Transportation and the Colour Pink

so karlene and i are quickly discovering the quirks of the thai culture, one such being their obsession with the colour pink. rumour has it the king went into the hospital once and emerged wearing this colour of gown, and it has been know as one of the "kings colours" ever since. there is even a pink day of the week. let me tell you that this isn't just any pink, it's a sort of bubblegum-with-a-hint-of-hospital pink that is painted on everything from shirts and houses to taxis, trucks, and buses. charming? something like that.
but the mention of taxis and buses brings to mind the situations we have encountered with transportation out here. there is a strange phenomenon of the ordinary 4-lane highway becoming about a 16-lane, particularly at traffic lights. there were more than a few times that we worried about seeing those large pink buses cause a motorcycle casualty, but it all seems to flow remarkably smoothly.
smoothly, that is, unless us farangs (foreigners) get in the way as i (becki) discovered yesterday when i nearly got thwacked by a motorcycle. now we take extra caution, wait for a large gap in traffic, and run (screaming) as fast as we can across the street. nothing like drawing a little attention.
the vehicles here are quite remarkable in the way that each one sounds and feels like it is wheezing it's last, but they all just keep going! we have been rattled and jerked and belched on with exhaust, and the vehicles just keep chuggin. this is why i drive an import. never say die.
to top off our transportation experiences, karlene and i spent the day touring a gigantic park on a rickety tandem bicycle. once we discovered how to get it going- karlene doing something of a run and jump and push, and becki pedaling like a madwoman clutching the wobbling handlebars- we found it quite enjoyable. karlene only scraped her knee on the pedals once.
now we're off to have some dinner with kendall and debbie, karlene's bro and sister in law. we're headed to mem's, the trusty and tasty neighbourhood restaurant. so till next time, stay safe on the roads, eh!
becki and karlene