Protests in Bangkok

Many of you have been asking about the protests here in Bangkok and my safety. I've been evacuated from my downtown apartment and I'm living in the suburbs of Bangkok near my school. Every day we follow the situation here but I've always felt safe. Over the past few month it seems that if you stay away from the 'Red Zone' you were safe.

Well, today that all changed as it seems like people are rioting in the streets. People are setting buildings on fire, looting, and causing complete chaos. I can't even believe what I'm seeing. For the first time since the protest started I feel uncomfortable. The reason is because of the unknown. Today it seems like it's hard to predict where the events are going to take place and that's what's scary. While the red shirt leaders may have turned themselves in there are thousands of supporters still fighting for their cause. Before they were praising their peaceful non-violent protests. Today they've shown the complete opposite. They are taking out their anger by burning Bangkok.

I can't believe what's happening to this country that I have grown to love over the past few years of living here.

The first set of photos is when the protest was peaceful. It was like a party at the protest site.



And now this is what the 'protest' looks like.

More Bhutan Photos

Bhutan-Gross National Happiness

First, I need to apologize for my lack of blog post this year. It's not that my life is any less exciting as before. In fact I'd like to think it's the opposite and that's why i'm not posting. Either way-I am sorry. So if I haven't talked to you in a while let me catch you up on my life. In October, yes way back in October, I went to Bhutan for our fall break. Bhutan is an incredible Himalayan country that has a low number of tourists and high number of happy people. The king of Bhutan has a Gross National Happiness Policy. They believe that the happiness of the people shows the true wealth of the country. Bhutan has no traffic lights. None. In the whole country. They actually tried to put one in the city but it didn't work out. There are no plastic bags here. They are illegal. The sights are breathtaking.

To travel to Bhutan you must book with a travel agent and it is a set price per day which keeps many tourists away. Then there is the plane ticket. Since we are so close to Bhutan (3-4 hour flight) we are lucky that it is relatively cheap for us. The country only has one airline. Druk Air. You must book through a travel agent to get your seat. I heard there are only 2 planes but I haven't researched enough to confirm that. When we were flying we got to fly by Mt Everest and I'm pretty sure every passenger was on one side of the plane at that time. My friend actually asked the pilot if he would video the them as they landed the plane and they said yes. So we have this great video of us landing in Bhutan.

This was one of the most incredible trips I have ever been on. The landscape is amazing. We only passed a few other trekkers on the 3 days trek. One of the few places I've visited this year where people where the national dress because that's what they wear rather than for tourism.



Photos from Bhutan

Sai Yok Houseboat

A few friends and I drove to a national park called Sai Yok. It's about 3 hours from Bangkok, but you feel like you've gone far away. Mountains, waterfalls, caves, trees. It's all nice to see after being in the city all week. We rented a "houseboat" for the weekend. They take your houseboat to different spots on the river using a longtail boat. You order delicious Thai food and they bring it to wherever you are in the river. At night, we were tied to a tree in the middle of the river. It was so relaxing and beautiful. Here are the photos....

Copan, Honduras and Antigua, Guatemala

El Salvador

Costa Rica and Nicaragua

This summer Maureen and I had the opportunity to travel together again! We decided to spend a few weeks seeing Central America.