After exiting past the palace guards, be prepared to be swarmed by an small army of street vendors, pushing postcards and souvenirs in your face.

You may want to consider purchasing a set of glossy postcards of the Grand Palace. I found it very challenging to take pictures amidst the throngs of people milling about. If you would prefer to walk around, taking in the sights and the information, without worrying about taking your own pictures, this is the perfect solution.

However, unless you ARE interested in buying these trinkets, do not engage them. Otherwise, they will pursue you relentlessly until you physically leave the area.

 Rather than travel back up the river by boat, we will entrust our lives to the drivers of the ubiquitous three wheeler vehicles known as tuk tuks. Their name is due to the distinctive sound made by their tiny engines /tuk tuk tuk tuk/.

These will provide a thrilling high speed ride through the crowded city streets to our next stop. It’s important to negotiate firmly with your driver regarding the fare before you embark. And make sure that you are very clear about your destination. Tuk tuk drivers are rather notorious for having arrangements with businesses to bring them new customers. You may find yourself on an unscheduled detour to a retail store such as jewelry shop or even a massage parlor, unless that was your intended destination.

Fortunately, our local guide has taken care of all these details for us. We will scoot through traffic to the Flower Market at a fair and reasonable price, laughing all the way and praying that we don’t get imto an accident in one of these tin cans on wheels.

It’s all part of the fun, excitement and danger! And it reminded me of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride at Disneyland, except that it is in REAL traffic and cross traffic, not on safety rails.

The only time I would avoid this type of transportation is during rush hour traffic when being stuck directly behind large vehicle exhaust will make it very unpleasant.