Hua Hin: A Weekend with our Thai Family

To celebrate the end of the Bangkok Warriors hockey season, the team and their families went down to Hua Hin, and we got to join them! The team loves coaches Sam and Joe and we were treated to such a special experience with the people I now consider our 'Thai family.' Khun Lanoi - the matriarch of the hockey club (from my understanding) cared for us all as her own children, partly because of the customary Thai hospitality and mostly because she is just a fabulously kind woman.

On a Friday after work, we were picked up in a large van that sat nine of us with the driver up front and made our way to Hua Hin, where the royal family resides on the shores of the Gulf of Thailand.

Do not say something rude on the bus. Come on, people.

After about 3 hours, we made it to the city and were dropped off at the city night market and had a delicious seafood dinner, taking advantage of our newfound proximity to the sea.

Teeth?!

One of our seafood platters - YUM!

It was after midnight when we arrived at our accommodation, so we had our first look at the villa complex in the morning. It reminded me a lot of a retirement village in Florida mostly because of its emphasis on the ever-so-rare-feature-in-Thailand: handicap accessibility (which turned out to be a big bonus later in the weekend).

Our villa - the hot tub stayed on all day/night.

Pretty little thing.

We got an early start to Vana Nava waterpark with the whole hockey team and their families. We were a big group and rather than wait in the crazy long admission line, they have staff running about to take people's orders and wait in line for them. It's so Thai.

Wave pool.

Huge slide.

Super steep slide.

"Leran" to spell.

After getting our wristbands, everyone dispersed and Sam, Joe and I booked our slots on the Flowrider infinity wave. We were the only people in that timeslot and it was so much fun to play around - for 15 minutes. Then I got carried away by the wave and smashed into the back board with a flexed ankle. So the rest of my day was spent visiting the hospital (x-ray says it's not broken) and coming back to the park to watch the boys surfing and drowning my sorrows in some Chang beer. Sitting in a wheelchair with a bum ankle, listening to fun music and watching the boys have a blast surfing, I couldn't help but think, "Life may not be glamorous, but it's a hell of a good time."

My view at the water park.

After a long day at the water park, we went home to a feast of unimaginable proportions - grilled seafood and booze for days in the lawn of our villa. Being tired from the day's events, I turned in pretty early and woke up at 6am to Joey coming back into our room and the others insisting he mustn't go to bed just yet. What a night!

Kite festival on Cha-Am beach.

The next day, we saw some sights around Hua Hin on our way back home. Well, the group did and Sam piggy-backed me around or I stayed in the van while they saw some monkeys and a kite festival on the beach. We were quite the sight, I'm sure, and Sam is so much more comfortable to lean on than my Thai crutches - my hero.