Day 34

Woke up….damn it was hot last night. Jumped on the bus and went to a Cal Poly Alumni’s village he lives in now. Been there 20 years with a thai wife and 3 kids. It was the Esan village. Very cool and got to do a scavenger hunt in order to get to know people. Very fun and got a hole bunch of fruit off the trees. Uie was our guide. Very nice lady. Lunch…..finally bugs!!! Snail, beetles, ants, ant larva, papaya salad, water buffalo skin, sticky rice, mango, rice cakes, chicken, and fish…….Ant larva was no joke probably the best. The fruit we got from the locals…..3 type of mangos, Lyche, fresh tamerin, starfruit, little cherries, little green sour things, long green bean, tomatoes, and ….. some other stuff. Of course….awesome. Come back and now I’m just typin’ this and should start studying for midterms tomorrow. I forgot that we had a huge welcoming party for us at the school. So at 6pm, we went down to school and got a nice barbeque style dinner. Chicken, sticky rice, fresh fruit, everything good. Then we played games (snake eating tail, tiger eating cow, and stupid American games.). After came back and studied, and then a group of us went out for an hour or so to see the town before we went to bed.

Day 35

Wednesday….went to class and took a midterm. Ouch. Hopefully that turns out better that I feel about it. Came back and rented some bicycles. Rode to the Tesco Lotus. Ended up being more of a shopping mall than a supermarket. Crazy insane. There was actually a Wal-Mart type thing inside. Anyways, we got some beer, but the funny thing is that in Thailand you can’t buy beer from 2pm-5pm. We got to the register at around 4:57pm….we had to wait three minutes to buy it because they couldn’t have the records on the cash register! So that was entertaining. Came back and ate dinner and just hung out under the cabaña.

Day 36

Went to class again and had another midterm. I think that one went better. Came back and went to a Vietnamese restaurant that was pretty good with amazing service. All of the waiters and waitresses just sat there watching you which was totally awkward. You would take a drink of water or soda and by the time it hit the table, they were filling it back up for you. Good thing we weren’t drinkin’ booze. Might be an awful deep glass;) Came back and had a few beers and played the guitar with Randy. I was Carrie’s birthday, so I played here happy birthday on the git. Went out with some of the the guys and the nursing students at the college with us. Came home and hit the sack…I was shot and we leave at 8am to Lao tomorrow!!

written by  Matt Eastlick on May 4, 2009 from Nong Khai, Thailand
from the travel blog: Thailand Study Abroad
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Got up and headed to the Friendship Bridge. It’s the passageway to get to Laos. Got there and there was a guy who helped us get through faster if we took his taxi on the other side of the border. So we did it. Then we probably did the sketchiest thing we’ve all done so far this trip. He asked for our passports and we gave them to him…..Mom, Chele, don’t freak out. I had my hand around him the whole time. And by God he got us through fast the security didn’t even really look over anything. They just stamped us and we went on through. Anywho….he took us into Vientiane(the capital) and then we paid him extra to take us the next 3 hours drive to Vang Vieng. Had a funny lunch….baguette and water.

written by  Matt Eastlick on May 4, 2009 from Vientiane, Laos
from the travel blog: Thailand Study Abroad
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Day 38

Woke up and hiked this little mountain behind the city. Very cool. Started thunder and raining!!! Felt so amazing!!!! Watched it rain from under our new little cabaña since we moved for the slums!! Met a nice couple. Chris (Australia) and Anja (Germany). They were very nice. They gave me a book called Blood River about Africa and a journalist traveling the area. Ate dinner with them and found out it was Anja birthday, so I knew that my big group was going to “Q-Bar” so I took them there. I meant to mention that I think 35 of us went to Laos that weekend. So when we showed up at Q-Bar all I saw were drunk Cal Poly kids. It was so funny! We just joined in and got Anja her birthday shots and danced for awhile and then went bed. Exhausting day….

Day 39

Woke up and met Chris and Anja for breakfast at Bungalow. They were staying at the same as us. We planned a trip to some caves. Everyone else went tubbing down the river, but that sounded like a drunkin’ day so I opted out on that one. So we rented motorbikes and took off to the mountains. Beautiful landscape. Dane we are coming back. Went to the “Blue Lagoon”. It really was a blue lagoon which was the most beautiful water I’ve ever seen. Rope swings into them and trees to climb and jump off of. So we swam for awhile and then hiked the mountain to where the cave started. Holy crap…..you couldn’t see the ceiling it was so big. So we walked around that and then took a detour home. We still had gas in the tank, so we had to go cruisin’. We went north or town to where there weren’t any white people and it was great. Watched the sun set and came back to return the bike. All day on the bike…..35,000 kip…a little over 4 dollars. Read my book and went to sleep.

Day 40

Planned on going home, but everyone wanted to see the blue lagoon, so I stayed to be there tour guide. Skipped class, but worth it. Took a mini-bus back to Vientiane and then got back at the Mut-Mee at 6pm. Took a shower and ate and went to bed around 9:30pm……Long ass weekend.

written by  Matt Eastlick on May 4, 2009 from Vang Vieng, Laos
from the travel blog: Thailand Study Abroad
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Day 32

Sunday. Went to the ruins of Sukhothai. Awesome. Took like 200 pictures. Got some food and ice cream!!! So good. Then came back to the hotel and took a nap. Got up and got in the pool. Then had dinner and started drinking with the teachers. Fun night.

Day 33

Got prepped for 8 hour bus ride to Nong Khai. Amazing drive. Beatiful Country. Got here. Wasn’t too bad. Here and it’s right on the Mae Kong river which is the border between Laos and Thailand. I’ll get more info later miss you all.

written by  Matt Eastlick on April 27, 2009 from Sukhothai, Thailand
from the travel blog: Thailand Study Abroad
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Day 32

Sunday. Went to the ruins of Sukhothai. Awesome. Took like 200 pictures. Got some food and ice cream!!! So good. Then came back to the hotel and took a nap. Got up and got in the pool. Then had dinner and started drinking with the teachers. Fun night.

Day 33

Got prepped for 8 hour bus ride to Nong Khai. Amazing drive. Beatiful Country. Got here. Wasn’t too bad. Here and it’s right on the Mae Kong river which is the border between Laos and Thailand. I’ll get more info later miss you all.

written by  Matt Eastlick on April 27, 2009 from Nong Khai, Thailand
from the travel blog: Thailand Study Abroad
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Well, Friday….supposed to have class, except for Professor Kerbo got food poisoning at and Italian restaurant. So no sociology class, but language. Not bad. Came back and played some music.

Day 24

Woke up and rented some bikes to bike to some local ruins. It was going to be fun til I broke my bike all to hell. I busted the pedals up in multiple ways to the point where I could only use one pedal……I was pretty impressed with myself. But got there later rather than sooner. Took a songtao with all of our bikes on top. After we got there, we were glad we took a ride because it was way farther than the book said. Luckily Dave had a bike that had another seat over the back tire and pegs for me to ride on. He reminded me of Dane when we where little. Dane being my mule;) Came back and went to the Saturday Market. That was cool. Found the amazing blind band, but forgot my camera!!! Then got some kind of a crispy crepe thing with chocolate. It was good….real good. Dave and Nick bought hammocks for 350 baht…I was tempted. Came back and went to a Rasta club…..it was ok…came back swung by Mike’s (a burger joint). Pretty good….came back and went to bed…

Day 25

Woke up and went to the Central Airport Plaza shopping mall by myself. I got there an hour early so I ended up talking to this Thai lady for about 45 minutes. Very nice and she had gone to University in Baton Rouge about thirty years ago, so she still spoke pretty good english. Finally got in and bought some new cargo shorts since I blew the crotch out of my green ones finally  Also bought a button up shirt and some basketball shorts so I could work out with Dave later. Came back and hung out til me and Dave went to the fitness park across the street from the IC. It is a track with obstacles like push ups and sit ups and bars and a military press thing….pretty cool. It’s no wonder everyone is skinny over here. Hot and fitness parks!!! We ran a mile (like a 7 minute mile) and the a half of mile through the obstacles. Then came back and went to the Sunday Market. Got some cool stuff that you guys will have to wait and see…..;) Then came back and crashed….

Day 26

Woke up and kicked Dave out of bed and we went to the fitness park again. Ran 2 miles….holy crap. Came back ate and got ready for school. Went early to study. Talked to Ashley instead;) Went to the first class in a week and a half. Awesome. Came back, dropped my laundry off and went to the “OP” aka….The Organic Vegetable Place. Then I’m back here update’n and I think we are going to the Night Bazaar to pick up some suitcases to pack all of the shit we bought at the markets….ya, there’s that much stuff. So I’ll talk to everyone in a bit….Oh and we now are 98 percent sure we are going to Bangkok….everything is pretty much over with the riots and protests, and we might actually get to see some army tanks that are still on patrol. Hopefully we get to see that!!! The place where all the protesting was going on was 2 blocks down from where we are staying! But it’s safe….Love you all and I’ll talk to you later.

P.S. I wrote just a few captions on my pics explaining just a couple of things.....no biggie

written by  Matt Eastlick on April 20, 2009 from Chiang Mai, Thailand
from the travel blog: Thailand Study Abroad
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Well, didn’t do much today……slept, read for class, played the guitar. It actually rained today which was really cool……bedtime.

Day 21

Well………I actually did homework today, took another nap, but nothing exciting. Talked to the fam!!! Bedtime.

written by  Matt Eastlick on April 16, 2009 from Chiang Mai, Thailand
from the travel blog: Thailand Study Abroad
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Ya! Actually did something today…..Went to Chiang Dao to see the caves. Man I’m happy I’m an Earth Science major. Probably the most fun I’ve had here. Pictures or stories don’t do it justice, but I’ll try posting pictures. Found a lake with a huge drop off into the abyss. Came back and watched a movie with Justin. “7 Seconds” with Will Smith…..if you like crying, watch it. Super tear jerker. Great one to watch with another dude. Anywho….tired, so might go to bed. TTYL

written by  Matt Eastlick on April 16, 2009 from Chiang Dao, Thailand
from the travel blog: Thailand Study Abroad
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Woke up and jumped in the vans that were waiting for us out front. Got prepared for the three and a half hour drive to Pai. The road was like to Happy Camp, but with lots of cars and everybody wanting, and actually, passing people right and left sides of the cars!!! It was quite the adventure just getting there. Before we even got to our housing, the kids were out in the streets throwing water and the trucks with people stacked in back. Sonkran had started! We got to our place which was awesome. Bamboo huts with mosquito nets over the beds. Very romantic to share a bed with Justin. And we also got the privilege to have three in our room. Kalen stayed with us……cool. But it was good. We thought we could make to lunch without getting wet….ha! no way. We couldn’t even get out of the driveway. And of course I hadn’t put my camera in the case yet, so that was a hassle running from the kids trying to keep the camera dry. I ended up turning around and sprinting back to get the case. Dane…..Life saver!!!! Worked great. Ate lunch and admired house many farangs where there. Did battle with some of the novice monks for a half hour…….they were tenacious little guys!!! So a couple of us ran off and found another spot to eat and had some beers….such good food. Then we came back and lounged on the front porch. Perfect weather. Took a nap. Got up and headed out for the night. Had the notorious “Buckets.” Oh man…..A flask of whiskey, club soda, sprite, red bull, and some lime……served in a bucket. Jesus….dangerous. So, had a bucket and went out to dinner. Then went to a bar that had live music. Great music once again. And another bucket! Met a guy from Long Beach who graduated from Stanford. He’s been traveling for 5 months already. Ben was pretty cool…..he bought me a few white Russians, so he got an “A” in my book;) Passed out…..

Day 18

Woke up……ouch. Everyone else took off for a bike ride to a waterfall which ended up being more than everyone asked for. I slept in.....til two. It was great….woke back up and got a massage for an hour….5 bucks!!! Got back and took a shower. Went and grabbed some dinner and went and watched another live band….super good once again. No Buckets though ;) Went home around 10:30, packed, ate some left overs, and went to bed.

Day 19

Vans were here at 8:00am. Everyone else hung over…..not me!!! 3 girls puked from the windy road….oh how glorious. Got back and prepared for the Chiang Mai Sonkran….good lord. Crazy…..got good video so I’ll show you more later. Parade was cool…..long walk and sore feet. Came back, hit sushi up and now just waiting to relax and go to bed. Long day! Hope to talk to you guys soon.

written by  Matt Eastlick on April 13, 2009 from Pai, Thailand
from the travel blog: Thailand Study Abroad
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Day 16

Well, woke up and went to school early to get some food, however, since the red shirts were blockading the parliament building, the King declared Sonkran a day early because no matter if you are fighting or whatever, there is no protesting during Sonkran. So none of the cafeteria stands were open because of the holiday  Went to class and learned about all of the genocides in the history of the world. Not all of them, but quite a few. Came back, ate dinner down stairs, jammed, packed, got some money, updated, and went to bed. Need all the rest I can get for the weekend in Pai (“Bye”). A little backpacking town north of here. I’ll be back on Monday to let you guys know how it went  TTFN!!!

written by  Matt Eastlick on April 10, 2009 from Chiang Mai, Thailand
from the travel blog: Thailand Study Abroad
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