When our summer first started, we knew we wanted to spend some time traveling around Thailand to explore the many different places that this beautiful country has to offer. However, flying to new places seemed daunting with the new COVID restrictions, and we were unfamiliar with the areas right around Bangkok where it felt more feasible to travel.
Then, our lovely friend Christine told us that she was planning a short trip down to the beach town of Hua Hin. She would be taking a private taxi that would cost 1,600 baht ($53) total that we could split for the two and a half hour drive, and the luxury condo that she had found would only cost us $20 per night. With only two days until her departure, we decided it would be foolish if we didn't tag along.
The drive down to Hua Hin was an experience all in itself. The only time we had left Bangkok before was to fly to Phuket, so we had yet to see the Thai countryside. It was beautiful and lush,
with deep green mountains and rice fields lining the roads. Every few minutes, a temple or beautiful statue would pop up, and we would all crane our necks to see it as it passed. Half way through the journey, we stopped for a bathroom break and a Thai tea at the local Cafe Amazon, and we continued our way on our good old fashion road trip. As we entered the small city of Hua Hin, we were so excited that we had made the decision to leave Bangkok behind, and see a new space.
As we arrived at our condo, we couldn't believe that it only cost us $20 per night. It was beautifully landscaped, with a huge pool, decked out with a water slide that Jessica went on more than most of the kids we saw there. Our apartment here was bigger than ours in Bangkok, with a kitchen, living room, bedroom, bathroom, and large balcony complete with a washer. The bed was so soft and cozy, which is a rare and exciting find in Asia. The apartment was beautiful, and due to unfortunate circumstances which will be detailed later, we would be spending a lot more time in it than originally anticipated. It reminded us of a resort in Hawaii.
We dropped all of our stuff off and ventured down towards the water to grab some lunch. We found a small local Thai restaurant, and while Jessica throughly enjoyed her go-to meal of Pad Kra Pao, Nolan's yellow crab curry was filled with a few too many left over shells. But, all was okay, once we walked down the short road towards the beach.
Hua Hin, although a cozy sea side town, is not well known for its beaches. The sparkling blue water that we had seen back in Phuket, was replaced by a darker more murky substitute on this beach. Even so, the sand was soft and white, and for the proximity to Bangkok and price of the trip, we were happy to be strolling along a beach once again. We grabbed dinner that night with Christine at a wonderful beach side restaurant, and got a few to go cocktails for a walk along the sand.
The next morning we woke up to the peace and quiet that is so rare to find in Bangkok, and headed to a cute little breakfast cafe called Morning Bread. It is sometimes hard to find a good American styled breakfast here in Asia, so we were pleasantly surprised to open the menu to fried eggs, sausage, freshly baked bread, and omelets. All for about 120 baht ($4), we were super excited for what the day had to offer.
We spent our first full day in Hua Hin beachside and poolside. We found a small beach bar serving tasty cocktails, and were enjoying all of the amazing relaxations of vacation. After a tasty dinner
of Indian food, we were sent to sleep with full bellies and excitement for the day ahead.
Our second full day was one that Jessica could not be more excited for. Nolan, Jessica, and Christine headed out to a small early morning breakfast back at Morning Bread, so that our stomachs would be ready for one of our coolest experiences yet. Since before coming to Thailand, it was Jessica's dream to go to a Thai cooking class so that she could learn how to cook the local cuisine. Thanks to Christine's research, we found an awesome cooking class that was held at a local Thai chefs house. It was just the three of us for a private five hours and four
courses, learning all of the basics of Thai cooking. Our teacher was very helpful and versed in Thai cooking, as well as being super friendly and fun to talk to. We started off by making Panang curry paste, by chopping some ingredients including garlic, ginger, and lemongrass, adding some peppers and spices, and then grinding them in a mortar and pestle. It was such an awesome experience to make curry paste from scratch. We then used that curry paste to make a chicken coconut curry (shrimp curry for Nolan) and it was then served over rice.
After the curry, we made veggie Pad See Ew, Prawn Tom Yum, and we finished the meal with some Mango Sticky Rice. With full bellies, we left so happy with the experience and the delicious food, and we could not be more excited to try to make the dishes again.
Unfortunately, this is when our beautiful beach vacation started to take a turn for the worst. We decided to head to a night market that night, still full from our lunch adventure, and ended up leaving only 30 minutes into being there because Nolan had a bit of an upset stomach. We decided to curl up on the couch and watch In the Heights for a chill night, when Jessica started to feel a bit icky as well. This was the start of 24 hours of some of the worst food poisoning we have ever had. We were both very sick, and couldn't get any sleep until the 7/11 across the street opened at 4 am, and Nolan went to buy us some medicine. Well, they were supposed to open at 4, but the staff ended up arriving around 4:45 to a weak and pathetic looking Nolan laying on the sidewalk outside. Over the next day and a half, we barely left our room, as our savior Christine dropped off some more medicine, crackers, and electrolyte drinks. After talking with a friend who has been in Bangkok for 20 years, we suspect that this bug came from some ice that was made with local tap water (you can't drink the water here, and sometimes local places will make their own ice with it, which we hadn't considered).
After 48 hours of laying around quite miserably, we were starting to feel a tiny bit better, and were able to spend the last day
lounging by our beautiful pool, and walking to a nearby mall to grab some dinner. The next morning, we hopped in another taxi back to Bangkok.
So, we ended up seeing a lot less of Hua Hin than originally hoping for, but lucky for us, our great friend Christine fell in love with the town and decided to move out there for the next month, giving us a great excuse to go back. It was an idyllic and inexpensive beach town, that we can't wait to explore more of (while being much more aware of any ice that we consume).
One last experience that we got out of our trip to Hua Hin was the way it felt to return to Bangkok. Over the past two months, we have become accustomed to the loud traffic and busy streets. After leaving for bit of relaxation, we were incredibly happy to be back to the ease of the amazing Metro system and the constant access to anything we needed (including the 7/11 that is in our building. Having to walk across the street to 7/11 was seriously too far). We were comforted by the street food vendors and multi-storied malls that just a few short months ago had been new to us. Coming back and feeling this sense of comfort really showed us that we are in the right place here in Bangkok.
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