A Brief Stay in Hua Hin

[RonanTheBarbarian]

Sightseeing around Hua Hin

As I was staying in Hua Hin for only a three nights I decided that to get the best out of it I would hire services of a guide called Suphot to guide me for a day. As most regulars on the board will be aware Suphot is the partner of board member Smiles.

Suphot picked me up from the hotel around ten and we had a full day out until around six.
First step was the Mrigadayavan Palace, the summer palace of Rama VI. It is a few miles north of town.

An unusual design, very Thai. Pic below:

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Then we went to Monkey Mountain (Khao Takiab Hill), a few miles south of town (right beside where the ferry gets in actually). Has a Buddhist wat on a hill with good views all around and also, as the name suggest, swarms of monkeys.

Then headed for Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park, stopping off at a place Suphot suggested for lunch. Aimed at locals, with a menu in Thai only, it is the sort of place I never would have stepped in if I wasn’t with him I got a really nice lunch of pork and rice for something like 40 baht.

I had told Suphot I was interested in seeing the Phra Nakhorn cave, within the bounds of the park. I had read about it, it is famous for having a one hundred year old Buddhist Pavilion built right inside the cave. But had not realised how much of a rig-ma-role was involved. First we entered the National Park which was 100 Baht for me in 40 for Suphot. Then to get to the cave we had to on a boat around a headland to get to a beach nearer it. This involved walking out into the waves to hop into to a long-tail boat that brings you in five minutes around to the beach. That cost 400 baht return. Then after landing at the beach, go to up the path to the cave.

I had read somewhere that this was half an hour away from the beach. But I didn’t realise until I was on it that it is 30 minutes of a steep climb up steps to the cave mouth, and then you go quite steeply downhill again to get to the pavilion.

You need a to have a good level of mobility to manage it. But I was all worth it when I got to the chamber in the cave with stunning view of the pavilion in the middle of the cave as sunlight streams in from he collapsed roof (Pic below).

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After that it was on the way back to town, with a quick stop off at Rajabhakti Park to say hello the 7 humongous statues of the old Thai kings that the Thai military has installed as a rather bombastically nationalist new tourist attraction just south of Hua Hin.

All on all a very good day. I would enthusiastically recommend Suphot as a to anybody who is looking for a guide around Thailand. Also does multi-day trips for people who want to see other parts of the country . He is a careful driver and his English, although a bit idiosyncratic is fine to understand and he is calm easy-going presence to have around.