Before I tell you about my new favorite place in the world, Hua Hin, I must tell you that every day on our vacation was met with some sort of mishap or disaster.

Our first day in Bangkok, we asked a taxi driver to take us to a floating market. Ty had the address and name, and we had heard it was quite popular, so we had confidence in our friendly non-English speaking driver.


I felt a little less confident at that moment, but pushed it away with excitement at being in a new country, surrounded by completely unfamiliar sites and smells.

Ty got out to help the driver and the pedestrian, and tried to explain where we wanted to go. They got back in the taxi, laughing and smiling, and my confidence returned. We headed off!

Nearly a half hour later, we were leaving behind the large skyscrapers, and about forty-five minutes later the buildings were spaced farther and farther apart.


Ty had his GPS out (SO grateful we had that, by the way!), and was comparing where we were to where we were supposed to be. We asked the driver to pull over and take us back to Bangkok. He shook his head and pointed at a sign. We realized later that he was driving us to the next big town, which coincidently had almost the same name as the market we wanted to go to. Ty asked the driver to pull over again, and take us back to Bangkok. Once we started back, and I could begin to see smog and tall buildings again, I felt relief. I hadn't quite been worried, just a little nervous. We'd heard all the warnings and stories about travelers ending up in jail or prison, or lost and never heard from again, but I thought the idea that anything like that could happen to us was silly, and we always laughed it off. Until that moment.

Ty's fear was that we wouldn't be able to find another taxi to take us back to Bangkok (around 90 km away). My fear was having to call my parents in the middle of the night back in the States asking for the number to the nearest US embassy.

Back safely in Bangkok, the driver dropped us off by our hotel (which he also had trouble finding, so we got out, used the GPS, and walked the rest of the way), and we paid him the 1200 Baht for the trip, which is about $40--which you wouldn't think much of, except every other taxi cost us no more than 400 Baht with a tip (about $13).

We never made it to the market, but with everything else we were able to see and do, I wasn't terribly disappointed. There were several other places we wanted to see on the trip, but weren't able to, but we still had the time of our lives, and I wouldn't trade a minute of it.