December 31, 2021

Roman had a few days off for New Year's, so we decided to travel to Hua Hin for the long weekend. It's a seaside town that's popular with Thai families who want to escape Bangkok for a few days.

Our first glimpse of the sea

The Airbnb we originally rented had some kind of water damage, so the owner upgraded us to a small two-bedroom condo in the same building, which was more than we needed, but cute.

Roman welcoming me to the living room

The living room and connected bedroom

The second bedroom

It has a giant, snaking pool, surrounded by greenery.

I was, to be honest, a little disappointed with the location of our condo. I hadn't realized this when I booked it but, though it's close to the sea, it's a good thirty-minute walk to the more interesting, walkable parts of Hua Hin (where you can find the night market and old buildings and street food). And of course, I have a tendency to want every vacation to be perfect!

But after settling into our condo, we walked into Old Town for dinner. In honor of our New Year's Eve Fish Feast tradition, we went to a seafood restaurant with a giant deck that jutted out into the water.

We got a whole fried fish, garlic butter prawns, and a spicy seafood salad with shrimp, squid, mussels, and white fish, and it was delicious.

After dinner, we walked out onto a skinny pier that extended far into the dark lapping ocean. We passed lots of people sitting on plastic seats and food carts selling grilled squid, hot snails, and horseshoe crab roe.

View of the restaurant from the pier

Tiny seafood joints set up on the sand

People eating their dinner in a boat

We walked through the oldest part of Hua Hin, and I was inexplicably amused by Ye Olde Buffalo Tavern...

And we walked through the night market, where we ate pandan and chocolate mochi and passed many more food and clothing stalls, and I got Roman a familiar looking treat...