"Majestic" beach and Finnish banana hammocks

After leaving Kanchanaburi we went straight to the beach at Hua Hin -- my next favourite thing to do. We arrived at the Majestic Beach Resort and sadly, it was anything but. Our guide warned us that Hua Hin was full of Scandinavians and I pictured tall blonde lithe figures running around making me wish I had dieted a little more aggressively before I came, but no. Apparently this is a popular place for the 'older' Fins, whose good looks seem to drop off by the age of 50. But that doesn't stop them from wearing the skimpiest of swimsuits. I tell you, I have seen enough big bellies resting on banana hammock swimsuits for a lifetime. As Tan says, we felt like we were at a Floridian condo complex.

Of course we made the best of it and sat by the pool, had a thai massage on the beach with the sound of the waves in the background, a pedicure, and a good non-thai dinner in town. After nearly two weeks of eating rice at every meal, you've never seen four people so happy to see a baked potato in their lives.

We drove back to Bangkok for our last night together before Tan and Mom head off to Cambodia and Kimbo and I fly down south. We had a nice dinner cruise along the river and listened to a thai band sing really bad 80s ballads. (What is with this place and schmatzy tunes? Did someone write in the tourist handbook that "You light up my Life" is an appropriate soundtrack to be played in tourist venues?)

This morning (Wednesday) we said a teary goodbye (Mom, not me) to Tan and Mom and we hopped a plane to Krabi, with the eventual destination of railay beach. Railay is not far from town but is only accessible by long tail boat. Watching my sister get into the boat with her suitcase and then have to carry it to the east side of the beach along a dirt path was beyond hilarious. We're a long way from our private tour, baby.

Suffice to say, it was all worth it. White flour beaches, emerald water, lots of hot weather and palm trees ... this is what I flew 16 hours for. We've already booked a dive to Phi Phi island and plan to do very little except bake ourselves, eat good food, drink Singha beer, and relax.

Tonya

PS I have given up on uploading pictures.