A Bubble Pirate I know is in Bangkok now. Some days he's at Lumpini Park. Some days he's at Khao San. Recently he's started going to another park. I can't seem to recall the name now, except that it's a rather long one. He's a bubbl-ogist, and what he does at these places is to bring joy and happiness and moments of magic through bubbles.
I've been following his adventure since he started from Singapore. Right through Malaysia from Johor Bahru to Melaka and Penang and Hua Hin in Thailand thereafter.
Seeing his pictures made me think of the time I was in the same town. That was a couple of years ago. And it's interesting, but honestly, at that time I'd not quite considered going there very much- I'd rather much have stayed in Bangkok- but it was a beautiful place, very calm, very serene, not very touristy etc. etc, I was told, so I went.
And found myself greeted by this after a very bumpy train ride from Hualamphong station in Bangkok.
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| flags by the beach |
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| Gulf of Thailand |
Which was quite a bit of a relief, I tell you, considering that I'd just spent an hour or so getting here on a hard blue seat, sweltering in a carriage that had no air-conditioning but which had open windows (thankfully). Not that I minded my fellow passengers moving up and down the aisle, nor the vendors trundling their way through the narrow aisles offering foodstuffs and snacks in all kinds of colors to travelers.
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| my seat in the train |
My time in Hua Hin was more touristy than backpacker. :)
Each morning there was a glorious sunrise from the balcony of my room, followed by a lovely, leisurely breakfast with juice and crossiants and eggs at the lobby. I had time to lounge on the deck chairs near the beach and grab some sun, I had time to sit in the airy lobby and people-watch. There was no rush whatsoever, so much so that from the hallway, I had time to stop and grab a magnificent view of the hills beyond.
Each morning there was a glorious sunrise from the balcony of my room, followed by a lovely, leisurely breakfast with juice and crossiants and eggs at the lobby. I had time to lounge on the deck chairs near the beach and grab some sun, I had time to sit in the airy lobby and people-watch. There was no rush whatsoever, so much so that from the hallway, I had time to stop and grab a magnificent view of the hills beyond.
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| hills, a range of hills |
It was mostly very restful. save for one afternoon where I rented a bike and rode around the neighborhood for an hour and then went along the highway-like road until I reached this place that had a shooting range right beside a lake. I stayed by the lake a while in one of these huts gazing out at swimming ducks before deciding to bike back before the sun went down.
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| one of the huts at the lake |
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| it's realllly quiet |
To me, Hua Hin's one of those towns where you can be both a tourist and a non-tourist at the same time. It is a place that has hotels and tourists and foreigners, but it is also a place for locals. It is a place where locals and tourists seem to live comfortably side by side. Why, next to the hotel property was a residential home where roosters and chickens wandered about freely and whose rooster call woke guests up at the crack of dawn.
Still, there're enough tourists around to have a Village where there're plenty of shops and shopping and food and all. I didn't get to go to the Village area that time. I wish I did. I'd have loved to get some souvenirs and clothes and see all the stuff that's over there.
Still, there're enough tourists around to have a Village where there're plenty of shops and shopping and food and all. I didn't get to go to the Village area that time. I wish I did. I'd have loved to get some souvenirs and clothes and see all the stuff that's over there.
Instead, I hung about in the property most of the time, walked around the courtyards a bit and breathed in the air of their landscaped grounds and ponds.
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| lotus flowers |
And then I went around to the shops close by, got myself their signature painful massages and ate lots of food. Including a mountain of pad thai, and a very spicy green curry.
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| green curry |
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| pad thai |