Trip to Thailand, January 2013
Thursday 1/3, Day 9
We woke up at 6:30 and went out for a walk around the hotel grounds, since at 9:00 at night it had been too dark to see anything of the grandly named “Garden View Hotel.” Now we saw the gardens, and they were puzzling and lovely—beautifully landscaped (in places), and also in the midst of massive renovations (in others). The hotel looked like construction had been abandoned weeks or months before, with just piles of rubble and dust around a gorgeous, jewel-toned infinity-edged pool with elaborate tiling. There was no sign of work progressing—no tools, equipment, or even “pardon our appearance while we are remodeling” signs which we would find ubiquitous in the US. At any rate, with the exception of the large piles of rubble, the rest of the grounds were much fancier than the insides of the cabin might imply. We saw lots of birds, a bunny, ducks, and a creamy beige squirrel frolicking about, and Marcus ran and climbed and kicked around a ball for a bit.
All week long Marcus was telling fanciful stories about a golden coconut. Here, we spotted a golden squirrel!
Enjoying the hotel grounds.
Right, our bungalow for the evening.
Breakfast on a terrace, near birds and fish.
At 7:00, which was when the free breakfast was supposed to start, I wandered over to the main building but saw no sign of food or people. By 7:30, Marcus, Samantha, and I, and two Malaysian motorcycle couples managed to raise a person by poking our heads into every possible door and calling in various combinations of languages. The woman assured us that breakfast was on our way. Meanwhile one of the Malaysian men and I chatted—they’d spent seventeen days riding up to Laos and now were on their next to last day of riding back south on their way home. In his lovely British-inflected accent he told me about his trip, and pushed away my compliments on their gear and outfits (sleek, matching helmets and suits, beautiful trunks and side compartments on their bikes), and eventually some breakfast began appearing.
It seemed there was no choice in the matter, and the plates came out in random dribs and drabs. Toast with butter and marmalade. A hot dog wrapped in a slice of ham, with two eggs sunny-side up, some sliced cucumbers and tomatoes with some mayonnaise-dressed noodle salad. Freshly sliced pineapple.
George and Pat had emerged from their cabin by this point, and finally all of us were eating. Marcus ate the hot dog newly wrapped in a piece of limp toast, and the other piece of toast with butter. I ate the eggs and some pineapple. Sam wished for rice or good noodles or congee, and settled for a piece of toast instead.
We were all on the road by 8:15 and at Hua Hin by 10:00. We tried to make our way onto the beach, where supposedly there are kites to rent, horses to ride, and squid piers, but we got bad directions and ended up crisscrossing around the back of a bunch of hotel private beaches instead. It didn’t matter, as Marcus ran and splashed and played in the sand either way, so it was fine.
Stopping in Hua Hin.
Overlooking the squid piers.
Walking down to the beach.
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Created: 1/15/13. Last Modified: 1/15/13.