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The first thing I do when I move into a new hotel room is to check out the view.

Thailand and Cambodia 2000 - Part One - Bangkok & Siem Reap

Dougburnett
2003-11-22 17:55:13

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at both the shoppers and the goods and finally realized I was lost. I fixed that by flagging down a passing tut-tut. This is the standard, cheap transportation in Bangkok. They are three-wheel motorcycles with a bench seat in the back. They are covered with a small canopy to keep the sun off you.

I told the driver I wanted to go to the Grand Palace, one of Bangkok's premiere sights. He nodded and asked for 40 Bhat. I suspected that was a little high, but instead of arguing I just got in and off we went into the tangle of Bangkok traffic.

Tut-tuts are not for the faint of heart. One of the things that make them such a great way to get around is that they are small. They can pull around buses and trucks; or into the narrow space between the lanes of traffic or; even scarier, into the opposite lane, to jump to the front of traffic at the lights. It's always exciting to ride in a tut-tut.

When we arrived at the Grand Palace my heart sunk: there were lines and lines of tour buses. When I walked inside, I saw masses of tourists. I simply turned around and walked out: I wasn't in the mood for that. It was too early in my trip to be standing in line behind other tourist.

Instead I walked a few blocks over to the amulet market - it's by the river. There on a wooden pier over the water I found small stalls selling images of Buddha either cast in metal or pressed in clay. These are worn around the neck for good luck. I browsed for a while watching other shoppers using magnifying glasses to examine the tiny images. Apparently there is a big market for these amulets. I saw them for sale in every market I visited and even saw a magazine about them on the newsstand. After awhile I figured it was time to head back to the hotel for lunch and a nap.

I had selected the Riverside Guest House in particular because it was near the river. I had heard how bad ...