10 Days In Hua Hin

[Boo]

My aunt & uncle (from UK, in mid 40's & early 50's respectively) are coming to Thailand mid November, after a 3 night stop over in Bangkok where they will try to cram in the main tourist attractions they will be coming to Hua Hin, staying at the Sofitel.

They want to mainly just chill out but would like to do at least one activity/attraction thing a day to break the time up a bit between laying by the pool.

One thing my uncle really wants to see is the death railway in Kanchanaburi. How possible would it be to do the trip from Hua Him in a day? And what would it cost approx for them to hire a private driver to do that trip?

All other times they want local places of interest or trips to take, nothing more than a few hours a day & nothing to strenuous. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks in advance,

[Hornell]

I can give you some advice on this, partly because I was involved in the setting up of the Thailand-Burma Railway Centre in Kanchanaburi and partly because I live in Hua Hin and have sent many people on trips up there. If you wish to contact me I am on 086 166 9899 and would be delighted to help.

[hhfarang]

It can be done in a day (if you start early), as it is only a couple of hours drive, but I would suggest an overnight if possible unless they are willing to start very early and come back late as there is much to see and do in that area. I would recommend a walk through the main memorial cemetery on the main road in Kanchanaburi with some time to read the plaques and some markers and reflect on the horrors of what happened here. Then there is the bridge itself, and associated memorial museum. Up the highway a ways is hel_l Fire Pass (requires a walk and lots of stairs) which is where the prisoners had to dig and blast their way through a granite mountain to lay the railway and on the same highway is large set of beautiful waterfalls and a bit further a natural hot springs that have been made into two pools by Monks (warm and hot) that are famous with Thais and by legend have restorative powers. There is also a Tiger Temple in the area but I'm not sure how close as I've never been to it.

If they have more time (probably require a 2 day overnight trip), you can go a couple of hours north of Kanchanaburi to the Burmese border at Three Pagoda Pass which is the mountain pass that the Burmese armies used in ancient times to cross the mountains to go to war with Siam. There (if you have your passport with you) you can get an on the spot visa to cross into a Burmese border village that specializes in hand made wood carvings and furniture.

If they want to do it in one day they could do the main Kanchanaburi war memorial attractions, hel_l Fire Pass, and the waterfalls in one day (10 to 12 hours counting drive time and time to eat, relax and enjoy the attractions), so in that case I would suggest leaving around sunrise.

On another of their days, they could go to the floating market in Ratchaburi Province. It's a couple of hours from Hua Hin, but again it's best to leave very early in the morning or spend the night there as the tour busses start to arrive from Bangkok between 9 and 10 a.m. so the best time to be there without the crowds is between 7 and 9 a.m.

Petchaburi, forty-five minutes north of Hua Hin, has a mountain with an old Royal Palace on top as well as several old Wats. It's worth a visit if they are interested in that sort of thing. There is an inclined railway to take them up and down the mountain but once on top a lot of walking is involved to see everything.

Nearer to Hua Hin there is the Teak Palace on the gulf between Hua Hin and Cha-Am that is an old style all wood Thai Royal retreat that is now a tourist attraction as well as Sam Roi Yod National Park about an hour south of Hua Hin that has the famous temple inside a cavern (best visited in the morning (around ten) as sunlight streams through a hole in the cavern and lights up the temple. The easiest access to this is by boat although people wanting some strenuous exercise can walk to it. Nearby is the fishing/tourist village of Dolphin Bay where there are frequent sightings of a rare species of white dolphin. Local boats take tourists out to see them but I'm not sure of their percentage of success. We saw a pod of them from the beach last year when we were there walking.

A little less than an hour west of Hua Hin is the Pala U waterfall and park. This is a multi-level water fall that requires a strenuous day hike up and down a mountain to see it all. The first 2 or 3 levels are fairly easy to reach but I've heard that the higher levels are more spectacular if you have the energy and time to make it up there.

[Boo]

wow, thanks both for posting & such helpful information. I will print all this out & give it to them. I have only passed through Hua Hin & stayed a couple of nights in Cha am so had no idea how much was available in the area

Thanks again

[ESB7]

wow, thanks both for posting & such helpful information. I will print all this out & give it to them. I have only passed through Hua Hin & stayed a couple of nights in Cha am so had no idea how much was available in the area

Thanks again

Dont forget Plearnwan mueseum, its fantastic and FREE!!!...packed weekends so maybe choose a weekday, just passed Kings Palace on the way to Cha am.,,That time of year you may have the sunflower fields out towards Wat Monghel, which also is somewhere else to go, about 20-30 min drive West. There is a large market in Cha am every Wednesday from 5pm with bargains galore, local food and a few places to sit and have a drink...Monkey mountain at Takiab is 10 minutes and you can feed the hundreds of monkies that are there.

[alina]

wow, thanks both for posting & such helpful information. I will print all this out & give it to them. I have only passed through Hua Hin & stayed a couple of nights in Cha am so had no idea how much was available in the area

Thanks again

Dont forget Plearnwan mueseum, its fantastic and FREE!!!...packed weekends so maybe choose a weekday, just passed Kings Palace on the way to Cha am.,,That time of year you may have the sunflower fields out towards Wat Monghel, which also is somewhere else to go, about 20-30 min drive West. There is a large market in Cha am every Wednesday from 5pm with bargains galore, local food and a few places to sit and have a drink...Monkey mountain at Takiab is 10 minutes and you can feed the hundreds of monkies that are there.

Market at Cha Am, bargains galore, same as any other market, same stuff at the Grande Hua Hin, same stalls different day.

Please dont try the railway trip in 1 day, you would have to get there about 10am so leave Hua Hin at 7am, best stay over and see the Tiger Temple also, stay another night and go Elephant trekking nad a trip down the river.

[ESB7]

wow, thanks both for posting & such helpful information. I will print all this out & give it to them. I have only passed through Hua Hin & stayed a couple of nights in Cha am so had no idea how much was available in the area

Thanks again

Dont forget Plearnwan mueseum, its fantastic and FREE!!!...packed weekends so maybe choose a weekday, just passed Kings Palace on the way to Cha am.,,That time of year you may have the sunflower fields out towards Wat Monghel, which also is somewhere else to go, about 20-30 min drive West. There is a large market in Cha am every Wednesday from 5pm with bargains galore, local food and a few places to sit and have a drink...Monkey mountain at Takiab is 10 minutes and you can feed the hundreds of monkies that are there.

Market at Cha Am, bargains galore, same as any other market, same stuff at the Grande Hua Hin, same stalls different day.

Please dont try the railway trip in 1 day, you would have to get there about 10am so leave Hua Hin at 7am, best stay over and see the Tiger Temple also, stay another night and go Elephant trekking nad a trip down the river.

Really, not seen Tshirts there for 29Baht..or half the other stuff...what day do they have the same stalls as Cha am?

[Boo]

thought I'd update this.

Aunt & uncle came to Hua Hin & had a great time, I printed out all the replies & I think they did everything suggested. They loved the Burma Railway trip (one day) and the river market. and are now dreaming of a partial retirement in hua hin 6 months of the year

Thanks again for all the help

[ESB7]

thought I'd update this.

Aunt & uncle came to Hua Hin & had a great time, I printed out all the replies & I think they did everything suggested. They loved the Burma Railway trip (one day) and the river market. and are now dreaming of a partial retirement in hua hin 6 months of the year

Thanks again for all the help

Thats great they enjoyed themselves so much and are going to return again.....Hua Hin and the surrounding areas really do have a lot to offer as well as a better climate without flooding and of course logitically placed well with fantastic transport links to almost anywhere in Thailand.

[Boo]

I think the location & the facilities on offer in Hua Hun were just perfect & what made them enjoy it alot more. 2-3 hrs to most everywhere they wanted to go with a lot more on offer even closer.

I think it also helped that I had hubbies family picking them up from airport, driving them to HH etc as it made their lives just a little less stressful (for people with only 2 weeks & no knowledge of thailand before) Their last day in Bangkok they managed to see the royal palace, Jim Thomspon house, have a wander round MBK & then brother in law picked them up from their hotel in Bangkok at around 4pm & they were in Hua Hin, showered & dressed in time for an 7.30pm dinner.