Thailand Travelogue

I’m writing this in a spacious Hilton suite in Hua Hin. For the time being, life couldn’t be better.

Our trip to Thailand started on late Wednesday evening, when I, Sanna, Aapo and my parents packed into our car and drove to the airport. Check-in, security check and passport control were all so swift that we had a couple of extra hours to burn in a restaurant. Fortunately the pizza was good.

We had a direct flight with Finnair to Bangkok. As Aapo was travelling with us, we got a bassinet seat in such a row that had only two seats on the righthand side. One pair for us and other for the parents. Aapo had slept a few hours in the airport and was a bit too active during the first three hours of flight.

Finally Sanna got him to sleep and we napped for a few hours. My dad had only brief encounters (2 x 15 min) with sleep, so my three plus hours were quite a good achievement after all.

On hot and humid Bangkok new airport (100 days old), our private transport was waiting for us. There were total three people escorting us to the hotel: the guide, the driver and a lady whose function remained mystery.

The hotel, Sofitel Silom, was a really nice experience. We got promoted to an executive rooms and it was fantastic. This was probably because of Aapo — all Thais are just so fond of him, as he is a bit chubby and cheerful. I haven’t ever seen such an interest to a baby from both women and men. I know and Sanna knows that Aapo is just delightful little boy, but now everybody else seems to agree — even if he’s crying his little lungs out…

We arrived at the hotel in late afternoon, so there was just enough time to wander around for food and some in-room refreshments from the local 7-Eleven — the store seems to find its way to all scrubby neighbourhoods. We also visited the pool on fifth floor together with a sauna and a hot tub.

I was a tad worried about the Thai food and my parents — or maybe the combination. They are not very strong on new tastes, but fortunately they have enjoyed every single meal we have had. The first one was in a seafood restaurant, and they are really cautious of shrimps and others, so it was a bit challenge to find something made from pork, chicken, beef or duck that is also mild enough. But I succeeded then and now it has become easier.

Friday morning was spent on Grand Palace and Emerald Buddha Temple. I’ve been there once before, so I knew what to expect. The rest of the crew were really astoundished with the colours, variety and craftmanship of the temples. This is a really cool place to visit, and inexpensive as well.

The afternoon was spent in the biggest shopping center in the South-East Asia. Initially we went there for some food, and ended up wandering the corridors for a few hours — made some bargain finds and there were still places to discover. We called quits, sat a moment in a Starbucks and then briefly visited a few interesting stores in the neighbouring luxury mall.

We visited a small and nice Japanese restaurant nearby the hotel. My mom surprised me and Sanna by tasting sushi voluntarily. Once again, the waiters seemed to be more interested in Aapo than serving anyone else.

We took a boat trip on Saturday. Our aim was to hop on a commuter boat, but somehow missed the right pier and ended up paying 20 times the price but got a private boat that took us to the canals, too. A couple of good looking stupas, a lot of other boats and unbelievable amount of shanty huts. Nice way to spend a couple of hours, and the price was still about 30 euros for five people.

Pool allured us again and this time there were sunshine on the deck, so we stayed a bit longer than usual. After sunbathing, we went to dine in a very nearby restaurant and had ice creams on an Italian joint almost next to the hotel. I and Sanna left Aapo to my parents and visited the Silom shopping area.

I was not expecting much anything, but I couldn’t imagine how the place looked and felt like Neo-Tokyo from Gibson’s novels. There were such a mass of people, small stores selling everything and between, skytrain terminus hanging above us, neonlights and constant noise from the traffic and the people. Sort of claustrophobic, but partially also enjoyable.

For today we had reserved a private transport to Hua Hin. It arrived on time, picked us and so we left towards south. After three hours of zigzagging on the highway (and the driver was not driving that fast or furious), I was more than happy to lay on the sun and take dips in the pool for a couple of hours.

This evening we explored the hotel neighbourhood. There seems to be a bit too much Finns here, as several tailors have their pricelists in Finnish and people say “terve” or “hyvaa paivaa”. For some odd reason, I find it extremely irritating. I’m itching to go somewhere else, but there seems not to be such a place.

Today’s restaurant was mediocre and it just added to the feeling of being in a tourist ghetto. Fortunately, we found a bit better neighbourhood on the other side of the hotel, so things look brighter now. Better looking restaurants and real stores that would be profitable without tourists, too.

I’m continuing writing on Monday afternoon.
Sanna had found a good tailor based on her friend’s experience and the reputation was further reinforced by a nice review on Virtual Tourist. The morning was spent on the pool and we set on our journey around noon. The tailor was supposed to be near our hotel, but we had to walk 45 minutes to get there. Fortunately the place was not a shack but an established-looking tailor with an adjoined silk and Thai paraphernelia shop. Prices were higher than in the main tourist area, but the service was better and somehow I felt more reassured about the quality and not being fooled.

I didn’t buy anything, others made jackets or suits. Someone from the tailors will pick them up tomorrow for the first dress rehearsal, and I’ll fool around hotel with Aapo.

More later, now it’s good time to dip in the pool.