Tour groups sometimes get a bad rap. Especially if you’re in a large group, one of 30-plus tourists shuffling along like zombies trying not to lose sight of the leader holding a flag or umbrella while being in the way of other tourists and locals alike. It can feel way too much like a school trip.

However, when you’re short on time or just exhausted, say after traveling around two different countries in two weeks, a tour provides the opportunity to escape some of the planning part and get right to the adventure. It’s even better if you end up in a small group.

I prefer to get to know a place through its food, but two and a half days is not a lot of meals. Fortunately, I found a tour in Thailand that boasted letting me try 30-plus foods in one evening.

My only problem was the tour was via tuktuk. I was a bit nervous to climb into a glorified golf cart without a seatbelt, but I let my growling belly be my guide. My guide introduced herself as Peach and started our tour at a small temple in the Nak Klang area.

From there we went to our first restaurant, Lung Ayutthaya Boat Noodle. They were ready for our group of 10 and kept bringing dish after dish from the kitchen for us to try. One downside is I lost track of what was what. The only thing that stood out was the morning glory greens, which reminded me of a similar dish I’d eaten in Hoi An, Vietnam. Not a great start.

The highlight of the evening for me was the third stop, at Wat Prayun, a 19th century temple with a white chedi. Inside, you can make a small donation and receive a tiny square of gold leaf to apply to the buddha or walls for good luck. It also offers cool views of the surrounding neighborhood.

Afterward, we stopped at a small food stall on the side of the road to try fusion Thai food at A-Roi Cheap. The standout dish was the fried crab rice, which smelled just as good as it tasted. We also tried glass noodles with prawns.

The most adventurous part came next as we walked through a crowded night market to B.B. Pork Fondue for some Isaan food, which hails from the northeastern region of the country.

Some of these foods proved to be a bit of a challenge for western palates. Among the many foods served here were fried duck beaks (the tendons inside were very chewy and salty, and I later learned it’s more of a beer snack), chicken feet (in a noodle soup that was wonderfully spicy) and beef tripe soup (way too spicy). While some of my fellow travelers stuck to the som tam (spicy green papaya salad), larb (a ground pork dish) and gai yang (grilled chicken), I decided to try a little of everything. I’m a Southerner, so eating from the “rooter to the tooter” isn’t new for me.

Finally, it was time for dessert. A short walk through the night market led us to Ni-Ang Ice Cream. However, we didn’t start with ice cream, rather with bua loy, or rice balls in coconut milk topped with a kai wan or sweet poached egg. It was like having egg tarts inside of a coconut soup, delicious but very heavy and rich. Next came giant scoops of coconut ice cream with a drizzle of sugary egg syrup on top. Most of us were full and sadly the ice cream went to waste.

Our last dessert was Khanom Buang Thai crepes filled with meringue and strips of sweet fried egg. It was like eating a fortune cookie where the fortune was replaced with sweet, slightly eggy deliciousness.

We ended with a tour of the Pak Khlong Talat flower market, which was a great opportunity to walk off some of the calories. Peach presented each of us with a gift, a small phuang malai or floral garland for good luck.

Thailand Tips

• Transportation

Taxis are cheap, but traffic is bad. If possible, use the train to get around or leave a lot of wiggle room to get to destinations.

• Be adventurous but not dumb

I liked doing a food tour as it meant I had someone to not only translate my food allergies to the staff, but also someone who knew which places were less likely to give me food poisoning.

• Charcoal tablets

A tip I learned later is to travel with activated charcoal to help your tummy deal with dicey food decisions.

• Visit booths with lots of customers

During our tour, we didn’t eat anything raw or

Thai

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