After a couple of days in Bangkok, we were ready to escape to the beach. We didn't want to spend too long on the train and we were too cheap to fly, so we decided to head for Hua Hin, a beach resort town about 200 km south of Bangkok. The train was only supposed to take four hours, so we figured it wouldn't be too bad. Well, we arrived at the train station and discovered that second-class air-con was sold out. No problem, we thought, we can do second-class fan. We've been here for six weeks. We're like real Thais now! The heat doesn't bother us the way it bothers these silly tourists in their bucket hats and fanny packs. For good measure we decided not to buy Isabella her own seat since kids under four are free.
As soon as we got on the train, we began to realize what a spectacularly bad idea it was. We weren't in our seats for two minutes before we began to sweat through our clothes. The train quickly filled up, which meant that Dave had to sit with Isabella (and her thick fleece blankie) on his lap. The train travelled too slowly to get any air moving in the cars. At one point people meandering along the tracks were overtaking us. That was the point when I seriously contemplated vaulting out the window and continuing on foot.
The train stopped approximately every 500 metres. In the time it sat at each station, we could have gotten off, walked to the next station, and enjoyed an icy cold Fanta while waiting for it to arrive. It was excruciating. Olivia was bored out of her mind. In desperation I gave her my cell phone to play with, and, in a segment of time I like to consider the highlight of the trip, for 30 minutes straight she alerted me to the passing of each minute. "Oh, look, Mommy! It's 1:32! Hey, Mommy! Now it's 1:33! Mooooommmmmmy! It's 1:34 now!"
The trip ended up taking over six hours, and by the time we arrived, I was feeling homicidal. We got off the train, marched straight over to the ticket window, and bought second-class air-con tickets for the trip back. And you better believe this time we bought Isabella her own seat.
Hua Hin was pretty nice. It was the first Thai beach we visited, and it for sure beats the sloughy lake "beaches" we have at home. It isn't as nice as the beaches further south, however, and the beach by our hotel was unfortunately quite polluted with trash (and jellyfish). But the water was really warm and the scenery was beautiful. Our hotel had a great kids' pool that the girls LOVED.
We spent two really nice afternoons at the beach, and it really whetted our appetite for Thai seaside resorts. As soon as we got home, we started researching other places to go, and we quickly decided to visit Krabi and Koh Samui. In order to make this future trip enjoyable rather than torturous, we booked flights, glorious flights! Yeah! I still think our trip to Hua Hin was worth it, if only for the valuable lessons learned. Sipping a drink while relaxing on the beach ain't too shabby, either, even if the kids are screaming about sand crabs the entire time.
** P.S. It's "mâi eek láew"
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