Overview
Costs
Food
Hotels
Money
Mobile phones
Weather
Health
VISA
Security
Getting around
Photos

Hua Hin

13.8: Hua Hin
14.8: Hua Hin -> Sam Roi Yot national park -> Hua Hin
15.8: Hua Hin -> KL



Planning and overall impression

We have been in mayn places in Thailand, but until this time we have skipped Hua Hin, probably because if you are looking for a nice beach there are much better places in Thailand. Having already been in most beach places in Thailand, we decided to have a look at Hua Hin, which besides the beach also has some natural and historic sights nearby.
It appears that Hua Hin has a good tourist infrastructure and caters mostly to Asian tourists or western mass tourists. There are for instance night markets and some fun fairs. But Hua Hin also has a surprisingly good beach and to the south there is the Sam Roi Yot national park.


Costs

Costa are moderate and in line with other Thai beach resorts.


Food

There are plenty of eating opportunities, ranging from small and large restaurants and food courts in shopping malls. The food in general is very good.


Accommodation

We stayed in a relatively simple place. The international hotel booking portals list hundreds of hotels in and around Hua Hin.


Money  / Exchange rate (August 2018)

1 Euro = 38 Baht
For current exchange rates check the Universal Currency Converter.


Mobile phones and prepaid cards

Easy to buy a Thai SIM card everywhere in Thailand.



Weather

 It was mostly overcast, with some rain every now and then. Not too hot (top temperatures around 31°C - 33°C).


Health / Vaccinations

The standard set of "tropical" vaccinations, although Hua Hin is a relatively low risk area.


VISA / Entry requirements

Visa on arrival available for visitors of western and other developed countries.


Security

Overall Thailand is a very safe place. 


Getting around

We mainly relied on taxis to get from one place to another.



Continued from the China 2018 travelogue



13.8: Hua Hin
Hotel The Herbs, Hua Hin.
Weather: mostly overcast, with the sky from time to time becoming more blue or having some blue patches. No rain the whole day. Not too hot (top temperatures in the 31-33°C range).

Day spent touring the area with a car+driver (1500 Baht + 200 Baht tip). Basically this guy picks us up at 10am, brings us to a number of places and drops us off at the Hua Hin Market Villa shopping mall at 5:40pm.

The impression I get from Hua Hin is that it has a nice white sand beach, the seawater is not perfectly crystal clear as on an island, but is clean enough that you would swim in it (although when I'm at the beach at 5pm I see nobody swimming in the sea and also no water sport activities).

Hua Hin has an impressive tourist infrastructure. Shops, convenience stores, restaurants, cafes in large numbers. Several attractions, theme parks, things to see and do, even if many of them are very artificial. Basically a beach vacation place for the family, for people who do not expect the best possible sea water quality, but who enjoy eating, shopping and lots of attractions.

Leaving the hotel shortly after 10am the driver brings us to "Mercado de Plearwarn". This is sort of a night market place, with countless food stalls and shops. A very fake place, but you could come here in the evening and have some food and shop some nonsense.

I manage to get the ladies moving out of this place after 20 minutes.

Then we drive to the next place, the Mrigadayavan palace, the former summer palace of king Rama VI built in 1924 (entrance fee: 30 Baht/adult, 10 Baht/child). This is a series of wooden buildings in a park. Moderately interesting place.

Around 11:40am we drive to a roadside restaurant where we have some lunch until 1:10pm. Then we drive to the Santorini theme park.

Entry fee of 150 Baht/person which includes one activity. Additional activities cost 120 Baht (or more, depending on the activity). Surprisingly lots of people in this place, even western tourists. These are all people who for a reason or another don't spend the day on a beach or visiting some national park. Many families with kids.

We are here until about 3:20pm, then drive to the old Hua Hin railway station. This is supposed to be a historic, photogenic place. And in fact it is quite cute.

We stop there for about 10 minutes, then continue driving to the Takiap promontory. There there is a Buddhist temple on a hill with a nice view of Hua Hin and its beach. Large number of monkeys living there.

Then we drive to the Hua Hin beach. Nice sandy beach, and the seawater is reasonably clean. Horses on the beach for rent. Finally we drive to the Hua Hin Market Villa shopping mall.

This ia a nice mall with many eating opportunities. Not too many shops, but lots of restaurants and a good food court. This is a good place where to have dinner. We are back in the hotel at 8pm.




14.8: Hua Hin -> Sam Roi Yot national park -> Hua Hin
Hotel The Herbs, Hua Hin.
Weather: overcast the whole day. Some brief heavy rain at 1:40pm (20 minutes). A bit sunny every now and then, not too hot.

At 10am we leave for the Sam Roi Yot national park with the driver, arriving there shortly before 11am (60km drive). The driver brings us to a small settlement on a beach (the Bang Po beach). This seems to be one of the access points of the Sam Roi Yot national park. From here you could walk in the mud to the boats (it's low tide, the boats cannot make it to the beach) and take a boat to the Laem Sala beach (400 Baht for a boat with up to 6 people). A bit expensive, given that it is a very short boat ride.

The alternative is to walk over a promontory to the Laem Sala beach. By the way, the entry to the national park costs 200 Baht for the adults and 100 Baht for the kids. From the Laem Sala beach to the Tham Phraya Nakhon cave it's a 500m walk.

The mother of Shirley decides to stay behind because she can't walk so much. So the five of us start walking across the promontory. It's a good trail with steps, not too tiring and not that long. In fact we arrive at the Laem Sala beach almost at the same time as other people who took the boat. Walking slowly, we are there at 11:40am.

At the Laem Sala beach there is a restaurant and toilets. From here we continue walking to the cave at 11:45am. Initially the trail is flat, but soon we start climbing up the cliffs. Quite steep in some sections, but in the end we reach the cave in a bit over 20 minutes. Everybody is sweating due to the heat.

The cave is impressive, breathtakingly scenic. Very big, partially open on top so that the light comes in. Actually it's two caves, connected by a short tunnel. A very rewarding place to visit. The final climb is a bit tiring, but the cave is beautiful.

We spend quite some time in the cave. In fact we only start walking back to the beach at 12:50pm. We reach the beach around 1:20pm and have a rest at the restaurant. Right when we are about to continue walking back to the Bang Po beach, it starts raining. Quickly it rains so heavily, that we have to take shelter for a while under a roof.

 When the rain is over, we walk back to the Bang Po beach. Because Natasha is a bit too bold and walks where she shouldn't walk at one point she falls on the stones. Luckily nothing broken, only several scratches.

Between 2pm and 3:15pm we have a lunch at the Bang Po beach (there are several simple beach restaurants). The beach itself is not terribly impressive and not really suitable for swimming because it is too shallow.

At 3:15pm we drive back. On the way the driver stops at the Rajabhakti (Ratchapak) park where there are the statues of seven Thai kings. Then we drive back to Hua Hin and don't do much for the rest of the day.




15.8: Hua Hin -> KL
Flat of Sarah in KL
Weather: overcast first, then some rain before 12pm, then sunny but with lots of clouds in Hua Hin. Tropically hot. In KL sort of blueish sky (with a thin clouds cover), hot, but not too hot (comfortable to walk on the streets). No rain.

We leave the hotel at 9:30am, then drive to the airport. Short drive of 6 km, which the driver does in minutes.

 The Hua Hin airport is very small and at the moment only one Airline flies into it (AirAsia, KL-Hua Hin flight). Only one check-in counter. So we check in and wait for the flight. This is delayed. We were supposed to take off at 11:30am, but in practice only start boarding the plane after 12:10pm. The plane starts rolling after 12:30pm and takes off shortly after that.

The plane, an A320-200, is half-empty, which is unusual for an Airasia flight.

We land in KL after 3pm, then have something at the airport. I get some cash and a Celcom SIM card (65 MYR for 10GB over one month with 25 minutes of local calls). Then we lose some time getting a taxi. The first Grab car we call (a 6-seater) does have six seats, but no space for the luggage. So we call two Grab cars for 72 MYR each (including toll). We reach the flat of Sarah around 6pm. In the evening we don't do much.



Continues with the Malaysia 2018 travelogue



Copyright 2019 Alfred Molon