My Town, Hua Hin

Hmm…this is a tough one. I must start by saying, I’m not much of a fan of cities. They are loud, crowded, push a materialistic lifestyle, encourage people to waste money on stuff they don’t need…just generally make me feel all tense and bothered. So, you’ve got to take this entry with a grain of salt…

Hua Hin is a vacation town. From where the resort is and where I live, it’s about a 10 minute drive down a very busy street of apartment buildings, restaurants, hotels…to the center of town. Its loud. Its crowded. Its filled with shops selling a bunch of tourist crap. There is a nightly market that is 2 blocks long, always packed wall to wall with bodies trying to snatch up all the trinkets Thailand has to offer. (Clearly, these are not guests from my resort…because as you remember from my previous entry, the guests generally don’t step foot outside of the resort, and most don't bother buying things less than $200 in value.) The market attracts vendors selling all sorts of food (lots of unrecognizable mystery balls in various colors that the Thai’s seem to quite enjoy), silk this and that, carvings of elephants and Buddhas, illegally copied DVDs of all the latest Hollywood movies for $5, postcards, sunglasses…your typical fare for a market in a tourist town. After my first trip to town passing all of this, and all of the other tourist trap restaurants and trinket shops, I thought to myself, “Thank you very much. I’m ready to explore outside of town.” Stay tuned for my next blog entry.

However, there is one very redeemable part of this town in my opinion…coffee shops are to Seattle, as quaint little massage shops are to Hua Hin. (Doesn’t this wording remind you of those state-wide intelligence tests given in High School? Not sure where I pulled that out from.) Anyway, this is the best Happy Hour activity in the world! My friend and I walked into one of these places before dinner last week and sat down for an ‘hour foot massage’ that turned out to be 90 minutes and included our legs and shoulders…for $12! including tip! And, yes (I know some of you are wondering…) the place was very clean! Luckily for this anti-city girl, these places are EVERYWHERE, even on the beach. There are little umbrellas set up all along the beach with tables set up, for an hour massage for $7. As a matter of fact, I think I’ll leave this beachside table that I’m sitting at presently and go get one right now! Bye! ☺