in burma (finally!) and more pictures!

So i was finally able to get my visa to burma and now i'm actually in burma! it worked out since i got to spend some extra time exploring both bangkok and chiang mai, which was great.

Chiang mai was awesome. i loved the markets, the greenery, and how relaxing it was, especially compared to bangkok. Here are some late pictures from Chiang Mai:

(left) the group i traveled with: 2 from holland, one from australia, 2 from france, and 3 from hungary (right) this is me learning how much i like the color green

this is where i stayed in an overnight hut during our trek

in bangkok, i've been staying at lots of different places so i've gotten to see lots of different sides of bangkok. i've stayed at the city center/redlight district, the tourist/backpackers district (khaosan rd), and the high society area (suhkumvit).

It's been pretty busy here in Burma. I'm spending the month here doing work with an NGO called IDE (international development enterprises). The hope is to finish up the development of a deep lift water pump i designed a year and a half ago and also to help with the implementation of other projects in the pipeline (like the Infinican water basket started by a few friends at Stanford). I'm staying at the directors' house (where i've stayed the last time i came), and i love it. it's great here. i love reconnecting with old friends here and just meeting the people here. the people here just have so much character and sincerity.

In any case, you're probably looking for pictures... since i've given Ross and Mark all of my pictures from europe, i can't post more pictures from europe. when i have more time (hopefully by the end of the week), i'll post some pictures from chiang mai and burma.

Till then, here are more pictures from Ross - i think he's continually updating them:

Spain
France
Switzerland
Italy

chiang mai!

in about half an hr, i'm going on a 2-day hiking trip through the jungles in chiang mai with a little rafting and such (led by a tour group - so not completely unsafe). the weather here is pretty humid. my clothes are taking a bit longer to dry than usual, but luckily i didn't bring too much cotton.

i spent the last few days in bangkok running errands (i.e. i now have my japanese encephalitis shot - it's supposedly a better vaccination that hasn't made it to the US yet), but haven't been able to get my visa for burma yet. i guess it's taking a little while to get my paperwork ready, and since i've only gotten official visas my last two visits, they won't give me anything else (i.e. tourist/business visas). i fly back to bangkok in a few days to try again - should be fine, but who knows!

anyhoo, off to doing some fun stuff after all these errands!

in athens!

just spent the day in the sun exploring the acropolis. it's really amazing that these buildings are more than 2000 yrs old. visiting santorini started off slow - a bit disappointing until we found the right places to go. pretty awesome views.

susan, sirena - you know those greeting cards daddy brought home ~8 yrs ago that we've been trying to use, "cats in greece," with those blue domed churches... i was there! it was in santorini!

we're going to buy have a few drinks and grab dinner with a view of the acropolis at night... not a bad way to spend the evening.

pictures of greece to some... maybe when i'm in bangkok in a few days?

more pictures from ross!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2137137&id=201896&ref=mf

switzerland, venice, rome update

hey guys,
i just posted some new pictures from switzerland, venice, and rome. i have to say, when i make lots of money, my summer home or retirement home will be in muren so i can hike the swiss alps every morning! the alps are awesome and i wish i could take it with me. the fresh air, the views, the calmness... everything (except for the cost of living).

venice was fun to explore in one day, but we soon found out that we couldn't take the swiss alps weather with us. italy is HOT and we're cooking in the sun. we've walked around practically all of rome and had a chance to see almost every piazza and fountain there is. we've also been playing find the obelisk (since the romans took a bunch of obelisks from the egyptians and put them throughout rome... i think we've found at least 6 big ones and 2 small ones so far).

tomorrow is our travel day to greece, the last leg of our trip. lots of relaxing beach time... hopefully it won't be too hot!

the next time i update photos will probably be sometime during mid august when i'm in chiang mai, thailand, or yangon, burma.

later!

http://picasaweb.google.it/danaung/VersaillesGardens
http://picasaweb.google.it/danaung/Switzerland
http://picasaweb.google.it/danaung/Venice
http://picasaweb.google.it/danaung/VaticanCity
http://picasaweb.google.it/danaung/Rome