforgiving and both Emily and I could feel ourselves slowly getting sunburned.
Unfortunately, once we arrived at the boardwalk, some of the walkways were closed but there were still a few we were able to walk on. It was crazy to see how far the marshes went. We saw unique plants, bugs, flowers, and heard a few unfamiliar sounds as we walked along the boardwalk.
Being in the sun for several hours gave us quite the appetite (because we were definitely dehydrated by that point). While it wasn’t a great meal, we ended up eating at Burger Murderer (ballsy name) and had dessert at Sugar Bloom near Daddy’s.
We walked along Hua Hin Beach. Horses for rent were everywhere which we found odd and out of place.
Our day ended by going back to Tamarind Market for some milkshakes and pizza.
While Emily did not need to be on campus for school on Monday, she still had to attend online meetings via Zoom. So she spent the first half of the day online working while I took it easy.
I moto’ed around and found four bakeries that sold almond croissants. I took them back to Emily to have us rate and eat them on one of her breaks. Overall, meh.
For lunch, we found ourselves motoing around the back roads along the khlongs. We stopped at this rustic, hidden restaurant called Aunt Jaew’s Kitchen. The food was tasty and made with love.
Once Emily was done, we walked over to the nearest beach, Reni Beach, where I read and Emily walked along the beach. It was extremely windy with many kite surfers taking it as an opportunity to shred the waves. It was pleasant to watch. The wind helped offset the heat of the sun, too.
Afterwards, we showered and prepared for dinner. We heard of this restaurant that had homemade cooking by a lady named Tanya. Before heading to Hua Hin, we made a reservation and had placed our order ahead of time (as was requested by staff to do).
When we arrived, there was a sign that said “fully booked” but there was no one there. We sat down and waited for our food. I guess we were the first ones there? We ordered four dishes, salted beef salad with fresh coconut milk, pork massaman curry, fried shrimp with chili and salt, and stir-fried cabbage with fish sauce and pork cracklings. Obviously all of it was eaten with jasmine rice.
Overall the meal was tasty. Quite expensive to be honest but nonetheless, tasty.
There was a lake across from the restaurant with a paved sidewalk around it. We watched the sun lower as we walked off the food. This was another spot that made us realize why this would be a great place to retire – accessible and beautiful.
We headed back to town and walked around the Hua Hin Night Market. It must have been an off night because there was barely anything there and almost no people around. Since it was getting late, we came back to Daddy’s and called it a night.
We left early the next morning to get back to Bangkok in time for both Emily to finish some work stuff and for me to head to service at HAAWM. Overall, we enjoyed having a weekend away from Bangkok and to see new scenery. We look forward to our next weekend adventure.
If you read this far, here is a bonus video for you. The following weekend, Emily and I began celebrating being together for nine years. We asked ourselves, “What did we want to do when we were nine years old?” We both responded, “probably go to an amusement park.” So we went to one called Siam Amazing Park that was only a ten minute moto ride away. Enjoy.
