We make it to the beach … finally

Day 37: Bangkok to Hua Hin, Thailand

We have learned to be sure to book the fun, relaxing, part of your vacation at the end of your trip. This came to us many years ago when the kids were young and we had a wonderful relaxing weeklong time at Priest Lake with our good friends Julie and Julian. We then embarked on a weeklong camping trip roughing it in the Canadian Rockies. Still fun, but we should have switched it and instead ended at the beach.

Our next family trip to the Florida Everglades, we did all the adventures first and then finished at Disney World. Yes, we can learn.

On this trip, elephants were the main purpose, so we did that first, and then did it again halfway through, just to make sure we had enough (Well, we didn’t, can you ever have enough elephants?), so we have planned our last week(s) at the infamous Thailand beaches. We even left Bangkok a few days early to get to the beach a bit early.

And we are glad we did.

We leave the bustle of Bangkok right after sunrise and are met with our first real rainstorm. It does have the benefit of cooling things down a bit. We have planned a few too many side trips since we rented a private car again. Yes, Mike, you were right, it is hard to go back once you start, but we rationalized it was the same cost as a day tour, so it really was just the same, right?

Our first stop is the “floating market” that is on most guidebooks front cover. We choose to go to the ‘original’ one that is a good 1 1/2 hour drive outside of Bangkok. We had heard it now exists for the tourist trade – and we found that to be basically true – unfortunately. It was still fun to hop on a boat, zoom through canals and then be in a market where everyone and everything is on boats. Or the vendors are on land and you boat by them. Something to do once. It also didn’t help that our taxi driver didn’t take our directions and brought us to a more expensive boat ride location that Siri knew wasn’t the only way to get there. We had to negotiate a lot, which took a bit of the fun away.

We have recognized that it is just the hustle that everyone is doing to make a living. Tourism is a big part of the economy, so it is all around you, like the family business. For example, our boat driver even stopped purposely at his wife’s stall to get us to purchase something. We felt a bit captive. Not quite a scam, just the hustle of making a buck, or a bhat, as the case may be.

And we stop at his wife’s stall – hoping for a sell

We make it to the actual floating market – not sure what is the ratio of tourists to actual vendors

Fruit seller weaves her way between our baots

It is a bustling market on water – and land

We enjoy seeing that this community really is built along these canals

As we leave the market, these boats remind us of the popular airboats in the Everglades. Just the way to get around in a wet environment.

We head south and visit a cave and a summer Royal Palace that are both known to be overrun by aggressive monkeys. We count ourselves lucky as we are able to enjoy the views and see the monkeys from a distance.