Takiab & Hua Hin Narrative

Our Thai language course was completed. Urana had a two week semester break from her job as a teacher. We decided to try another beach not far from Bangkok. Hua Hin is about a 3 hour bus ride from Bangkok, in the opposite direction (southwest) from Pattaya. It became famous because the King built a palace on the beach so he could get away from Bangkok. He lives there a lot of the time. Hua Hin has a huge night market and many upscale resorts and spas. We found a reasonably priced place on the outskirts of Hua Hin in a beach call Kho Takiab, which turned out to be perfect. We had a beautiful beach with a great view of Kho Takiab mountain, a fishing village below and a fabulous restaurant right at our finger tips. There was horseback riding available on the beach and boat rides to the offshore island, called Lion Island. Finally, there was the Big Buddha which was located on the other side of the mountain. From this side, you can see a view of the Hua Hin beach with its luxury hotels. We preferred our Takiab hideaway. All in all, a perfect beach bums' getaway. Our friend, Pink, drove down from Bangkok with a visitor from LA. She invited us to spend the afternoon at her sister's condo located further north on yet another seluded beach. She also shared her secret of an excellent restaurant in Hua Hin right near the famous night market and brought us to a health food store where Eleanor was able to buy some delicious snacks. Jules