Day 16: Independent Beach Babes!

I got my toes in the water...butt in a chair.

Not a worry in the world, and the wind in my hair.
Live is good today...mmm life is good today.

TODAY WAS BEACH DAY!!!!!! We went on a day trip to Hua Hin beach, which is about 2 and a half hours from Bangkok. We took the sky train and then hopped on a van...there and back, it was a grand total of about $11. Haha. Gotta love using Bahts instead of US Dollars. This was our first independent adventure other than just exploring Bangkok...and we totally rocked it. We had a slight "well crap" moment when we got off the van in Hua Hin and there was no beach in sight. Being the retarded Americans we are, I suppose we just assumed that the van would just drive us right up to the sand. You know, curbside service or something right? Wrong-o. But, independent skill #1 kicked in: find a white person, assume they know English, and ask for directions. The beach was only about a mile away and easy to find, so we ignored the motorbike taxi people trying to convince us to risk our lives and decided to walk. (Heh...yeah right. Don't worry mom and dad...I ain't THAT stupid.) The beach wasn't really anything like I expected it to be...lots of rocks and not too much actual "beach," but the entire atmosphere was just too cute. There were restaurants, servers, beach chairs, street vendors, and a topless woman right there on the beach. Yep, you read that right...a topless woman. But is it weird that for some reason, it wasn't that weird? Haha. I guess since she was just hangin' out like no big deal, you just assume, "Oh, guess she's just from a culture that it's ok to show your boobs in public." Haha. Whatever. We considered embracing that cultural aspect, but then I felt a little inadequate next to Allison so we refrained. (P.S. Totally kidding.)

Well, the only thing that sucked about the beach were the constant vendors that annoyed the crap out of us. One woman seriously got down on her knees and begged us to buy a rug from here. It's sad really. But, we just couldn't say "no" to the men selling beach dresses. I mean, $4.50 for a beach dress is a steal! Sooo....we bought 3 each. They're too perfect. And the funny thing is, Allison and I ended up buying the exact same 3 dresses in different colors without even realizing it. We're slowly becoming the same person. And it's amazing that we're not even sick of each other yet! :)

So, to add to our list of nationalities we've encountered on this trip...we met a man from the Netherlands and 2 old guys from England. The Netherlands dude was for sure wearing a Yankees hat, so that threw me off a little bit when I heard his non-American accent. He was cool, and he taught us how to barter like a champ. The 2 English guys were funny...they helped us take pictures so we could have something other than the whole "hold the camera out and take an up-close picture of ourselves" thing. I've decided that I can't tell the difference between accents...I swear I thought they were Australian, but they were for sure from London. I mean, throw a "bloody hell" out every now and then to let me know you're from England...or a "mate" or something if you're from Australia!

So anyway, we had a big ol' time at the beach. We got a little sun...so maybe our pictures will start looking cuter. Especially after we get our hair straightened tomorrow! Woooohoo! And the Aussie friends texted us today, so we are going to dinner with them next week/weekend sometime. Not gonna lie, the past few days has been a little rough in the peoplesick department. Everything still reminds me of people...from songs to cars, every step I take I just can't get away. Absence truly does make the heart grow fonder.

I'm out.
Cwalk.