Forgot to mention that I woke up yesterday morning with curly hair…..that is a first and speaks of the humidity…..hope I survive….Jim is loving it. Marilyn and I not so much. Had a great day in Bangkok yesterday and met a few interesting characters………it is quite a shock going from Tidnish with a population of 2-300 to Bangkok’s population of eight million and most of them seem to be chasing you down the street trying to sell you something…….at least that is what it feels like. Actually the people are wonderful, friendly and helpful even the tuk tuk driver who kidnapped us yesterday. The day started innocently enough with us having a nice breakfast and pleasant cab drive from or hotel, Suk 11, to the canal. We had decided to take the public boat down the canal because it was 95percent cheaper than the tour boat and you have to save a little here and there………..kind of like taking the ferry from Halifax to Dartmouth rather than hiring a private boat…….oops sorry, forgot you cannot do that because of the strike! Anyway getting back to my story……the ride down the canal with the locals was fabulous and eye opening even for Marilyn who did not bring her life jacket(like many Newfies she’s afraid of water and cannot swim)…..digressed again, where was I? Oh yeah great canal trip and then off to see the grand palace………unbelievable and you will have to google it if you want to know more because I cannot do it justice and my fingers are getting tired. Following that we decided to ge see the 150foot reclining budda(because we really wanted to recline in the heat and thought it would be socially acceptable to recline with Buddha) and because we also wanted to try a tuk tuk we hired one for the little ride to the sleeping buddha(which is what our tuk tuk driver kept calling him). We were aware that many drivers ran a scam to get tourists into high end jewelry stores, factories etc. but his smiling face looked so honest when he told us he had to stop for gas and he suggested we check out one store while he did so and it was a massive jewellry store with great pressure…..but in the end no sales. The he took us to see the sitting Buddha, not the sleeping Buddha, and the to a garment factory, high end, where the salesman was really working Jim to buy a suit and didn wasn’t to buy the fact that Jim doesn’t wear suits and I told Marilynthat the best salesman I know hasn’t been able to sell Jim a suit and I doubted this guy could (right Robert?) and at that point I realized he could probably speak English as he gave up and started trying to sell to Marilyn and I…..but again no sales and we were starting to get annoyed with our tuk tuk driver who had the nerve to bring us to another jewellry store where he told us he would get free gas if we just looked…….we felt bad so we did….and then he said only two more and he got something else for free and when we said we were absolutely done he threw a little temper tantrum which we ignored, then paid him and took a taxi. All in all it’s been fabulous … The food is unbelievably tasty, we’ve met interesting tourists and great Thai people …….. It’s amazing what you learn about yourself in a foreign country. At home I won’t go to the corner store without my seatbelt on and then I jump into a little tut tut, crammed with my husband and one of my best friends, no seatbelt/helmet or any thoughts of safety and allow this crazy driving entrepreneur drive me around with eight lanes of traffic going in all directions and him thinking he’s the king of the road……….have I lost my mind? Tune in tomorrow because maybe after we adjust to the heat we’ll come to our senses…….or maybe not! Still receiving your blogs and emails but cannot reply for some strange reason Andrea and Kathleen to your emails….love ya!