Political disaster paves their way...

I am writing this from Bangkok airport where not a stones [grenades] throw away red-shirt/military violence is escalating, and as the foreign office upped its warning to avoid both Chang Rai and Chang Mai on Friday... Rich and i were crossing over the border from Laos and boarding a bus for a scenic tour through Rai and concluding in Mai. However our path of politcal strife does not end there. Sitting in a cafe in Vientiane a couple of weeks ago we read of the longest plan strike/protests by Nepalese Maoists in recent history, enough of a scare to begin bussing tourists out of Kathmandu and off the Sanctuary trail... we have been assured all is well now, but have been told we risk being stuck there if strikes are re-ignited after the constitutional reform deadline on 28th may.. something to look forward to!! The latest was the recent news of hightened tension between Argentina and the UK over the Fauklands.... only Kenya and Ecuador left, lets hope for their and our sakes nothing erupts..political or otherwise in the case of the latter! We now understand we should expect some strikes at the end of our Nepal trip (end of May) which may make headlines but we will be safely out of mobile reception and harm’s way around Himalaya’s Annapurna range and it will mean nothing more serious than travel delays...