A C. T U. A L. L Y

MARCH 15:   Our tuk-tuk driver deposited us around Noon at Siamotif in a new (to us) part of town.   He didn’t actually drop us off in front of the hotel, but rather at the end of a cul-de-sac next to a small footbridge that spanned a sluggish drainage canal that emptied into the larger Bangkok Noi Canal which, in turn, emptied into the Chao Phraya River.   We wandered around a bit, unsure of where to go, but we finally opted to cross the footbridge.  From there we found ourselves in a narrow, winding alley and came upon a high stucco wall painted terracotta-pink enclosing a courtyard, with a sign "Siamotif."  Out of the way and tricky to find?  Yes.  Worth the false starts?  Oh, yes!   Siamotif was perhaps my favorite accommodation of our Southeast Asia tour.   Here are a few photos of the traditional 1940s wooden house the owner inherited from her father and renovated into a small boutique hotel. After checking in, we asked o...

MARCH 13:   The Sylvan Koh Chang arranged for a tuk-tuk to take us to the 9:30 a.m. ferry to Trat, from where we caught a van to Bangkok, a trip of about six hours.   The tuk-tuk ride on the mountain roads was, as always, a little hair-raising, but we got to the ferry on time, so that’s something.    Arriving in Trat, we caught a van to Bangkok.   (I would definitely fly from Trat to Bangkok next time.   The scenery didn’t justify the length of the drive.)   The van deposited us at the Victory Monument bus depot in central Bangkok early in the afternoon.   We grabbed a tuk-tuk to our riverfront hotel, the Sala Arun , which we’d booked for two nights through Booking.com.   We had a return flight to Berlin on the 15 th , and we knew instantly from the view from our hotel room (below) that two days in Bangkok were just not going to cut it.   We spent the next couple of hours in our room on the Qatar website, trying to minimize the ou...