Tuesday 13th – Saturday 17th

Before leaving Bangkok for Hua Hin I had a couple of hours to wait so I had my first foot massage of the trip! 😍😍 Oh, wow! Just heaven, especially after my long, hot walk yesterday. Amazing. 

I was taking the train to Hua Hin and had double checked where the station was a couple of times, (apparently not that far from the hotel, about 20 mins away) I had actually driven past it the day before and asked the driver if that was the Central Train Station, he said yes.

My train was leaving at 15.15 so I called a Grab at 13.45 a little early but they can sometimes take a while to arrive. Luckily my Grab came very quickly. Traffic was mad, as always in Bangkok. I was a little disconcerted when we went sailing past what I thought was the train station 😳 I double checked with the driver and she said, no, that wasn’t the right station. 🚉  My station was bloody miles away! And it was huge. I arrived at 14.50, which by my standards is late! I also had to find my platform in the huge building and I needed a wee (stress) I raced through the station and found my platform just in time to board. 

The train was packed, luckily I’d booked and had a great seat with space in front to put my case. The train, no 171 was a Rapid Train (I’m not sure this was an accurate description, Tbf!) 

It was not very fast, quite hot, but brilliant! 😍❤️

My carriage seemed really old, made of wood with some rickety ceiling fans. But it was so interesting. 

So many people on board rushing up and down the carriages selling all sorts of things! Hot food, cold food, cold drinks, hot drinks, cakes, fans, sweets, water it was mad!  Every 3 – 4 stations they would all get off and another group would get on with a similar collection of wares. This went on for the whole 4 hour journey. I think this is a long distance train that goes through the night, so I guess people need food, drinks etc. 

The scenery was also beautiful, and there was a huge storm along the way. 😍💙

I arrived at the lovely station in Hua Hin at 18.45 and jumped straight into a cab to my accommodation.

I am going to be staying in Hua Hin for 2 weeks, so I’d booked a place in an apartment complex. It was supposed to be a small apartment with a pool view. It looked amazing online. 

When I finally found the right block and the right room in the dark, It was a tiny one room with no view at all. ☹️

I’m going to be honest and admit that when I arrived I was tired, hot and hungry. So I may have slightly overreacted. But I wasn’t impressed at all. If I’d been staying for a couple of days it would have been OK, but not for 2 weeks. Plus I’d paid for something better. 

I called the number on the key fob and a lady called Kate came to the apartment. She tried to explain that it was ok, it was a nice place, (TBF it wasn’t hideous) but I explained that it wasn’t what I’d booked, I showed her the booking. 

She suggested I stay the night, and cancel the booking. I explained that I wasn’t prepared to lose 13,000 Thb ( £280 ) in cancellation fees. She kindly agreed to waive the fee, suggested I get something to eat then let her know if I wanted to stay or not and we could rebook. 

This sounded like a good idea. So I cancelled, she waived the fee and left. 

I had a think, checked other places online and within 8 minutes of her leaving I messaged to say, I would like to continue with the booking. 

However within that 8 minute window it had already been booked 😳

Kate then came back to the apartment and did some jigging around of other bookings and managed to get me into another apartment for Thursday night and the correct apartment from Friday. This meant that I then needed to find accommodation for Wednesday night! Kate said that she would look after my luggage for that night, to save me carting it around. 

I booked somewhere else in central Hua Hin for the following night and finally after all the drama, managed to leave to get some food at around 21.30! 

I have to say that Kate was wonderful, really kind, and extremely helpful, she went above & beyond. Legend. ❤️❤️

The only place nearby I could find was an Italian, random, but I was so hungry I went in. It was lovely, my pesto linguine was delicious, but it was expensive, in Thailand terms. £10 for pasta and a beer. Still it did its job and I felt a little more human, and a lot less grumpy!! 

The next morning I was up and out and heading to my new digs. The Royal Pavilion, was perfect for what I needed. 

They let me leave my small backpack and I went off exploring. I made a beeline for the beach. 

The beach in this part of Hun Hin is small and gets smaller or non existent when the tide comes in. The benefit was that there were lots of great places to eat and drink on piers out over the sea. The added advantage of this was the wonderful sea breeze. The sea is The Gulf of Thailand. 

I had a wander than found a delightful place to sit and chill with a cold drink, my book & a cute little ginger cat! 🐈 

Having checked into the hotel at 3pm I had a refreshing swim in the pool before a storm hit. 

The pattern here seems to be, sunshine and heat until 3-4pm then thunder storms and heavy rain until 6 -7 then dry again! 

The hotel was near to a night market, which in stark contrast to Bangkok had no sex bars or even any bars at all! 

I found myself walking back to the place I’d stopped at earlier in the day.  I liked the vibe, the prices looked good. 👍 

The next morning I went back to La Habana and checked in to my room for the night then set about exploring the area. 

I walked down to the beach, which was beautiful, clean and the water looked fabulous. Unfortunately or fortunately there wasn’t a beach bar or restaurant in site! I had been hoping to find somewhere on the beach to be able to chill at. Due to my propensity to burning, sitting on the beach in the full glare of the sun isn’t an option! 🥵

I did find a fabulous little place just before the beach, within a 5 minute walk off my accommodation that did food, drinks, coffee and was wonderfully shady. 🩵

I think this end of the beach is much quieter, which I think is going to be a good thing. 

On Friday I finally moved into my correct accommodation, it’s great. 

I have found the last few days a little unsettling, I’ve felt like I have just been marking time before I could relax.

Having moved in I was able to unpack for the first time since leaving Malaysia! And get some laundry done. Joy! It’s the little things 😁

Although there aren’t as many bars or restaurants nearby I am right next to 2 night markets. Tamarind Market, which is a food market that sells everything and has live music as well. It’s on every Thursday – Sunday. This is fantastic for me, as the food is amazing and really cheap, and they do a wicked Pina Colada! 🍹😍

The other market is Cicada Market, also selling food and drink but also lots of local other things, like a stationary Walking Street. 

Both of the markets are lovely.

The pool area is also fabulous, nice and shady and big enough for me to actually swim, with lots of comfy areas to sit and relax. 

All in all I think this is going to be a good place to relax for a while. It’s just down to me to try and be comfy not doing loads! 😬

It seems there are a lot of older ex pat, Australian and European men living here in Hun Hin, many with their Thai wives or girlfriends. I do struggle with this a little. I’ve talked about it before in previous blogs. Ultimately I have to assume that both parties are benefiting from the relationship, I just feel there is an element of exploitation. 

Do we have the same attitude towards these men as we do to older white women picking up and marrying much younger men from Africa and the Caribbean? 

I’ve now been away for nearly 3 months! Normally I’d be coming home soon, so it will be interesting to see how I feel in another month or so. 

I do miss everyone, so it’s nice to get feedback on my blog or a WhatsApp message now & then! 😍

That’s it for now! 

Have a fabulous weekend.

🩷🩵💙💚🧡

📚Please send me some more book recommendations!! 📚

Books Read.

Because she loves me. Mark Edwards. A thriller, it was OK.

The Women. Kristin Hannah. This book was excellent. Really interesting for me as it is set during the Vietnam War. 

I would highly recommend.

Thank you Laura for the recommendation.😘❤️