The royal Thai family have resided in this town and certainly return now and then on vacation, so we were looking forward to seeing what all the fuss was about, the Train journey was very much delayed and arrived us in its stunning train station much later than we expected it was dark on arrival and we had no where to stay...ha ha. (well we had booked a hostel somewhere but thank god we did not stay there it was terrible) we walked around a bit and asked at a few places but we were running out of time, it was about 10pm at night. We also knew from Bangkok what prices we should be paying.
We found a Dutch bar...(Dutch are everywhere) who had rooms to rent above the bar, it wasn't a kicking bar at all and the guy said he could rent us scooters as well, and gave us a good deal for 4 days and a good deal on a new scooter....we were sorted with a family room balcony and air con on the third floor, costing in Holiday season (Xmas) 4500 Bhat (£67) in total, and they did a breakie too and we had Dutch beer below....was I dreaming, also next door he owned a free pool table with darts etc etc....what a deal....I had to pinch me self.
We dumped bags, got settled in and headed across road for food, which was as normal as pie served to us by a lovely lady boy dressed in a delightful evening dress after chowing down we started to map where we were in relation to stuff and most importantly the beach....!!!! we strolled around and eventually found the beach and a bar that went out over the waters edge, the tide was coming in and we sat alone on the waters edge sipping a proper cocktail (with alcohol) not a crappy Malaysian Mocktail... after which we wandered along the beach which was beautiful in the dark. A head of us we could see what looked like to be a party, when we arrived we found it was being set up for the next few nights and they were getting it ready, it looked great on the beach. It was being sponsored by Singha beer and the Heritage Hotel a very swanky place, which from all accounts was having a festival over the next few days, it was lush as and in the day they served free beer, i really was in heaven.
The first day in Hua Hin was lush we had a high view over a road junction so great for people watching, got up dressed and out, we got the bike and shot off to fall in love Hua Hin, it really is a cool town, one long road takes you up and down the coast and the resort is backed by the railway line behind and all sort of local stuff goes on on the other side of the Rail line inland its where all the locals reside and has all of the temples and an art cultural centre which we went to as well, having a scooter is crucial in these parts as your free to spend as much or as little time as you wish in places.
The markets were smaller and less aggressive as in the sales tactics of Bangkok and this gave the place a warmer slower more leisurely feel to it, i bought some traditional Thai trousers, (not worn them since they keep falling down)...Steph bought some items as well, but although the markets are cheap compared to the UK they are not silly silly cheap, if you buy something really cheap it will genuinely be crap and not worth the time or effort in buying. Some of the sea food looked great and they had restaurants built in behind the stalls of sea food, you chose your fish or crab etc and sat down and they cooked it live in front of you, it was very busy and very popular, some the sea food went into high sums of money for unusual catches or delicacies.
Hua Hin has a few famous upmarket Markets, Cacada is one of them, a short ride up the coast on the scooter got us there, it was very European in its layout and design, there was free music going on in a separate open air natural amphitheatre, there were hundreds of stalls, done very stylishly, there was also a theatre again designed as an amphitheatre but we missed the show, next door to Cacada is another market done in the old worldly Thai way, gravel paths shoddy stalls and more lets say local, but to be honest this market had much more character and in the middle they had live bands playing around a little circular bar, you just got some chow bought a beer and sat it was also much cheaper, miles away from uptight NO FUN MALAYSIA which has laws against having a good time and feeling anything fun at all whilst out and about (Langkawi Island excluded).
I also got my best Thai massage at cacada from Lily, and i mean a proper massage no questionable extras, again much better than the thumping the crap out of you Chinese crap you get in Ipoh.
It was a great destination and I recommend it to anyone, its not stunning paradise or like the islands but it has a very friendly vibe to it, and at night things and areas that looked so innocent during the day changed into a ladyboy and prostitute mayhem area during the night where all manner of things could be bought or sold depending on your needs. Always remember to check the size of feet should you consider trying anything....
One night I walked this area alone and got locked out of our flat as Steph was asleep and had the key? to walk through these alleyways as a lone man is a tough thing to do, the girls and er men grab you, stroke you hug you (very strong grip type hugs) and whisper into your ear that they want you, YOU are the one for them and YOU should spent some time with them....etc etc....possibly all night. all normal massage places turn into skin on skin treatments for a much higher white faced tax price.
I found a bar and ducked in to hide as it seemed less aggressive and met a Dutch guy who was alone and just chilling out and had lived here for years, and he told me all i needed to know about the night life of Hua Hin, some good, some hilarious some not so good. But of all the advice he gave me it was the feet story that stuck, watch the ones with big feet, of all the treatments a man can have done to become a lady, they cannot change the feet (as of 2015)...a size ten in heels is not for you he said ha ha ha. When someone tells you this what do you do....yep you look at everyone's feet, then he gave me the next bit of good advice, dont stare at their feet, the best thing you can do to avoid a knife in the back is compliment them on how beautiful they are but that you kindly dont need their services tonight, and smile...
Spending a night trying to disguise the fact your looking at lady boy feet isn't easy....but if you are of the ilk to desire such a woman most of the real women available wear flip flops whereas the ladyboys never do. I was locked out till about 5am...it was an interesting night watching girls supposedly with guys doing everything they can not to give out anything....the whole scene is a con, when went back another night with Stephanie I was mostly ignored. peace at last....to watch more feet.....
Pictures later...
We headed for phuket next on the Bus.
