Hua Hin is one of the place that had stayed in my “places to go before I hit the bucket” for way too long. While I had been to Bangkok many times, there’s always something crops up that made us abandoned the effort.
Tips 1 : Spend at least 2 nights in Hua Hin. While most travel blogs mentioned that it only takes 2 ½ hours of minivan, they did not make provision for the time to get to Victory Monument and the waiting time on the van. For us, it took 30 minutes to get to Victory Monument minivan stops from Siam and 1 hour until the driver was satisfied with the full load of luggages and people. Therefore, it actually took us 4 full hours to reach Hua Hin. It was already evening when we reached Hua Hin.
Tips 2 : Go Hua Hin on weekdays, stay in Bangkok on weekends. Unless you have two weekends on your hand to split between the cities, you wouldn’t want to miss Bangkok on weekend. Not with the weekend floating markets and the Chatuchak. One the other hand, HUa HIn has not much to offer on weekend than its weekdays.
The van driver dropped us at Avis Hua Hin office, on the way to Hua Hin tow because Avis Hua Hin does not provide car delivery (although their website says they do). The only reason I chose Avis was because all other car rental companies (with car delivery) were fully booked and they only rent out their cars for a minimum of 48 hours. Another reason to bang my head for planning only one night in Hua Hin. Tips 3 : Book for rental car earlier.
Toyota Yaris is the cheapest car for rent even though it is a far better car than the flimsy Vios. I love this new car.
Hua Hin town was easy to navigate as long as one watch out for the temporary traffic cones the traffic police left around. The best place to park in the busy town was a big temple on the main road, opposite of Tourist Information booth. 20 baht per entry., free if no one was on sight to collect the fee. 😉
Our accommodation at Baan Peang Ploen holiday rental was surprisingly good.
As it was already dusk, the only attraction that was not close was the Hua Hin Railway station, dubbed the most beautiful station in Thailand. Its main feature was the Royal Waiting Room when Hua HIn was the summer retreat town for the royals. Other than the waiting room and the red paint on the public waiting area, the railway station is very much like other station (we had the privilege of seeing many railway stations when we took a train ride to Ayutthaya in 2009). 15 minutes were all it takes for me to appreciate the place.
The night market within the town was vibrant although predictable. One can’t be in Thailand without enjoying a night market or two.
Unfortunately for us, Jek Be-Ak Seafood restaurant was close on that day so we looked around and were drawn to the crowd at Koti Restaurant.
I had my caffeine craving again while CS was itching for a good massage. I won, because no one goes for a massage with full stomach. We decided on the café right beside Koti Restaurant. The latte was more expensive yet taste way worse than Starbucks – lacking the body and had the driest over-foamed milk.
We started to hunt for a massage shop, walking to-and-fro the night market. There were only two types of massage shop here – the overcrowded and the dingy one. None stood out as one we would willingly lie naked on their beds. Then, we realized we have a car, so why limit our search to the market area? We had our winner at a row of massage shops, not far away from Market Village shopping mall. The interior looked better and there were hardly any customer.
