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!
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