One new tidbit is me joining the Muay Thai gym. Just to be clear I did spell it correctly M U A Y
T H A I. To some that have emailed and used the spelling Maui Thai, well that won't work as Maui is one of the Hawaiian islands. To our other friends that suggested I was taking Mai Tai that can be rather confusing as well. While I have had Mai Tai's, it was when I was in Hawaii on the island of Maui. Having a Mai Tai in the heat of the day was a lot more refreshing than taking Muay Thai and sweating my you know what off! I tried to get Marie to sign up for Muay Thai as well, however she said that since she cannot have a Mai Tai (the alcohol allergy thing) she definitely will not take Muay Thai.
Hua Hin has several markets and a central mall. There are also a lot of shops towards the central part of town, all catering to the tourists, with something for everyone. The beach also has its fair share of vendors pedalling their wares. The night market (starts around 6pm) has a ton of stalls and is a good place to eat. Although it is crowded it is very entertaining to see the people from so many countries and different walks of life. From the ultra small vendor stands serving skewers of mini hot dogs or chicken to the larger sit down restaurants, here is something to satisfy virtually every appetite. If you want fresh fish or lobster and crab, this is the place! All the seafood is displayed on ice, fresh, just waiting to be picked so the chef can cook it to your liking.
From our balcony we are able to view some very interesting birds and listen to their wonderful melodic warble. We spotted a cinnamon coloured bird with striped wings and tail and a crown of feathers standing up on his head. It is a hoopoe and has a long slender bill to penetrate the soil so he can feed on insects and small reptiles. It was a delight to watch this bird flit about on the ground. The other bird, bluish black head and body and rusty brown coloured wings and tail, is a
Coucal (crow pheasant). The yellow one in the tree is a warbler.
Our suite is equipped so we can stock up on simple groceries like muesli, milk, eggs and bread and have our breakfast on the balcony. The mall is conveniently located across the main road and has a huge grocery outlet. During one of our grocery runs we met Emma, in the checkout line. Emma is from Sweden. Marie met her again at the beach and they recognized one and another from the grocery line. Turns out Emma is staying in our hotel, 2 doors down the hall. Coincidence or what? Over the course of the week we got to know Emma and I accepted her invitation to play tennis. Now I haven't ever really played tennis and what little practice I did have was a well over 12-15 years ago. Emma, however, takes lessons and practices with a pro, not to mention she is 20 years younger. We hit the courts in the hotel next door where I ran my butt off, while coach Marie kept my swing in check. Lol. Talk about the blind leading the blind. Actually we came up with the perfect strategy to gain an advantage by giving Emma the side where she faced the sun. All in all it was fun to get out and whack the ball over the net. Not sure how it was for Emma but she was gracious enough complimenting me on my sad attempt to play tennis.
Marie and I went on a short exploration trip of Hua Hin. We took a Songtaew which got us off the main drag so we were able to see where some of the side roads went. We came across a guy on a motorbike with a huge slab of a hive hanging from a short pole on his bike. He also had a bucket with broken pieces and a lot of honey. He had jars and was selling the honey on the street. Next was the ice pedlar, a truck with an open deck carrying huge slabs of ice. The slabs were off-loaded by sliding them down a ramp.
Towards the end of town we discovered another market and ventured in for a tour. The smell in this place was ghastly! The kind of smell that once it gets up your nose it sticks and is there indefinitely! Poor Marie was gagging and even when we left she could not get rid of the odour. In fact it was so bad that a few hours later when we went for dinner (at the night market) Marie thought her food was bad and could not finish. Yucky!
Morning walks and/or Muay Thai, breakfast, time on the beach, visiting, an afternoon coffee, shopping (mostly looking) and dinners with Art and Dan pretty much sums up our days in Hua Hin.
The "green hotel" is where Dan and Art stay. At the beach access by their hotel are a large group of umbrellas and beach lounging chairs available to rent. Art and Dan are regulars here, a couple of beach bums lounging about, bronzing their magnificent bodies in harmony with the other beach patrons. If only they could kite surf. On days when there is a good sea breeze the sky fills with kites of all colours dancing about in the wind, a surfer in tow, tacking across the waves. The pro's make it look easy and effortless while the novice makes it look like a losing battle. Lol
I started this page a few days ago with good intentions but here I sit, one day before we leave for Bangkok, typing in the finishing touches. Art left for a convention in Pattaya, Dan is waiting for his lady Meow (she should arrive today), Ron keeping busy at the gym and Emma headed home for Sweden. Funny how time works. When we first got here and were looking forward we thought, wow, 2 weeks might be a bit long? Now, as we look back we think where did all the days go? Tomorrow, Sunday, we head to Bangkok for our final four days in Thailand.
We will let you know about Bangkok in a couple of days.
