Rosie and Ian's Southeast Asia Adventure: Bangkok Day 11: Reclining Buddha & Condoms & Cabbages

Day 11- The plan is to meet up with a girlfriend from SDSU who has been traveling for a few months. She says meet at 9, I say 10 is more realistic for me. Ian and I head to her meeting spot: Khao San Road. Khao San Road reminded me much of Phuket- a total hub for international tourists. Everything online suggests it’s a good place to get a cheap hostel and an even better place to get pick-pocketed. Sunburnt skin and dreadlocks are abundant. A man follows Ian down the street offering to make him custom-tailored suit. He holds up a picture of some of his best work: Bradley Cooper in his tux at the Oscars.

We have breakfast at a bar/restaurant where a few Aussies are already hammered. I text my friend. I Facebook her. No reply. We wait around over an hour and I realized I’ve been stood up. From what I know of her she’s pretty responsible, so I’m assuming she can’t find WiFi to say she’s late or not coming. (Later I find out she meant 10PM!, Do'h!)

We realize we’re about a mile away from the only temple in Bangkok I’m interested in seeing, so we head that way. There are A LOT of temples and I’ve seen a grip of them on previous travels. At some point all the temples start to look the same, and it’s hard for me to support the tourism that surrounds them. I don’t really like paying to get into a church, something just seems wrong about that. I don’t go church-touring in the US. If there is a mega-church or something like the Vatican nearby, then talk to me.

So off we go to Wat Pho, home of the golden reclining Buddha. Tickets are 100Baht ($3) and they come with a complimentary bottle of water. We enter and a lady yells at me “You TOO Sexy!” My, what a compliment. I was wearing a tank top and shorts. I usually carry a light shawl with me, and I know better than to show that much skin at a holy place, but our visit was impromptu. I’m showered with a neon green robe, AKA a scarlet letter for my floozie-ness.

The temple is OK. The experience is marred by the smelly tourists. It’s obviously been renovated. You can buy little flakes of gold to add to statues. You’re encouraged to put Baht in the jars for good luck. You can donate to sick monks. It’s less subtle than the offering basket at Old Mission Santa Ynez.

Because of the way the Buddha is laying and the massive crowd hogging the good angles, it’s nearly impossible to get a good picture of the front of the guy.

Ian found a golden nugget laying by Buddha's backside...

Bodhi Tree, "descended from the same Bodhi tree Buddha sat under while awaiting enlightenment"

Signs all over say NO PDA but I think I found some:

Later that night we met up with Kelsey and Kenneth again. I told Kelsey I’d pick the restaurant, so I chose a place called Cabbages and Condoms, suggested by my friend and travel enthusiast Kaylee. Such a great suggestion!

Cabbages and Condoms was hands-down one of the best dining experiences we’ve had in Bangkok. I thought it was going to be gimmicky, but instead it was very tasteful and the food was superb! The courtyard was absolutely gorgeous. At first glance I didn’t even realize the lanterns were made out of condoms. Their tagline: "Our Food is Guaranteed not to Cause Pregnancy” (http://www.pda.or.th/restaurant/)

Ordered on Etsy?

I would encourage anyone who is reading this to read about the man who started Cabbages and Condoms, Mechai Viravaidya. He has been a social activist and politician since the 70s, and is credited with shrinking the average Thai family size from 7 to 1.5. He popularized the use of protection and now his name is synonymous with condoms. In 2007, he won the Bill Gates award for his work in the fight against AIDS. He is THE MAN. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechai_Viravaidya)

Ian ordered a whole chicken “bathed in wild honey”. Delicious imagery, delicious meal. I had the massaman curry, one of the best curry dishes I’ve ever had. We drank and dined, then had fun with some of the activities on our way out: