Escape From the City Mountain Bike Series with @theexplorer - Hua Hin (Part#1 of 2)

As a teacher my weekdays are heavily occupied with an abundance of tasks , but luckily half term break was upon us and it was time to escape the smog of Bangkok for greener pastures. We headed for Hua Hin, which translates as 'head rock'.  The beach resort town lies about a three hour drive south of Bangkok, although on this occasion it took us a gruelling 5 hours due to long weekend traffic!

                      

The photo above depicts statues of seven previous Thai kings, which can be found at  Rajabhakti Park, Hua Hin. The statues stand at just under 14 metres tall.

The town was a favourite of the late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who may I wish to rest in peace as his cremation takes place today on October 26th 2017. 

 The following morning my alarm was set for 5:40am, allowing me to be out of the apartment before the four wheeled bullies arrived on the roads. The first leg of my journey involved some road riding on the main route through the city until I reached Hua Hin Soi 70. 

                        

For folks that haven't visited Thailand  'Sois' are roads/lanes, which  conveniently are generally numbered! With the excitement of  going to ride 'real' mountain bike trails in my mind, I forgot to follow google maps, sending myself in the wrong direction! 

                  

Although going in the wrong direction I did pass these monkeys. I apologise for the low quality picture above, but the sign in Thai translates to: 'Don't feed the monkeys.' From past experience I have found that they can become vicious when after food, so I cycled whilst taking this snap.

While still heading in the wrong direction, I cycled up a steep hill, where I met drunk locals passing me on their motorbikes, with beers in hand! The hill took me to a viewpoint overlooking the city, which made going the wrong way a blessing in disguise!

                  

The sign roughly translates as 'Stone Metal Fire Mountain' and my legs were certainly feeling the 'fire' when I reached this sign.

                   

                   

                   

Well fellow Steemians, that is a wrap for the first part of my trail discovering adventure, my poor directions didn't get me to the trail in this part, but I was provided with a fantastic view of the city! I hope you enjoyed Part 1 and feel free to comment, any support will be much appreciated. I will upload Part 2 - finding the trail tomorrow, thank you for reading.