It’s mid-December so time to escape the cold of the Maritimes and embrace a warmer climate. This year I am in Thailand, spending most of my time centred in Hua Hin, a beachside resort town about a three hour drive SW of Bangkok. The name translates to ‘Stone Head’ which is visible practically anywhere in town but most notably at the north end of Hua Win Beach.
It was a long trek to get here with three flights, 24 hours in the air and 6 hours in layovers. The good thing was all flights were on time and we arrived on schedule. During the ride down to Hua Hin from Bangkok, our driver’s car overheated about 1/2 hour from our destination so he pulled into a McDonalds to call another guy to bring us the rest of the way. The ironic thing is my first meal in Thailand was a quarter pounder with cheese and fries at McD’s LOL. More on food in a bit.
My friend and I are getting oriented to our new surroundings finding the beaches, grocery stores, laundromat and the shopping malls. I am staying in a condo, just outside of city limits, that has a beautiful Olympic-sized pool in the centre of the complex. The complex has 4 separate buildings around the pool.
My condo is on the back of the building so I have a stunning view of mountains, sunsets and temples.
So a few funny things about our locale…. We can buy bottled water at the store but they have water machines around town where you fill up your bottles for only .05 cents/litre! It’s great because the tap water is not drinkable and with the temperature at 30 degrees most days, I drink allot of water!
Another funny thing is the abundance of monkeys just roaming around. We were told that they can get somewhat aggressive and take your backpacks, hats and sunglasses so I try to keep my distance.
Our beach is about a 10 minute walk from the condo. I love it, having spent two or three days there already. You rent chairs with umbrellas and then you can buy drinks (i.e. watermelon juice is great) and food from the ‘chair guys’. Also vendors stroll the beach selling everything you can imagine: pillows, shorts, dresses, hats, donuts, ice cream, you name it….. The water is so warm and salty! You don’t have to spend 15 minutes trying to get up the nerve to jump in!
The food is cheap and tastes amazing. A full meal (with a large beer) costs about $11.00-12.00 CDN. I hope the pics don’t make you too hungry.
Next door to the condo there is an outdoor market on Tuesdays and Saturdays where we can buy fresh fruit, veggies and bread. The bread guy is my favourite. This past Tuesday i bought a pizza, garlic bread, banana muffins, sour dough bread, coconut bread, mocha jelly roll. Total cost –> a whopping $12 CDN.
We are flying to Phuket tomorrow for the holiday weekend to meet up with an old friend there. It is south of us, and since it is an island it is just as easy to fly than trying to arrange more complex travel arrangements. Happy Holidays !
Feel free to leave a comment below. If you wish to contact me, my email is blaisemcneil@gmail.com. Thanks for visiting my site and I hope you’ll return soon for my next adventure…. Blaise
Looks wonderful!
merry christmas blaise what an amazing place to visit, I got you a wild turkey for christmas and have been tracking it’s flight with norad and it should arrive on time tomorrow and the best part is they hate monkies
Grrr and Brrr, wish I was there. 🥶🥶I could use some heat! Enjoy every second!
Excellent adventure, I can almost feel that sunshine as I read your stories! Great pictures too! Have fun!
Blaise it looks and sounds amazing. Thanks for the pictures and write up. Who would have guessed that your first meal would be Micky D’s
Looks AMAZING, Blaise.
Love the beach with watermelon juice picture.
Not sure of those dastardly monkeys, though.
Enjoyed your blog.
Have a wonderful Xmas in Phuket.
Hahaha Chris- too funny
The freezing rain, wind and little bit of snow makes us all jealous.
Looks amazing- look forward to your adventures!
You bastard! You should have heard the wind and ice pounding against my window overnight. You certainly picked the perfect time to get away, happy to see you arrived in one piece and you’re enjoying it. It all looks awful 😜 Looking forward to reading about more adventures!