Back in Bangkok

I cut it close but managed to make it back to Saigon in time to catch my flight, bound for Bangkok, Thailand.  I arrived in Bangkok on the evening of March 14th; strange to think that I had just been driving through the Mekong Delta on a motorbike that morning.  Bangkok feels just a bit different than rural Vietnam.

This ain't no backwater village: Bangkok metro area has over 14 million
residents, with countless high-rise hotels, apartments, and financial buildings.

Justin, a friend of mine from Ohio State, was due to fly in to Bangkok the following morning. I had booked a hotel for the two of us near the Sutthisan subway stop - yes Bangkok has a subway - north of downtown and out of the main tourist area.  When Westerners think of Thailand images of tropical beaches, or red-light districts, or even ladyboys might pop into our heads (Hangover 2 anyone?).  These images all exist in Thailand, to be sure.  I for one wish the ladyboy stereotype wasn't true, but at times they seem to be everywhere!

Justin (right) with me on the ferry in Hong Kong

The MRT (Metropolitan Rapid Transit) in Bangkok; it's not as
extensive of a network, but as Justin will tell you the 
trains and stations are definitely nicer than the ones in New York City!

Even the monks can't escape them!  And yes, that's a ladyboy if you weren't aware.

Get away from the beaches and tourist areas, however, and a very different side of Thailand unfolds.  On my previous visit to the county I had the opportunity to explore Isaan, the relatively poor and infrequently visited northeast.  Other foreigners do go there - this is Thailand, after all, one of the most visited places in the world - but thankfully you won't find throngs of backpackers or sex-pats.  And for those of you who don't know, the term sex-pat refers to a foreigner, almost exclusively male (I guess females could do it but that would be news to me) whose primary purpose of traveling is for, you guessed it, sex.  Unfortunately Thailand is known for that kind of thing.  I'm not that phased by prostitution and red light districts, but fat, old European and American dudes hanging out at the bars and paying for young Thai girls every night?  Now that is pretty disturbing.

I could go on and on about the touristy side of Thailand and the sex industry, not because I am so intimately familiar with it, but because it's often so in your face that people have no choice but to take notice.  There are also some interesting discussions to be had about moral dilemmas concerning prostitution.  Is paying for sex always morally wrong?  Most can agree that if coercion is involved the answer is yes; but what if the woman is using the money to put her younger siblings or children through school, thus giving them a better life?

I don't know if this guy is a sex-pat, and I don't want to know - he
certainly seems to be enjoying himself!

But I digress...I'm behind on the blog and rambling about these issues won't get me closer to caught up!  So, to borrow an oft-used phrase from Bill Burr, one of my favorite comedians, let's plow ahead here.

Justin had told me he was arriving on Sunday, the 15th, but when I arrived on the evening of the 14th the front desk informed me that he was already checked in.  Needless to say I was confused, so I headed up to the room to investigate; on the way I ran into Justin in the elevator!  It turns out he got dates mixed up and arrived a morning early.  It was a bummer that I hadn't known, since we only had two nights in Bangkok.  The whole length of his vacation was less than two weeks so time was of the essence.  We hadn't seen each other in over two years so it was just nice that we were finally able to move a trip from the drawing board to the reality.

Justin is currently studying for his PhD at Columbia University in New York City, hence the tight time schedule.  We planned on two nights in Bangkok, followed by three in Hong Kong and three more in Taiwan.  From Taiwan Justin was due to fly to Beijing for a week long conference, after which he'd go back to NYC where classes at Columbia would already be underway.  I typically like to take my time but understood why Justin wanted to see as much as he could with the little time he had.  And besides, I'd already been to Bangkok and Hong Kong.  When Justin left my plan was to stick around in Taiwan for at least another week.

On Saturday night we managed to check out several parts of the city, shop at an open air market, and stuff ourselves with street food.  Justin is quite the foodie so he was looking forward to sampling as much of the local grub as time would allow (cue the food pictures on the next few posts!).  The following day we made a day trip to Ayutthaya, a city north of Bangkok famous for its historical ruins.  Despite the searing heat we rented bikes to ride around town.  The sweat came pouring but the combination of the low tourist season and 100 degree heat ensured the UNESCO World Heritage site was pleasantly quiet.

Grabbing a beer and street food in Bangkok

Ruins at Ayutthaya

more from the ancient city

An active Buddhist temple in Bangkok

In the afternoon my bike tire went flat and we were forced to hire a tuk-tuk for the ride back to the shop.  I was afraid the owner of the shop would try and charge me for damages, but she actually apologized about the flat and offered to give me my money back.  As it was only a few dollars and we were going to finish soon anyway I refused.  I've met a lot of scheming locals who do their best to rip off tourists, but this lady definitely wasn't one of them!

the cat I met back at the bike shop in Ayutthaya

By the time we got back to Bangkok and showered at the hotel it was time for dinner.  One of Justin's classmates was actually in town on spring break so we met up with him at a restaurant called Cabbages and Condoms.  Yep, you read that right.  It's actually a restaurant that donates profits to development projects, including family planning.  Thailand has poor regions, but as a whole the country is much wealthier than some other SE Asian nations such as the Philippines and Vietnam.  Part of this is due to effective family planning and a more sustainable population growth rate.

Overall the atmosphere was great and the food good - not out of this world, but decent local fare.  The restaurant is a bit pricey, but not exorbitantly so, and I'm willing to pay extra for a good cause.  By the time we finished dinner it was after 10 pm.  Considering we had flights the following morning Justin and I called it an early night.  On to Hong Kong!

It's a fancy place, but instead of the traditional mint after the meal you get a
 condom!  This is from their website: "Our food is guaranteed not to cause pregnancy."  

two curries from Cabbages and Condoms