Hau-Hin Seaside Guesthouse?

Try guesthouse-suspended-over-the-sea.

I am currently residing, with sandy toes, in Hua-Hin. I arrived yesterday via a government bus from Bangkok. Hau-Hin is a popular and close vacation spot for a lot of locals from Bangkok. I would have hoped to travel farther south down the coast, but Joe and Traci already left for India and I don't want to get too far behind them--hence, my mini two day trip to the beach. The ride was a lot of fun. I was the only non-Thai beach goer on the large bus. That made me happy.

After staying in a lack luster hotel last night, I woke up early this morning to go out searching for a better hostel. And better did I find! Tonight I'm staying at the Siriam Guesthouse which is an old fisherman's house that has been renovated into a bare bones guesthouse. The rooms are found at the end of a long deck. They are suspended on old rickety posts, literally hoovering over the tides. I hear the waves splashing under my bed. And! There is a big large communal deck at the end of the rooms were you can find me journaling and reading more often than not. And as if that wasn't enough... the guesthouse's owners have four rolly pug dogs that run around the decks that love to have sex right outside my room. I love Hau-Hin!

The beaches are pretty great--once you can navigate away from the large hotels that line the northern portion of Hau-Hin. Today I laid out all morning. And swam and swam and swam until my fingers got pruny. I haven't done that since I was a little kid. Hau-Hin is know for its big boulder beaches. Dotting the beaches, amongst white sand are huge huge boulders. Everywhere. 7am this morning these boulders proved to be a mecca of tidepooling fun for this Oregonian, Outdoor School kid.

I ate dinner last night at a little seaside hut. I had squid, caught off shore that day and some rice. My toes were in the ocean and the guy serving me had to keep pulling my little knee high table back as the tide came in. It was so perfect.

Hau-Hin is also know for it's sex vacationers. I was not prepared for this, despite coming from Bangkok. In Bangkok the sex industry is at least a bit more discret--here it's in your face. Everywhere I go there are Nana couples--creepy older, white men with young Thai women. I realize now why there aren't many other young travelers here. It's hard to see so much of this ugliness everywhere. Part of me wants to just ignore them and pretend this beach is perfect. And the other part of me wants to stare and take pictures of them in hopes of possibly sparking a glimmer of guilt in these pigs. Bahh.

Overall, I'm glad I made it to the beach before I leave for India. It feels good to relax all day before the madness of my full days of work start in Kolkata. Also, I think venturing away from Bangkok did me a lot of good in terms of confidence as a solo traveler. I can feel my skin getting thicker. Not in the indifferent sort of way, but in a adventurous, go go GO adventurous sort of way. It feels good.