Boxing Day dawned bright and clear, and I woke up to one of my favorite views: the clear blue waters of the Gulf of Thailand and Monkey Mountain in the distance. The weather in Bangkok has been (slightly) cooler lately for winter, but in Hua Hin it's still sunny and warm.
Hua Hin, the royal resort town just three hours southeast of Bangkok, is one of my favorite places to spend a holiday. I had left Bangkok immediately after work on Friday, Christmas Day, heading for the coast.
Monkey Mountain in the distance
Hua Hin is quite unlike most other Thai beach towns. It's quiet, laid-back, tranquil, and fairly upscale. It's a far cry from the backpacker beaches and other tourist hotspots like Phuket or Pattaya. Hua Hin may not have the most beautiful beaches in Thailand, but it's the perfect place to relax for a few days.
looking out to sea
I didn't have any big plans for the weekend. Mostly, I thought I would just take the chance to escape the city and relax by the sea with a good book. By sheer coincidence, some friends of my girlfriend happened to be in Hua Hin for the weekend as well. They had a car and were planning to visit Hua Hin Hills Vineyard, and invited me along.
Hua Hin Hills Vineyard
The vineyard is about 40 minutes by car from Hua Hin, in the hills between the sea and the Burmese border. I last visited a vineyard four years ago in Stellenbosch. Unfortunately, there was no goat cheese at HHH like at Fairview. Instead, Hua Hin Hills had some pretty unique and delicious grape ice cream!
elephants at the vineyard
Besides just eating ice cream, we rented some mountain bikes to check out the trails amongst the grapes. I've always loved mountain biking, and even took it as a PE course in college. The hilly trails looked easy at first, but soon turned out to be a pretty good workout! The views were incredible though.
the vineyard
I would have never even known that the vineyard was there! Just looking at the scenery, I might not have even guessed that I was in Thailand. This country is often full of surprises. These things happen when you get off the normal tourist trails.
This year, as usual, we had to proctor midterm exams on Christmas Day, but at least it was a Friday, so it's like we got to have Christmas weekend off. It's not much, but it's something at least. We make the most of it though, with Christmas music and lots of snacks.
Before we all went home on Friday afternoon, the English department gathered together in our office for a Christmas party and secret santa gift exchange.
Of course, nothing is allowed to happen in Thailand without dozens... no... hundreds of photos to prove it! I've gotten used to that by now.
Besides, I have a new hat that I'm quite fond of!
I wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year. We just have two days of work before the New Year holiday.
It's been several months, but over the past weekend I was once again given the chance to head north to Mae Sot, for the fifth time since moving to Thailand. Our school in Bangkok was closed on Friday due to Bike For Dad (a large city-wide Father's Day bike ride) shutting down the streets around the school, so Geoffrey decided that it was a good time to visit Mae Sot and try to see the students in school.
View of the mountains from the scenic viewpoint coffee shop
Since we usually visit Mae Sot on holidays, this was the most students I had ever seen at the school. As we arrived, we were swarmed by dozens of small children screaming, laughing, and saying "hello, how are you?" while trying to grab our hands. They never acted like that with us in the past. Maybe it's because this trip, Geoffrey invited my girlfriend, Pinky along. The kids loved her!
It's nearly time to celebrate Christmas at the school
After checking in at the Erawan Hotel (no, not that Erawan Hotel), we went out to do some sightseeing around the western part of Tak Province, where Mae Sot is located. After our traditional stop at the border market, we went to Mae Kasa, where there is a small waterfall and a hot spring.
Mae Kasa Waterfall
After spending a large portion of the early afternoon walking all over in my Chaco sandals, I appreciated soaking my feet in the hot water. There's a resort at the hot springs with some mineral baths that you can rent; it seems like a relaxing place to stay for a night or two. Mostly, people were enjoying boiling onsen eggs in the hot mineral water.
Mae Kasa Hot Spring
Of course, no trip to Mae Sot is complete without the requisite trip to "KFC" (read the former Mae Sot posts to get that reference). The weather that evening was beautiful, actually a little cool! Sitting outside in the cool winter breeze, I could almost believe that it's nearly Christmastime. The decorations at the restaurant helped too.
Christmas at "KFC"
We never stay for longer that one night in Mae Sot, which makes for an exhausting weekend (but always memorable and enjoyable). We got back from the restaurant around 8 pm, and I was asleep almost instantly!
The next morning began a bit later than the one before, but we were on the road by 8 am, just in time to hear the national anthem playing on the radio as we pulled out of the hotel parking lot. Amazingly, it was actually cold that morning! Can you believe it!? Cold in Thailand!
To tell the truth, I have never been up to Mae Sot in the winterbefore, and haven't spent any time at all up in other areas in the north. I know, I really need to get to the famous Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai sometime. It seems wrong that I've lived in this country for three years and haven't visited some of the most famous cities! Most of my trips have been to the south or around the central provinces. I had heard that it would get cooler in the north-it reached a record 3ºC (37ºF) in the mountains of Chiang Mai this week - but I've never experienced that myself. All I've seen are a few sub 80º days in Bangkok when we can shut off the aircon and open the windows of the office.
But it was actually quite chilly in the morning as we left Mae Sot - 53ºF as we stood and looked out over the sea of fog at the scenic viewpoint coffee shop on our way down the mountains. That's a sight I've never seen before in Thailand. It was incredible.
And here's a short bonus videos of some monkeys we stopped to visit on the way back to Bangkok!
The River Kwai, of course, is the site of a very important episode from the Second World War, and the subject of both a book and the well-known film starring Sir Alec Guinness (none other than Mr. Ben Kenobi himself). The film tells the true story of the British and Australian POWs who were forced by their Japanese captors to build the "Burmese Death Railway" linking their occupied territories in Southeast Asia. The railway cuts through the mountains at "Hellfire Pass," and finally crosses the river at the infamous bridge. Hundreds of POWs died building the railway.
In remembrance of this history, Kanchanaburi puts on a sound and light show every December at the bridge, telling the story of the bridge's construction with narrative, acting, and fireworks simulating bombs and cannon fire. A Japanese patrol boat cruises back and forth beneath the bridge as an ancient steam locomotive roars across the bridge behind a procession of Allied flags. I got tickets to watch the show from the roof of the War Museum.
The bridge lit up at night during the show (kind of hard to see)
The next morning I walked to the town's main square to go to the Death Railway Museum. The museum is very good and very well-maintained, and holds numerous artifacts donated by the families of former POWs including uniforms, medals, journals, and letters. On the second floor of the museum there is a small café with a huge window that looks out over the POW cemetery with a new large stained-glass window depicting part of the building of the bridge.
stained-glass window
I also spent some time walking around the cemetery. There were a few other foreigners there as well. Some had placed flowers at a few of the tombstones, and one or two had left small Australian flags as well.
Allied War Cemetery
One thing that I really like about Kanchanaburi is how quiet it is- it's possible to walk anywhere you want to go, and there is very little traffic. I have been in Bangkok since October, and I very much needed to get out and have some fresh air and quiet away from all the big city chaos.
Quiet afternoon in Kanchanaburi
The last thing I did during my short trip was visit a large Chinese temple overlooking the river. The temple is very well-designed, and is very different from most temples in Thailand. A huge statue of Guanyin, the Chinese goddess of mercy, look over the bridge.
A Chinese temple on the river
I love the month of December in Thailand, because we get a lot of long weekends! I had Monday off when I went to Kanchanaburi. The next week, I had to work on Tuesday and Wednesday, but then Thursday and Friday was another holiday! I went to Mae Sot again, for the first time this school year. It was remarkably cold at times up in the mountains, and I loved it! I'll write about that soon.
If you happen to be around Siam Square right now, you'll definitely notice the dozens of elephant statues all over the place. Each one was designed by a different artist, and they are to raise awareness for elephant conservation in Thailand. Here are a few of my favorites.
Some of the elephants represent things about Thailand, like the durian (one of my favorites!) and the classic Bangkok tuktuk.
Like the durian, several of the elephants were designed after tropical fruits, like this mangosteen, my favorite Thai fruit...
... and this pomegranate!
This elephant is decorated like a panda.
Some of the elephants were sponsored by different brands, like this one for Chang Beer (Chang means "elephant" in Thai).
Siam is starting to look really Christmassy, and the reindeer elephant fits right in with all the lights and trees that are going up downtown.
Look at this elephant! This is another one of my favorites. His name is "The Most Curious Mr. Hendricks". Isn't that incredible! What a gentleman with his top hat and cup of tea!
