Hua Hin School Trip

On Friday the Rangsit International College Student Union took us on a free school trip. By free, I mean I spent 6. We went to Hua Hin, just Southwest of Bangkok. Hua Hin used to be a small fishing village, but now it is really developed and quite touristic. It's a bit sad to think that the quiet village is long gone and has been replaced by resorts and water parks, especially when you consider that its just one of a few dozen villages that were discovered and developed for tourism. I suppose it's capitalism.

Despite the fact that Hua Hin is really developed now the trip was still very enjoyable. We left at 7:30 am, although I arrived at 6 (due to some miscommunication). It took about 3 hours to get there. We didn't immediately go to the beach, but instead went to Vananava Water Park. The entrance fee was paid for, and my only expense at the water park was a locker fee ($3). I rode all of the slides with 2 Australian girls. I really like water parks so I enjoyed myself. Although I would have rather been at the beach, it was nice to get out of Rangsit and the Bangkok area.

We left the water park around 4:30 and got to our bungalow resort around 5:00. Our bungalows were right on the beach. I could see and hear the ocean from our front porch. Obviously, the first move was to get beers so we took a walk to try to find a 711. There were none in walking distance so we Hey Mistered some guy with a scooter for a ride to the 711. Two of the Finnish girls went because only one guy could fit and we are all about the buddy system. Once they left, we got nervous. Luckily, they came back in 20 minutes with no problems and a backpack full of beer.

Dinner was supposed to be served at 6:30, but because everything on the schedule had been 30 minutes to an hour late, we showed up casually at 6:40 to find that most of the food was already gone. The bulk of my meal was onions and rice. I could care less about the meal because the beer was free.

I had two beers at dinner and then we were given two options: take the bus to the Hua Hin Night Market or stay and drink free beer for 4 hours. The decision was obvious and six of us stayed behind to drink beers. We were exhausted from the water park and we knew that the best markets in Thailand are in Bangkok, and when you've seen one, you've seen them all. I'm not exactly sure but our estimates suggest that the three guys drinking had 35-40 Leo beers. At 11 pm, the resort staff was closing up shop but our Thai friend, Mig, negotiated with them to let us keep the cooler with the beer so we could keep drinking. Free beer is a blessing and a curse because it's free but it will sneak up on you. We left around 1 am walk along the beach to our bungalow, which was identifiable by my American flag swim trunks hanging on the line up front.

Once back, my friend Leo and I walked down to the water and chatted while we had our feet in the water. After an hour or so, an army guy appeared out of nowhere and kicked us off the beach. At home I've never felt threatened by the military or the police, but here the country is under Martial Law and I constantly feel intimidated. We obviously didn't argue with the official and we quickly left the beach.

Breakfast was at 7:00 am but we overslept until 9:30. The bus left at 10:00. Luckily we had lunch at 12. I had a great time. The beach was beautiful and not crowded at all. Everyone that went was really friendly. No one can complain about free beer. And, I didn't have to organize any of the logistics.

The resort cooler Mig got us

The Gulf of Thailand (extension of Indian Ocean)