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To get an idea of what shopping in Bangkok used to be like before all the canals were tarmacked over, make an early-morning trip to the floating markets of DAMNOEN SADUAK , 60km south of Nakhon Pathom. Vineyards and orchards here back onto a labyrinth of narrow canals, thick with paddle boats selling fresh fruit and vegetables every morning between 6 and 11am. It's a big draw for tour groups - but you can avoid the crowds if you leave before they arrive, at about 9am. The target for most groups is the main Talat Khlong Ton Kem , 2km west of the tiny town centre at the intersection of Khlong Damnoen Saduak and Khlong Thong Lang. The two bridges between Ton Kem and Talat Khlong Hia Kui (a little further south down Khlong Thong Lang) make good vantage points. Touts congregate at the Ton Kem pier to sell boat trips on the khlong network (hourly rates from B40 per person to B300 for the whole boat); a quieter alternative is to explore on foot by using the canalside walkways. Damnoen Saduak is a 109-kilometre bus journey from Bangkok's Southern Bus Terminal; the first air-con buses leave at 6am and 6.30am, the first non-air-con bus (#78) leaves at 6.20am. Buses and songthaews from Nakhon Pathom leave every twenty minutes and take an hour, picking up passengers outside the Nakorn Inn Hotel on Thanon Rajvithee; the first one leaves at 6am. From Kanchanaburi, take bus #461 to Ban Phe, then change to the #78. The bus terminal is just north of Thanarat Bridge and Khlong Damnoen Saduak. Songthaews cover the 2km to Ton Kem, but a walkway follows the canal from Thanarat Bridge, or you can cross the bridge and take the road to the right (Thanon Sukhaphiban 1, but unsignposted) through the orchards. The only accommodation in town is Little Bird Hotel, also known as Noknoi (tel 032/241315; $5-10), visible from the main road and Thanarat Bridge.
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