Journey's end! Almost.

Well, here we are flying over India (that's one big country to fly across), about three hours into our flight home, never imagining our travels would end. We have visited six countries in eighty days, two less than we thought we would, but, we visited a city (unplanned) which really blew our minds. Sydney wasn't on our original agenda.

It was a journey that just had to be done, after a turbulent ten years in the pub game it was either this or cracking up under pressure - the Spain adventure, although not a side show, is waiting in the wings, Asia had to be done first.

The inevability of being on our way home really struck when we arrived at Hua Hin station for our journey back to Bangkok. This was it, the last proper leg of our journey and a goodbye to being on our own, family beckoned for a few days and we would have a chance to get our shit together for the flight home - wherever that is?

We arrived at the station in time to relax, cool down, and take a few happy snaps before our near four hour journey. It seemed that a lot of the transient life of Thailand was on the platform with us.

My confession for the day is I used to be a railway enthusiast, as a kid (diesel eara of course - hey, how old do you think I am?). Hua Hin station is a throwback to a bygone day when the King himself would travel from Bangkok to take in the sea air. The station boasts a Royal Pavillion no less, where, outside as I was taking a photo of it a monk was busy grooming himself (cutting his finger nails). Whilst, on the platform, another one was knocking out the Zed's fast asleep on a bench - just another normal day on the Thai railway system.

Health and Safety sort of gets left behind as you can wander across the tracks here. I used this opportunity in order to take a few more pictures. As our train approached though, I committed the ultimate sin; I got too close to the rails as the train was approaching. I upset the platform manager as he waved his flags then blew his whistle In my direction, I got the message!

The train was a blessed relief as the air con hit us after the scorching heat on the platform, we quickly found our seats and settled in for the journey back.

We were offered juice, on the house, and we realised that the friendly hostesses are actually allocated one per carriage, what a great concept, on Thai Railways you are truly looked after.

At one station there was great excitement. Smoke was billowing across the tracks as the fire brigade were fighting a blaze. It was probably the burning of the fields after harvest that caused the commotion. It certainly had us all looking out of the windows on the train as well as a band of monks on the platform. Those holy men get everywhere!

A beautiful red sun was setting to our left side of the train, Thailand was finally cooling down for the evening but as we crawled through the suburbs of Bangkok it seemed that this part of the country was so alive.

An extension of the cities Skytrain is being constructed towards Don Muang airport, the welding sparks were falling to the ground from the workforce above us. It seemed that every spare inch of space next to the track was used for catering, surely the whole of Greater Bangkok wasn't eating?

Did I say Thailand was cooling down for the evening? We alighted the train and stepped out to a warm, muggy, breath taking night. It was almost 8pm but I was still sweating as though it was midday, quick, where's those taxis?

After totally avoiding the rip-off taxi and Tuk Tuk merchants that wait in prey for you outside the station we eventually found a driver who understood where we were heading, a lot is lost in translation over here.

So, we were now back at the Chatrium Residence, sat in my sisters apartment, travels finished, experiences logged and almost ready for normality again - whatever that may be.

I won't go into cliches such as "it was a roller coaster of a trip", "the experience of a lifetime", etc... blah, blah blah! It was our gig, our choice and in the end our own journey of discovery. We saw what we wanted to, did what ever the hell pleased us and at the end of it all proved to ourselves we are never to old to experience a new life. That, as they say is it folks, next, the book. This was merely a snapshot of the journey, the full story and our feelings and analysis will hopefully be published soon enough. And, if you have been a follower, thanks! Your feedback, when received, was much appreciated.

What's next? Hopefully, "Living disgracefully on the Costas". Follow us on that journey!

The Royal Pavilion on Hua Hin Station

Well, a monk's got to look good for the train journey.

Couldn't help myself

"Mind the bleeding gap - baldy"

Last sunset...

...followed by fireworks.

Finally, on our way home.

Feed me Hua Hin!

There is one thing you'll never be short of in Hua Hin and that's somewhere decent to eat, in the twelve days we stayed there we hadn't any difficulty in trying out old favorite haunts and new surprise locations.

Our first night back in town was spent in Prime Steakhouse newly established on the main street, Naresdamn Rd, in fact we ate there twice. Expect what it says on the tin - STEAK! Ok, there are other things on the menu but meat is king in this well established restaurant. It was low season and the place was still full, no problems now, though, since their move, there's more seating.

Try out the Waygu steaks imported from Australia or the black Aberdeen Angus fillet, but to be honest, everything on the menu is top notch including a superb lobster soup for starters. What is also commendable about the place is the service, it just seems to me they have raised the bar since the last time I dined here, in fact that goes for many of the eateries in Hua Hin nowadays.

Follow Naresdamn Rd beyond the Coffee Club where it veers to the left, you are now on the section of the road with all the piers, any visit to Hua Hin has got to include a meal at one of these. The first one we tried this time was The Moon Terrace where I enjoyed a delicious crab stir-fry and not too expensive. All seafood is reasonably priced here. All the restaurant piers are within close proximity of each other, all providing top notch food including La Terrace. It was here that I experienced a superb seafood platter of whole prawns, squid, tentacles and fried white fish with a garlic and lemon dipping liquor.

Opposite the piers is another seafood specialty restaurant called the Fisherman, a new one to us. I had a perfectly grilled bass fillet smothered with a lemon and butter sauce, very French. No surprise then that the owner of this class establishment is actually French. He told me we were lucky it was low season, normally there is a long booking list to get in. It's not all fish though, they do a nifty line in those hot rock dishes, a steak was getting the full treatment on the table across from us.

On the road parallel to the main drag and literally round the corner from Jings is Poonsuk Road, a plethora of eateries stand in front of a temple complex. We were due to meet up with my mate in town but stopped off at the quirkily named Moonshine and Platoo on that particular stretch of road. It was small and backed onto the pavement, it was also busy, the food coming out of the minuscule kitchen looked scrumptious. It didn't disappoint, I had a mind blowing mixed fish sizzler, all solid fish mixed with vegetables and the flavour of star anise prevalent.

That evening before we met up with Steve we went for a stroll around the Hua Hin Night and Fish market running along the rear of the main Phetchkasem Road, not far from the clock tower. Like the boiling sea and pounding waves it is a part of town that at night thoroughly attacks the senses. You are drawn to the exquisite smell of barbecued fish, lobster and steak, a heady aroma brought on by the smoke from dozens of charcoal pits fills your nostrils - what a pity we didn't eat here that night.

We took a few meals in El Murphy's pub including a very tasty Sunday lunch of lean and tender Aussie beef, Lynn had NZ lamb. They also did a decent breakfast but for the best coffee and value for money sandwiches we always went back to the Coffee Club, it became our regular haunt.

You are never far from food in Hua Hin whether it be on the beach or wandering the streets, good, hot, tasty morsels are available. All of the places I've mentioned in this blog were within a couple of minutes walk from our hotel, there were many others further afield, but let's face it, if something's good on your doorstep, you don't need to stray too far.

The pier restaurants

A scrumptious mixed seafood

La Terrace

Moonshine and Platoo

Their seafood sizzler

Hau Hin Night Market

Pick a lobster - any lobster!

Now cook it!

You're never too far from a tasty morsel in Hua Hin

Life's not just a beach!

I fully expected a dull muggy day after the previous night's storm, we ventured out from Jings courtyard and the full force of the sun hit us - another hot day in paradise.

Breakfast was taken at the Coffee Club. We walked along to the public beach for another day doing very little except enjoying the warm sea and hot sun; simple pleasures, we felt we'd done our fair share of sightseeing over the past three months.

We came off the beach early in order to shower and change, there was an event on the TV that required my attention - Super Soccer Sunday. Yes, it was the day that Leicester City could have made the Premier League crown theirs, I had plenty of options as to where I could catch it, every bar in town was showing it.

Close to our hotel, in fact on the same street was an Irish Pub called El Murphys. I'm normally not overly enamored with these sort of pubs in the UK, but I gave it a go seeing as the staff had been attempting to thrust flyers for the place into my hand all weekend.

We ate from their menu, the kitchen could be seen from the bar, it was clean and the food coming out looking good - typical pub food. I watched Liverpool get hammered by Swansea City at 6pm before the main event at 8pm, there being a six hour time difference. The draw against Man Utd meant it all depended on the Chelsea v Spurs game the next day. Unfortunately, that six hour difference schedules those night games for two in the morning, wouldn't be watching that one.

The remainder of the week was spent at the beach or chilling at the hotel. We discovered many new places to eat (see next blog post), read books or in my case the Times Online, and generally reflected on what had, for us, been a great voyage of discovery.

One particular day we acted on a tip from my friend Steve and went in search of a hotel to the south of Hua Hin that offers a day pass to utilize its facilities. Our plan this particular day was to recce the place to see what was the form regarding getting in etc. We set off along the beach noting a relative quietness about the place. We later learned that many places use Wednesday as a day off.

Our goal was the Anantasila Villa Hotel on Khao Takiab beach. On the way we passed the Marriott, Intercontinental and the Hyatt Regency, all very posh and palatial but not the one we were looking for: we continued. Eventually the call of nature was greater than the need to find the Anantasila, a place loomed up to our right, we scrambled up the washed away concrete steps to find the entrance. 

Madame Green's Seafood restaurant juts out towards the beach from a neighborhood of small chalet B&B's, mainly looking at the clientele, Thais. We ordered fresh fruit smoothies, but the food looked excellent, all of it fresh and all on display before it was cooked. I made a mental note of this place for future visits.

We walked back to our hotel via the main road and eventually back onto the beach, the mileage chart on my health checker (on the phone) told us we'd walked over ten miles, a beer was required, Mai Thai was the nearest for a cold one.

So, we didn't find what we were looking for. This prompted me to drop the hotel an email and their reply provided us with all the info we needed to arrive a couple of days later all knowledgeable and not looking like prize prats when we got there.

Two days later, after a short Tuk Tuk ride we did visit the Anantasila. The deal is you pay 500 Baht, about a tenner and you get the use of a beach or poolside bed with a towel. Unfortunately, due to government regulations, sun beds are not permitted on the beach in low season. We selected a bed by the pool which, after twenty minutes was deserted except for us.

It was actually a pretty peaceful and relaxing day. No sand up the posterior, or anywhere else, a quiet pool and waiter service. The money you pay for the towel actually becomes a credit against any food and beverage purchased at the bar; we had a lovely mid afternoon meal in their poolside restaurant.

Owing to an accident on the main road back into town and the Friday Night getaway from Bangkok to the coast, our transport back was delayed. Once on the road it was slow going, our driver made a detour, taking us through areas we'd never seen before, a good way of checking out the rest of the town.

Another tiring day, another early night - four more days to go.

A beautiful unspoilt beach...

...then it's used for graduation photos

Madam Green's Seafood

Anantasila Villa Hotel

First day on the beach - first storm!

29th/30th April

Lynn and I had last been in Hua Hin over two years ago, we'd never ventured round this area of town before, except for the main drag - Naresdamn Rd; what an eye opener we would receive.

Jings itself is an oasis in a chaotic ghetto of bars, restaurants, tailor shops, massage parlors and pick up joints; that, before we even got to the Main Street - see, I've got some of you interested already! 

We walked along Selakem to the mantra of "Hello sir, massage sir, you come for something to eat today, sir, you seem like you need a new suit sir." The trick was not to make eye contact with anyone, just keep walking.

Familiar haunts were passed on our way to the beach which was reached from Damnnoenkasem Rd, which incidentally was the direct road from the railway station.

Two years ago we stayed in a beachfront hotel called Baan Laksasubha, not far from where we were staying this time. At that place you were escorted to a bed on the beach by one of the staff, now we were on our own, joining the throng of people piling onto the public beach. Past the exclusive Centara Hotel, past the Tourist Police, past the dodgy public toilets and finally past the traders leading down to the sand - finally, we could lay down our towels and dive into the sea.

The wait to get the sea was worth it, it was like walking into a bath. In fact, we'd had colder showers at some of our hotel rooms than the water we playfully splashed about in. It was almost an attack on all of your senses. The crashing of the waves, the sound and feel of the warm breeze, the taste of the salt and the sight of the exquisite coastline - it felt great to be back.

It clouded over at about four in the afternoon, still hot though and we sweated all the way back to the main drag where we sank into a shaded seat in Mai Thai, one of our old haunts from two years ago. The first beer didn't touch the sides!

That first evening we found another one of our favourite places, Prime Steakhouse. It likewise was on he main drag but had previously been situated round the corner on Soi Kanjanomai, the food in my opinion though had improved. Succulent steak and an impressive rack of lamb; come on, I know what your thinking, supposed to be on a pension. You make sacrifices elsewhere when the food is this serious.

The next morning Lynn was suffering a little with the excesses of the previous day's sun, we decided to give the beach a miss. I went off to find someplace for breakfast and eventually, (after running the gauntlet of massage, food, suits and good time), found a new one on me - The Coffee Club.

The Hilton Hotel dominates this part of Hua Hin and I thought this classy looking establishment belonged to them, it didn't. It's privately owned, do cracking breakfasts and brunches and probably the best coffee in town.

We walked to the Market Village shopping mall later in the afternoon on that Saturday, just for something to do with us shunning the beach and the weather becoming stormy. They have everything in here, including pets. Not only your average puppy or kitten though. Miniature horses, sheep, goats, llama and rabbits; a cornucopia of feather and fur.

That evening we met up with my former army buddy Steve. He lives out here now and arranged for us to meet at the Peony Hotel, five minutes walk from ours for an all you can eat buffet for £7. It was great to catch up and eventually we did have our predicted storm which knocked out all the electric in town for a few hours.

We arrived back at our place in the dark, found our torches and got into bed just as the lights came back on. That storm was the first one we'd seen in Asia and as it worked out our last. The weather for the succeeding ten days would be hot - damned hot!

Mai Thai, our favourite bar in Hua Hin

Best Coffee in town

Best steak in town

Best beach around

Soi Bintabaht - "Massage Sir?"

Market Village - "Goat or llama sir?"

Travel plans scuppered but we recovered well - now to hit the beach.

Weds 27th April

My Google Map App showed the Prescott Hotel was only a 10 minute walk from KL Sentral Station, after the palaver we'd had regarding the train plus the weight of the bags combined with the incessant heat in the city, we took a taxi.

The hotel was a stone throw away from the station, we could see trains flying past down below our window, over in the distance I made out one of the towers, hardlyvisible through the heat haze. The day finally caught up with us both and after eight hours trying to get comfy on a train we crashed out on the bed for a couple of hours.

Refreshed by the cat nap we decided to recce the route to the station for the morning as there was an express train link from there to the airport. It did only take minutes to reach, that was however without rucksacks, plus it would be hotter in the morning. The station is surrounded by a huge shopping centre, that has to be negotiated before finding the platforms. Eventually we found the airport link terminal, so now we'd know where to come in the morning, we also knew the cost of the journey.

It was a short hop on the metro to the towers. Last time we were here Lynn didn't have her camera, this time she busily snapped away, the sky an odd hazy colour this time but stunning nonetheless. We blew any ideas out of the water regarding finding the night spots of KL, it was getting late and we were tired. A quick drink and bar snacks in an Irish Pub nearby sufficed, taxi back to the hotel - bed!

I enquired at reception in the morning as to how much a taxi would cost to the airport. It was the same price as the train, a no brainier then! What better than door to door service?

Our taxi driver (an Indian gentleman) gave us an interesting commentary about our journey, he also explained about the Malay holiday weekend that had scuppered our original plans. In under an hour we reached our terminal for the Air Asia flight to Bangkok, the baggage drop and departure hall were heaving, it seem that all of Malaysia was on the move.

It was a short hop into Don Mueang airport where we took a taxi directly to the mainline station in the city centre. I was going to ensure we had a ticket in our hands the day before travel. In fact, it had been prudent to do so, the 8am train was filling up fast. We took a cab to my sisters and sorted out our gear for the following day, we downsized considerably, you don't need too much for twelve days at the beach.

There were lots of people waiting for trains out of Bangkok in the morning, we managed to find a seat and went in search of breakfast. The only place open was Dunkin Doughnuts - it sufficed. There was also a convenience store nearby,, we stocked up on a few snacks for the journey?

Our train pulled into platform 7, a three car deisel multiple unit (for the benefit of the enthusiasts), it was clean, cool and had reclining seats, journey time, a little under four hours.

A stern faced ticket inspector checked our documents, yes, even railway staff are dressed like they'd be happy giving you an internal inspection for drugs. The girl pushing the trolley seemed nice enough though. Even nicer was the free coffee, bun and bottle of water you received from Thailand State Railways.

We neared our destination, Hua Hin and from inside our air cooled carriage with tinted windows it seemed rather dull outside. The weather forecast had been for storms all week - not boding well for a beach break then! We alighted onto a busy platform, immediately some of the Asian passengers began to take selfies next to the train, a wedding couple were also having pictures taken and our guard with the porn star moustache was waving his flags to get the train moving - it was also roasting hot.

After shunning an overpriced offer for a taxi we decided to walk to our guesthouse. It was only about 10 minutes walk, we'd visited here before and I'd downloaded the map from their website.

Now dripping with sweat we found our hotel on Soi Salakem in the nightlife area of town known as The Bintabaht.

Jings is situated in a small courtyard, our room wasn't quite ready so we had a beer, very welcome after the walk in those temperatures. My sister had actually explained the night before that there was a heatwave affecting most of SE Asia so us landing to blistering heat after the coolness of Australia now made sense.

Our room was perfect for our twelve day stay and once again immaculently clean. We could use the communal kitchen area in the courtyard for brews and more importantly we were only a five minute walk to the public beach area - now then, where did I pack those trunks? 

Strange coloured backdrop to the towers 

Early morning on Bangkok Station

The free snacks were a bonus

Don't mess about with him on the train

Thought they could have afforded a church

A busy platform

Our room for 12 days

 

Beating the heat but suffering with transport

  Tuesday 26th April

The weather forecast was set for thunder, we awoke to another morning of blistering muggy heat, a storm would have gone down a treat.

We decide not to purchase another day pass for the metro so it meant a trip into town to City Hall station to get our deposit back on the previous day's ticket, that S$20 would buy us breakfast in Starbucks.

St Andrews Anglican Cathedral was situated opposite the entry to the Raffles Shopping Mall, we dodged the heavy traffic (hardly any motorbikes here - more luxury car) and went into the peaceful gardens, an oasis in a cacophonous environment. Ageless beauty surrounded by modern structures - a place to reflect.

My own personal reasons for visiting this place of worship were to remember my great uncle Bernard who was captured by the Japanese in Singapore after they torpedoed the troop ship he was sailing in on. I wondered if he'd been marched past this building before being transported eventually to Formosa (now Taiwan) to work in a lead mine. If he did, would he have been thinking of England as he trudged past this gothic masterpiece, a building that would remind many in captivity of home? I tried to imagine the scene around the cathedral in his minds eye. No high rise, no shopping malls, no pounding traffic intersections. Just doom, gloom and probably bitterness towards his captors.

It was only a short walk across another busy intersection to a war memorial to honour all those civilians who were killed during the Japanese occupation. A towering concrete structure curves into the air surrounded by peaceful water featured greenery, lovingly tended to by gardeners. Midday, and at this point it was getting really hot, we needed some air-con - over to another shopping mall.

Our mission was to get down to see the rest of Marina Bay and according to the map we could reduce our exposure to the sun by "Mall Hopping", might just have to copyright that saying? And so we did, stopping once for water then ice cream, we managed eventually to reach our intended destination.

The Singapore Flyer dominates an area of Marina Bay used for expos and trade shows but it's more than just a big wheel. You can book one of the pods and be revolved for as long as it takes to serve and eat a three course meal. Even better, book it in the evening and you get to watch the amazing light show from the gardens.

We wandered around the complex that has been built around it and could look up into the pods as it stopped at the entry station. The view across to the gardens and the Marina Sands Hotel was just as stunning in the day as it was at night. We strolled along a man made embankment towards the city, the sea held back by a huge gate forming a calm lagoon. I wondered if Uncle Bernard had been out there on the open sea, maybe in his life jacket, struggling to get ashore!

The layout of this part of the bay was very futuristic, even stranger was the full sized football pitch floating on the water with an open seated area for about 5000 spectators looming over it. Apparently it had been a location for a previous youth olympics.

We were now heading for the areas known as the Quays and dominating the whole panorama of colonial surrounded by modern was the famous white statue of the Merlion, spewing water back into the lagoon. Not a myth or part of Malay folklore, the lion headed fish was only initially used in Singapore as a tourist marketing image. Observing the crowds photographing it - it's worked, the place was packed.

The Quays are also dominated by the Fullerton Hotel which has not been crowded out by modern edifices. Built in 1919 it has served as offices, a general post office and since 2001 a five star luxury hotel. It is surrounded on one side by hugh corporation skyscrapers and to the waterside by trendy eateries and other old buildings regenerated into more luxury hotels. 

We chose a waterfront bar to take advantage of a two for one offer on beer and wine, it was our little indulgence for that day and although we agreed to come back in the evening to see the bay all lit up, it didn't pan out that way.

To be honest, the heat had probably got to us that day. After travelling back on the metro we decided to eat at another Hawker venue nearby and get an early night before the 6am start in the morning. Our choice this evening was the Food Loft, a larger, and more cleaner looking place than the previous evening. The food was okay but again we were slightly lost on what to order, in the end I went to a stall run by Vietnamese and had duck. Lynn ordered some tempura dishes from another stall, she wasn't impressed, not spicey enough for her!

The next morning we were up bright and early for our taxi ride to Victoria Road bus station. It only took minutes as the traffic had not yet built up. A coach was waiting and although probably lost in translation, we eventually got on a bus heading for Johor Bahru, that's over the causeway into Malaysia - there isn't a train anymore from Singapore.

The coach was packed and we were carrying all our gear. It stopped and we all had to get off for the border control - Singapore side. By the time we got down the stairs to the coach bay our transport had left, panic kicked in slightly but a kindly Indian lady explained another would be along in a minute.

It arrived,  much to our relief, we then drove on over the causeway to the Malay side, where, once again, we all got off for passport control - ditto with the coach, we were left high and dry until the next one turned up.

Getting on I mentioned we were going to the train station, I received a cursory nod from the driver. When we passed a sign pointing to JB Sentral, the train station, I panicked again, we were heading away from it. In fact, we arrived at the town's coach station, miles away. He ushered us off the bus, we refused, he sort of explained this was the end of the line - bugger - time to look for a taxi.

We did find the taxi office and did get to the station in time but not without a bit of drama thrown in for good measure, it had been worth getting up a bit earlier in the end.

Our tickets cost us about £8 each for the eight hour journey to Kuala Lumpur. We were breaking up the journey there rather than in Butterworth, our aim was to book the onward tickets at KL Sentral. Well, that had been the original plan, unfortunately we didn't know that Malaysia's holiday weekend coincided with the Bank Holiday back home. I looked stunned as the booking clerk told me there were no train seats available the next day, even more when she said it was the same the day after, everyone was going north on a train, or so it seemed.

When in doubt, go for a coffee. We found a Starbucks on the station concourse which meant not just sustenance but wifi. I perused the web for a flight out of KL to Hua Hin, our intended destination on the train, no luck on Air Asia. We had to think quickly and our option was to fly back to Bangkok, stay one night at my sisters then get the train to Hua Hin the next day (Friday).

Air Asia have an office at the station, we booked our seats and only just got on, booked a taxi to our hotel, The Prescott, which in fact, we could have walked to if not for the heat. Thankfully our flight was at 14.20 the next day, not an "early dart" so time enough for a last look round KL.

St Andrew's Cathedral

The civilian War Memorial

The Singapore Flyer

The futuristic Bay Area

The Singapore Merlion

The Fullerton Hotel

Our last meal in Singapore was in here