Bangkok

Friday 22 November - we get to sleep in until 0530, get up, pack bags, load bags into the baggage van and bikes onto a truck for the trip into Bangkok. Then breakfast for us and into Bangkok by minibus - the traffic was considered too congested and chaotic to do it safely by bicycle, probably a valid concern at the best of times, but there are protests going on in Bangkok that make it far worse. Later in the day, a bunch of us tried to get to a particular restaurant by minibus, but the protests had blocked off a lot of traffic routes and created real gridlock. Two hours and five minutes later we had moved maybe 2 km and got to a point where we were able to turn back - three minutes later we were back at the hotel. 
 
The remainder of Friday and all day Saturday we took in some of the tourist sites and walked a bit. The following photos are all at the Grand Palace and two adjoining temples, Wat Phra Kaeo and Wat Pho, in the old town area. 


A group of us at the Grand Palace



 



the reclining Buddha



In town - narrow streets for cars, maybe not even a sidewalk for people, and in this area, lots of Buddhas for sale.

Saturday late afternoon we went to the 'Cabbages and Condoms' restaurant on the recommendation of Jacques and Myriam... 

 ...indeed it is unique. It was established by the non-profit 'Population and Community Development Organization' to promote their efforts to encourage family planning, part of that being the idea that condoms should be as available to the people as vegetables, hence the name of the restaurant. The organization now is more than family planning, it includes safe water, HIV prevention, and many other community health and development initiatives... not only that, but the food was excellent. 

Ursula with two condom-clad mannequins