Aleenta Hua Hin Hotel (Pranburi, Thailand)

After several weeks of busy travel we were definitely ready for a break. Luckily our first stop in Thailand was a few days at a beach resort in Pak Nam Pran, a tiny fishing village about a three hour drive south of Bangkok. The area sees few Western tourists, but is a popular weekend getaway spot for wealthy Bangkok residents. We stayed midweek, thereby securing a great deal at a really beautiful eco resort called Aleenta.

The tiny resort is a collection of beachfront villas with amazing views at the edge of the totally deserted stretch of beach. Our villa came with a hammock, a porch, a front lawn, and a jacuzzi plunge pool and was about twenty feet from the ocean at high tide. The resort also has amazing food, with entirely local ingredients including vegetables, fruit and eggs from the resort's own farm. It was definitely one of the bigger splurges of our trip, but we would have spent about ten times as much at a comparable resort in the US.

The view from our room, including our private plunge pool, loungers, and hammock.

Sunrise from our room.

The first day, we began a quick post breakfast walk to check out the resort's other wing a few hundred meters down the beach, but we ended up walking all the way to the mountain at the end of the beach. We then noticed a trail going up the side of the mountain, and so started scrambling up rock in our flip flops to make it to the top. It was terrible planning as we didn't have sunscreen, water, money, or proper shoes but the view from the top was worth the climb. Luckily we met a British family at the top who directed us down a less steep path that ended at the main road (but still left us with a half hour walk back to the resort).

The mountain we climbed, as seen from the hotel; also, the all-but deserted beach we enjoyed during our stay.

"Oh, that doesn't look very far...."

The climbing wasn't easy, especially in flip flops!

The view from the top.

If only we had brought our selfie stick!

We spent most of the rest of the day hanging out in our villa and watching the ocean. There were some beautiful houses on the beach near our hotel, and people would let their dogs out onto the beach to play all afternoon. We probably saw more dogs than people on the beach. The only problem with the beach was the massive jellyfish we kept seeing in the water. After seeing one that was at least two feet in diameter we abandoned plans for a swim.

At least the water was nice to look at.

It was still rainy season, and a wonderful summer storm rolled through.

The next day we biked along the coast into town. Afterward, Josh went with the resort manager to tour the farm. The manager recommended that we buy a roast chicken for dinner from one of the stalls a ways down the beach. So we biked that way around dinner time and somewhat dubiously claimed a full barbecued chicken from a grill on the side of the road. It tasted amazing, and cost next to nothing.

Barbecue street chicken.

Our resort was very close to Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park. We took a morning excursion there to hike a steep trail that leads to a series of beautiful beaches and then a set of large caves, including one with a Buddhist shrine in the center (Phraya Nakhon Cave). We were there early enough in the morning that we beat the crowds, and we spotted some langurs (in the primate family) chilling on a tree on the path.

Hiking through Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park.

We stumbled upon some langurs in the national park.

Three little langurs jumping on the bed.

"The Thinker."

We hiked up a mountain...

... and then down into a cave...

... to find a temple built in the middle of it.

Even though we stayed fairly active at Aleenta, it was still a nice break from the sightseeing grind. We could easily have stayed another week, and would definitely return in the future if not for the 24 hours of travel required to make it there.

Grill-your-own-satay night at our hotel.