Visit to Hua Hin

In all the times we've been here for the winter (this is number 7!), we've never been to a Thai beach. There are many places to go, and we chose the village of Hua Hin. It is not on an island, as many are. It is on the Gulf of Thailand about a three-hour drive south of Bangkok.

Thanks to our membership with World of Hyatt, we had a lovely club room at the Hyatt Regency Resort, a fancier place than we normally choose. But it was wonderful. The service was impeccable and the grounds were amazing.

Looking toward the beach from the club area

Our first evening we walked out to see the low tide, which leaves a very wide beach

The next morning it was high tide and the waves came right up to the wall

One of the many lovely areas around the huge grounds

Our club room included breakfast and "canapés" and drinks in the evening (the canapés were so many and varied that it made a whole dinner).

Tea was loose leaf, in a pot, with hot milk. Yea for me, a tea drinker! 

In the evening, this young man played a xylophone-like instrument in front of the pool while we noshed

We thought we might do some sight-seeing in the area, but in the end I never left the resort. Dan did walk into the town area a couple of times. It was so nice to lie in the shade near the ocean with the breeze. There were quite a few people on lounges, but it was never crowded. I only saw two or three people in the ocean -- the waves were quite strong and didn't appeal to me.

Handy changing hut near the beach

The only boat I ever saw was this lone fisherman. The boat bobbed up and down quite a lot.

On Friday I met with the concierge to arrange a taxi to the airport for Saturday afternoon. She quoted me a price 20 times what we had paid to come from the airport on Wednesday. I balked and she said she could find one for less, but I still was stunned. Finally we both laughed when I said we were going to the Hua Hin airport; most people staying there took a car to the Bangkok airport! So the price was about $10, not $200+. She also arranged for us to have a late checkout, as our flight wasn't until 5:30.

The flight was just over an hour and was full both ways (nonstop Chiang Mai-Hua Hin). It only goes a few times a week. The Hua Hin airport is very small. Ours was the only flight going out and we didn't see any arrivals. The security line and access to the gate area didn't open until 4:00, but there were places to sit in the main area. (I'm pretty sure there was just the one gate.) 

I was looking forward to swimming while we were there and I did go in twice. The pool was lovely, plenty deep and large. But by the third day it was very cold (the sky was cloudy most of the time) and I couldn't do it. It's been cooler and cloudy here in Chiang Mai, too, and I'll be waiting a few days for some sunshine to warm up the pool here. I love to swim, but I like to be feeling slightly warmed up after one or two laps!