The royal resort of Hua Hin is a delightful sleepy little town in SE Thailand. There are no famous tourist attractions, not too many girlie bars and a lovely long sandy beach. The first week of our visit coincided with a travelling market and a funfair, so there was extra activity there. This was around the time of the queen's birthday (9th August if I recall) so there may have been a connection. There are a few shops and a small night market, a golf course and a pretty little railway station. The royal palace is not open to the public and there's little to see from the road, the bars and restaurants are mainly centred close to the Sofitel Central, so it makes that a very convenient hotel to stay at.
Formerly the Railway Hotel, the Sofitel has been renovated and the original colonial style retained. It is a lovely hotel with large airy but somewhat dark, comfortable rooms, the ceilings are high and have a centrally mounted fan. The service was outstanding and the gardens beatifully maintained with magnificent topiary displays. A ssuperb pool area led down to the beach where there was a watersports shack that stayed closed throughout our stay - I really wanted to go diving but there was little chance of that. A baby elephant was regularly paraded round the grounds and the pool area and guests were encouraged to feed him bananas. Special displays and events, such as ice carving and cooking, were held fairly regularly and we even got an invite to the manager's cocktail party (not everyone did). An Italian couple got married there, in the Thai style, and we were all invited. There was a great trip to the River Kwai that we went on (see my opinion under Kanchanaburi) and a jeep trip to the Pala Uh waterfalls. The waterfalls have 7 stations and we went as far as the fourth, where we were able to swim in the lagoon - I didn't catch Weil's disease or dengue feaver or anything nasty like that, so I guess its quite safe. Be prepared to wade through fairly fast running rivers up to your waist, climb steep wooded slopes and don't expect gourmet food but its a fun day out.
We had only one mildly unpleasant experience in Hua Hin, and that was the day we arrived. On arrival we could here drums beating on the beach, right in line with our room. When we strolled down there was a group of youngsters dancing and cavorting, and generally having a good time. That was fine, except that the drums carried on right through the night and were still going a 7 o'clock the next morning. It appeared to be a group of gypsies or hippies who were clearly high on something but I'm glad to say they moved on the next day.
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Sightseeing
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