My last day for this stint in Bangkok I decided to get a traditional Thai massage. After breakfast I went to find a place recommended by Lonely Planet - Marble House - it took a while to find and I walked in and asked for a 2 hour Thai Massage. The woman looked at me like I was crazy for walking in to her shop and then walked me over to a small room with three beds on the floor and gave me flannel pajamas to put on (mind you it was 80+ degrees outside and the place was not AirConditioned!). So I started to get changed, thought about what I was doing, and turned around and left the place. I figured I could find someplace that might actually have air conditioning and be happy to have some business! So I left and found a shop down the road from my hostel and I stepped inside and it was nice and cool and the women were very friendly, so I decided it would be a better decision. I signed myself up for a 2 hour massage ($15) and got changed. Then the pain began! Thai massage focuses on pressure points throughout the body. She pressed every one three times and it was excruciating and she just giggled at me! I think it may have been the longest 2 hours of my life. Although I did discover that my neck and head are the most tolerant of pain of all the areas of my body.
After that 'experience' I went for lunch at a place I also read about in Lonely Planet called Cabbage and Condoms. It took me a bit to find the place. The streets in Thailand have one main road and then 'Soi's off of them numbered. So I am staying on Sukhumvidt Rd Soi 11 and the restaurant was on Soi 15 but when I walked down it I couldn't find the entrance. It only took a minute though and I got it! The restaurant was pretty cool, an outside area and an inside area and figures dressed in outfits entirely made of colorful condoms! It was quite entertaining and impressive. I think it should be a challenge on next season's Project Runway, although it might create some drama :) I read through the menu and they had a full description of the mission behind their restaurant model. They feel that birth control and std prevention should be as available as vegetables are in this country. I thought that was interesting and kept thinking that the same slogan could not work in many places in our country, i.e. Detroit since fresh vegetables are probably much less common than a condom.
After lunch I walked around the vendors a bit more and then went back to my hostel to get my bag and head for my next destination, Nahkon Phanom to see my graduate school roommate, Caitlyn, who is living there and teaching English. I took the Skytrain again and got off at the Mo Chit stop to get to the Mo Chit Bus Station to catch an overnight bus to the NorthEast. I tried to take the city bus to get to the station, but it started pouring and I had already been waiting for a while for bus #3 and it hadn't come so I jumped in my first Thailand taxi! My taxi driver was wonderful. He didn't speak English but we had a connection ;) He also had a pair of aviator sunglasses so we were perfect companions. He also had Britney Spears on the radio, which I thought was quite humorous! He pointed me in the right direction for the NorthEast buses and I was off! The ticket purchasing was a bit of a trip, but once I found the English speaking folk at the back of the station I was all set. I got on the bus and it was super nice! Big seats that reclined really far and leg rests! They played a crazy Chinese vampire movie which was in Thai of course but was still entertaining :) The ride ended up being kind of awful only because they blasted the AC and I was freeeeeezing the whole way so my sleep kept getting interrupted by chills! I also recieved some serious mosquito bites that make my calves look a little funky! Alas, I made it safely and was incredibly excited to see Caitlyn peering in the window when I arrived in Nakhon Phanom!
...and a britney song was on, and a britney song was on... party in nakhon phanom!
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