munns: Khao Takiab and Cicada Market

While at church I met a girl from Florida whose husband works at the embassy. She said she loved Hua Hin and had some recommendations: Khao Takiab and the Cicada Market. We hit both and were so glad we did. Khao Takiab is a hill topped by a Buddhist temple. It is also home to hundreds of Howler Monkeys that roam free. We got there at dusk just as a woman threw them bananas for dinner. The feeding frenzy was amazing and slightly scary as the monkeys ran around at our feet. Next we scaled about ten million stairs to the Buddhist temple with a great view of the beach and the ocean. Our cab driver was late picking us up and we were getting chewed up by mosquitoes so we started walking down the road. We walked through a little neighborhood where Will met a friend (see picture) and then met our cab driver who took us to Cicada Market.

Let me pause here and explain our hierarchy of cool on this trip. There is third world-cool and then there is really and truly, unconditionally cool. Most markets are third-world cool. Cicada Market falls into the latter category of something I would love in the U.S. First of all, all of the vendors were selling actual handmade things, not just knock-off purses and made-in-China trinkets. An old woman sat knitting the hats she was selling. Another woman hand-stitched peoples' names onto t-shirts she had appliqued. Local art hung on the walls of an open building. The next thing I loved were the performers, speaking in Thai and doing traditional and modern dances. The best part for us, of course, was the food. For 100 baht ($3) you bought a coupon book that served as credit for the different food vendors. Fresh seafood, kabobs, and handmade coconut ice cream served in coconut shells were some of our favorite things. It was a beautiful night with live musicians performing throughout the market. We took a tuk-tuk, the kids' preferred mode of transportation, back to our hotel.