We made it. An overnight bus to Bangkok and a three-hour ride south put us where we’ve been trying to get for the past three weeks. Arriving on the beach at Hua Hin, the Gulf of Thailand stretched out before us, flat ocean that went on forever.Part Four: Into the salty shallows of Hua Hin.

Eric and I went straight for the water. The brine here is murky, warm and salty, good for floating but shallow enough to stand even a good way from shore. I walked in like I owned the ocean, letting my feet sink just a bit into the squishy sand with each step. Then I stubbed my toe on a sharp rock. No matter, I kept going, just heading out to sea, until I hit another rock. Then a third. This was really starting to disrupt the triumphant music playing in my head.

Finally I just gave up and floated with the current. Belly up in the tide, I stared at the sky for a few seconds. I could have flown to Bangkok two weeks ago. It would have been cheaper, probably, just hopping down from Beijing. There wouldn’t have been the long nights on sleeper buses when no one slept, or the hassle of finding transportation to the next way point, or border crossings or visas. The overland route is always tougher, but I almost always prefer that way. There are very few travel stories I enjoy that start: “We flew down. It was a decent flight. They served us vodka tonics and pretzels on board.”

Hua Hin seems an odd place to end up, though. Karen recommended it, saying it was the more “chill” option of the beach towns close to Bangkok. I think our definitions of chill differ slightly. I was thinking of something rustic, maybe with some good hiking nearby and back roads where I could ride a bike (motor or not) without having to swerve out of the way of too many cars.

“Retired” might be a better word for this place than “relaxed.” At least, it would describe most of the people we see on the streets. It’s a resort town, as far as I can see, one originally built for (and still used by) the royal family, but now overrun with elderly tourists. And everywhere there seems to be more westerners than Thais.

Further complicating matters, (pretend you’ve just commandeered a U-boat now) Everything’s in German! It’s not a censorship issue this time. Apparently Hua Hin is more popular with German and Scandanavian tourists than with Anglophones, which just makes me realize how much I take for granted English being the international language of just about everything these days.

I have until Thursday before I’m planning to fly back into China. The new semester starts March 5, and I think this is the year I learn Chinese–real, more-than-survival, Putonghua.

One more thing: I’ve been incommunicado for a few days due to traveling, and I’m three or four posts behind. Lest I once again promise to write about somewhere only to forget later, I’m adding a new block to the sidebar listing those upcoming posts. Also, if there’s something you’d like to hear more about, just drop me a comment or an email: eyeseast [at] gmail [dot] com.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 25th, 2007 at 10:53 am and is filed under roadside blogging. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.