Monkeys and Private Beaches

Last weekend was our "field trip" with the Business School exchange program through Thammasat University.  But, this was no field trip to the Natural History Museum.  It was seriously unlike any field trip before.  They drove us about 2 hours southwest to the Dusit Resort in Cha-Am, Thailand (near Hua Hin).  The Dusit Resort is one of the top five resorts in Thailand.  It was so nice.  I shared a room with Jon (from USC as well).  As soon as we checked in, we threw on our board shorts and headed to the pool then walked to the beach.  The pool was great.  The beach was great.  Just everything was perfect at the Dusit.  And Thammasat made sure that we had a good time - they had everything taken care of for us.  We were provided with four meals at the restaurant at the Dusit.  It was a buffet type meal so it was nice to able to try Thai dishes without the obligation to finish it if it wasn't good.  

The next day, we had to check out of the Dusit and Thammasat took us to the king's summer palace in Cha-Am.  It was pretty cool.  right on the beach.  And apparently in that area, they have a problem with the wildlife and bugs, so to combat this problem, the whole palace was raised off the ground.  It looked like all of the living quarters were on the second story of the building with open air below.  pretty interesting architecture.  after the palace, we were supposed to return back home to Bangkok, but our crew decided to go ahead and stay the weekend.  so Thammasat drove us back to the Dusit and we caught taxis into Hua Hin.  we checked into this pretty shady "guesthouse."  (basically guesthouse is a nice word for hostel in Thailand.)

Things I learned from this guesthouse:

-how to flush a toilet without running water - when provided with only a bucket of water

-water front does not mean on the beach; it means on the water

-always read lonely planet before going anywhere (this place was described as dark and gloomy - it lived up to its description)

Hua Hin was an interesting village.  It wasn't quite my cup of tea.  Sex tourism doesn't really bother me - except for when it's in your face.  That's how Hua Hin was.  It was a bunch of European men in their 60s with Thai women probably no more than a day over 18.  It was just a bit much for the time we were there.  But - that being said - the beach was nice and it's always nice to explore around Thailand.

The next day, we packed up from dark and gloomy and caught a taxi down to Prachuap Khiri Khan.  This wasn't an average taxi ride though.  We had karaoke in the taxi.  It was quite fun and made the two hour drive a bit more enjoyable.  After having stayed in dark and gloomy, we couldn't wait to check in to what lonely planet described as slightly charmless.  yes, charmless.  needless to say, we were less than thrilled to check in.  But when we arrived, we discovered that lonely planet is not always right.  This place was great.  Awesome Thai hospitality.  Even though the staff didn't speak English beyond "Good Morning," it was still a very nice place.  But - still no flushing toilets.  I must say, I'm learning so much in Thailand - more than I ever expected.  Who'dve though that I would be forced to flush a toilet without running water??

We arrived near sunset at Prachuap Khiri Khan so we got some cool pictures of the sunset on the beach then headed next door to our hotel.  Again - awesome hospitality (it never gets old saying that).  Our waiter and waitress were Act and Bird.  They were so nice that we invited them out with us that night.  The next day, they were at our guesthouse bright and early to take us out on a fishing boat to explore the local islands.  When we arrived on the fishing pier, they were still cleaning the fish off the boat.  it was a very different experience.  Bird and Act had arranged to have the boat for 2 hours - but (thai time) we had the boat for about 3 1/2 hours.  we drove off to the private island.  it was like something out of a movie - no one else around - no other boats around - we had to jump off the boat and then swim to the island.  it was so cool.  after we were done on the island, bird and act phoned their restaurant and had them cook up some food for us and have it waiting for us when we got back.  so nice of them.

The next morning we woke up and went to Monkey Temple - the main attraction of Prachuap Khiri Khan.  The temple sits at the top of a mountain.  The only way to the temple is to climb 365 stairs - through a sea of monkeys.  This was also like something out of a movie.  Monkeys were everywhere.  And not too nice.  One jumped up and grabbed my bottle of water out of my hands.  Then opened it and drank the whole thing.  But we made it to the temple and it was quite the sight.  An awesome view of the village.  After that, we hopped on the bus for 200 baht (6 bucks) and we were back in Bangkok in a matter of hours.

Last night, we went out to this club called BED.  The club itself has a very cool design.  From the outside, it looks like a spaceship.  The whole interior is white.  It's a two story club with beds lining the dance floor.  It's a two bottle minimum to get a bed.  So there were 6 of us last night - so we got a bed.  We paid 3,000 baht for a bottle.  The club closed around 2 am.  Overall, it was very cool - definitely near par with LA. 

For this weekend, we're gonna try and integrate ourselves with some thai Thammasat students.  They're going to take us out this weekend.  Tonight, a girl named "noon" and her friends are taking us to the top of the intercontinental hotel on the helicopter pad where a DJ is playing.  Apparently  this is a once a month party called "HELI."  Should be cool and have some pretty cool views of Bangkok - since it's one of the tallest buildings in the city.