I left Bangkok yesterday morning. Checked out of my wonderful hostel, jumped onto a city bus and traveled across Bangkok to the Southern Bus Terminal! That alone took an hour and a half, but it only cost me 12 Baht!

Next I was kindly directed to the correct bus that I wanted by a single female Thai...good to remember, they are always willing to help a sole woman traveler. Now I was on my way to Damnoen Saduk... the place where the floating markets are just outside of Bangkok.

I debated wether to go or not, since I heard and read that they have become a bit of a tourist trap. But I decided to go later in the afternoon, spend the night there and get up early so as to try to beat the rest of the day tourists there. My plan worked! And when I got off the bus I met up with two women who also had the same plan as me! We ended up sharing a room together in the Noknoi, or Little Bird, hotel. Last night we headed out to eat some dinner, a nice stall and rice and veggies did us well.

Woke up this morning at 6:30 and left the hotel at 7am. We were driven by truck to our boat, along with four other people too, but all the groups had their own seperate boat when we arrived. Climbed into the boat and we were on our way speeding down the back canals of Thailand in our loud boat. It was nice to see the canals, most traditional houses back up to, or actually have the front of their houses facing the canals. Most houses had small boats docked in the side, and stairs that led up to their front doors. There was a sidewalk that passed along the front of the houses that was elevated out of the water.

So it was still a bit of a tourist trap, we actually pulled up to boats or stalls that were selling tourist crap. But at the end we did see some Thai women selling fruit, but not so many.

After the boat ride we jumped into a small small bus, yellow in fact with no back door, and driven by a monk and went on our way to Kanchanaburi. A young boy and his mother joined us for the ride about half way through, and he kept pointing his eletric (pretend of course) gun at me and firing...the sound was nothing short of obnoxioius! But his mother helped us to catch our second bus, a larger bus, same version, but not driven by a monk. We arrived here in Kanchanaburi. The bus was not air conditioned, but the cool breeze through the windows was enough.

Everyone here has been super friendly and helpful. Today we walked to the Birdge on the river Kwai. Interesting, but also a tourist trap.

Tomorrow it is off to a National Park to see some waterfalls!