Thailand – Laos Travel: Day 5 – Part 1 – Review of Tong Mee Hotel and Hua Hin Railway Station

Continued from Thailand – Laos: Day 4 – Part 8 – Wat Amparam and Something Unexpected in Hua Hin. For pre-travel, please refer here.

Travel Date: January 1, 2017
Day: 5
Location: Hua Hin, Thailand

Aqif woke up early. I was sleeping soundly, awake because I was surprised when Aqif opened the veranda door. Just know that our room is in a high position and the veranda bar is too low.

On the porch, I made a temporary hanging rope to hang clothes. This saves money and there is no need to take it to the laundromat. The rope I use is a ‘paracord’ type. My suggestion, enough with a length of between 4 to 5 meters. Do you know what a paracord is? It is the same rope used for parachutes!

The weather here is a bit comfortable but a little hot and the time is around 9.23 am. Our fatigue yesterday is still not over. So, I deliberately proposed to start sightseeing in Hua Hin in a few more hours. Eh, forget, today is the New Year 2017.

Last night’s sleep was a bit disturbed because the blanket was a bit short. Inadvertently, I opened the sleeping bag I was carrying. The most tiring thing is when I want to roll and compress it.

Where can we find this sleeping bag? I bought the Naturehike brand. Make sure the model is LW180 and the price is around MYR89.00. This type of model is the lightest which is only 700gm. Both of us brought one each but after finishing this Thailand-Laos trip, I think one is enough, especially for countries in South East Asia. Unless you travel solo. There are many uses for this sleeping bag, for example:

1. Made as a pillow at the airport while waiting for a flight for transit or due to delays.
2. Also made as a base or mattress for sleeping at the airport.
3. Can be made as a blanket in trains, ferries and buses. On the plane, there is no need because the cabin already has its blanket, you just need to ask the flight attendant.
4. Can be made as a mat spread for example while lying in parks.
5. As a temporary mat if traveling with a small child – change diapers, lay the child in the train or bus seat (dodge from touching the bad and unhygienic condition of the seats that are often occupied by passengers).
6. There are many more uses …

I once shared my opinion about the use of this sleeping bag with a solo traveler. He said he doesn’t need it because he can use all things like a mat such as boxes, lying on the grass and so on as what we called a true and versatile backpacker. Up to you. If you travel solo, it’s a different story. If you’re married, the scenario is different because you can’t be selfish indefinitely. You don’t have to be a real backpacker if it’s complicating ownself’s situation. We still consider any form of comfort as long as possible. There is nothing to be proud of (psst …. I know that there are many who are proud to be true backpackers and be praised in the backpacker’s group, hehe).

The staff at the counter are very kind and friendly. At night, there was a middle-aged man but he was always drunk. Although drunk, he can communicate well but sometimes he is a little deaf.

At the counter, there is also a computer that guests can use. I’m not sure if it’s free or paid. The wifi speed here is very fast. Only when we had to move to a more upper level on the second night did the wifi speed become moderate only. I suggest, if you are here, you can hang out on the sofa in this check-in section while using wifi.

To the left of the counter is free hot water. You can come and fill it as many times as you want.

Although the lobby area is not very big, we like the interior decoration here. Neat, concise and up to date. Lying on the couch while reading a Lonely Planet book is a must-do for backpackers and travelers.

Look at that bookshelf. So many books. Lonely Planet is here too. But I’m not sure it’s the latest edition or the old one. See the sticker on the door? Hotel Tong Mee is listed as a recommended hotel by Tripadvisor. We did not have time to relax here because we spent more time outside the hotel.

This is the outside of the hotel. The day seemed lively with a large umbrella but was quiet at night. Maybe they didn’t turn on the lights on the outside or maybe we didn’t notice it opened early at night and closed late at night, which is the time that we always come back to the hotel.

The good ones:

• Location in downtown Hua Hin and easy access
• The distance to Hua Hin Railway Station is only 1 km.
• The distance to the city’s main road (Thanon Phet Kasem) is only 170 meters.
• Airconditioner is cold
• Fast wifi
• The counter staff is very nice
• Clean toilets although the hotel is in the modest category
• Tap water is very fast
• There are basic amenities such as a water heater, TV, wifi, electric plug and others
• No Siamese ghosts
• The room is very clean and the interior hardware of the room looks like new
• The color of the room is bright
• The counter staff can and easily negotiate the payment
• The room is odorless

What’s missing:

• The room is a bit cramped
• The bed is a bit smaller than Queen Size even though the website says ‘Queen Size’
• The price is a little high but not too expensive
• No lift to the top floor (even up to the 4th or 5th floor)
• The lobby space is a bit cramped
• The blanket is very short
• Communication with the male staff at night is a little difficult, but don’t worry they are very friendly.

Overall, I can give a rating of 7.5/10 for Hotel Tong Mee.

It was almost 11.00 in the morning when we started exploring Hua Hin. Look at the Hua Hin Clock Tower and Wat Amparam areas that we stopped at yesterday.

After treading a few hundred meters, we had to stop for a while as Aqif suddenly fell for the second time with a slight cut on his knee. Luckily on that edge, there is a pharmacy. I had to look for a wide wound plaster. The ones we bring are just the regular kind. I continued to paste on both knees even though only one knee was injured.

This morning’s mission is to get a 3rd class train ticket to Ratchaburi. So we started stepping back into the road leading to Hua Hin Train Station. There is a row of public telephones that are rarely seen in Malaysia or any modern city today.

There is also a Hua Hin district council vehicle storage store here.

Then, I got into the station and bought a ticket to Ratchaburi the next day, January 2, 2017, at 6.17 am. Wow, departure time is very early! The reason is that I do not want to miss the train schedule that will arrive and crossing Maeklong Railway Market at 10.00 am. The ticket price is THB24 for adults and THB12 for children. Only here we are less fortunate because we have to pay fares for kids when other places are free. THB24 is cheap, you know … about RM3.00 only for a trip of 2 hours or more.

When finished buying tickets and with some information from a fellow backpacker on FB, we headed to a halal Malay food stall, located near the railway station. Not only ala carte rice, but roti canai (Malaysian popular breakfast meal) is also available.

Oops … before eating we took a picture first. The station is very unique as it still retains its original features.

If there is time, it is good to stop for a closer look at the old carriage displayed outside the station.

The entire Hua Hin station. Not so many people.

The location where we are sitting now is already inside the food stall. We were sitting waiting for food and surveying the surroundings. If I share the GPS location of the food stall in this blog, it’s not worth it because it’s too close to the station. Only 20 steps. After you get out of the station and in front there is a road and an old train carriage, turn right and you will see this stall.

Food orders here were slow, we waited for almost half an hour. But our anger subsided after the fried rice he sent was so delicious.

In this picture, our facial expression looks like a smile but it is a sign of protest due to the delay in preparing the food. I don’t want to waste time because there are many more places we need to visit later.

At first, I thought of ordering roti canai for Aqif separately. The roti canai stall is located behind the rice stall. The roti canai chef above said that both stalls belong to their families as well. In fact, on the menu that we ordered fried rice from earlier, there was also roti canai. Duh !!

I forgot to take a picture of the menu. But don’t worry, it’s cheaper here than the halal stalls we stopped at last night at Hua Hin Night Market.

After finishing our meals, we started to walk back to the main road in Hua Hin city to take a tuktuk to our next destination.

There is also a food stall with a library-like concept here. Unique.

Continue to Thailand – Laos Travel: Day 5 – Part 2 – Wat Hua Mongkol. The next trip was the wrong ‘target’, whatever fate befell us…