Matt Eastlick

Went to class which was just as eventful as usual. Came back and went to dinner with the crew, however, big crowds= no fun. So, Dave and Nick and I took off. Found a great hole in the wall diner and had a spicy seafood dish that blew my socks of. Awesome. Started walking around and found a banana roti stand. OMG….sweet jesus so good. Kept walking around and found ourselves in the middle of non-english town with no English signs and no English speaking people. Found an open market with fresh meats, veggies, and fruits. Super good. Old man helped us buy our fruit and gave us a few free fruit to try. Dragon fruit, mangos, and papaya. Felt like we were the only Farangs (foreigners) to visit in the last ten years. Everyone looked at us like we were aliens….oh wait, we are!! Wandered around some more when we found a sports bar that was pretty hopin’. Had some beers and found a tuk-tuk back to the hotel. Picked up Justin and the guys and went down to the bar Moisture. Everyone wanted me to jump up on stage and play some music, and before I knew it, Emmet was up on stage talking to the guy to see if I could play. He said “yes,” so I walked up there and grabbed the guitar and as I did the man said we were out of time. He must have misunderstood us. But he said that we could come back tomorrow and play around ten. So we walked back to the hotel but found another bar on the way home who we had previously made some friends. Nan, Nun, Tos, Paul, and Nit Now. Had a drink with them and passed out for the night.

Day 7

Woke up and got movin’ and went an got coffee at the Mad Coffee shop. What do you know…..super good. When to class and spread the word that I was playing at Moisture. Came back and took and shower and went to sushi by myself. It was awesome. The guys who worked there had lived in Chicago for a year so they knew pretty good English. I got the Jade Dragon Maki. Shrimp tempura, salmon, topped with avocado and a spicy soy sauce. Yummy!!! I had to get some tabs for the show, so I walked towards the copy shop when I saw Nan. She knew where I could go and she would show me. I began to walk when she jumped on a motorcycle and motioned for me to jump on. So I did the one thing that Cal Poly specifically told me not to do. Get on a motorcycle. But it was fun and Nan helped me with the copies. Came back and got the troops round up and swung by Nan’s bar to get started. I only had one drink because if I'm playing in front of 200 people, I don't think being drunk would do. So I saddled up and got to Moisture and finally got up stage when the place was packed with 40 Cal Poly people(including my profs) and probably 130 to 160 thai people. I nearly soiled myself. So I had Tos introduce me to the croud and they gave me a good welcome. I played Wagon Wheel, Caroline, and Lovin’ Man. Screwed up the first two(I know, not like me) and nailed the the third. Everyone cheered from the Cal Poly section and it made me feel alittle better. By the time I made it off the stage, everyone was smashed and my profs were drinking the blue drinks out of the bucket! I was the DD for everyone, so I walked most back to the hotel, and the other half back to Nan’s bar. Everyone was happy that I played. Never seen so many happy drunks. Went to bed at 3am.

Day 8

Not so happy drunks;) Everyone was soooooo hung over when we had to get up at 7am to get backed for the weekend at the Hill Tribe Village. I was bright eyed and bushy tailed, but not so much everyone else. Went to a Hill Tribe Museum and drove to a little cabanya lunch stand thing for lunch. It was about a two and a half, three hour drive. After lunch, we got to walk down the hill to the tribe and along the way seeing their terraces for rice and the beautiful jungle. Also, the waterfall……..like a postcard, and we got to go swimming. I thought it was fun, but it was like swimming at home a Devil’s Hole, but bigger. 120 foot waterfall. The water was sooo nice. Not like Patterson Creek or White Rock. Everyone had an awesome time. We finished out the hike down the mountain to the tribe. It was about 3km total. We were shown our accommodations and around the little village. They had a little coffee stand were they gave a sampler of the coffee that they grow. It was amazing. I picked you up some dad. They also had some beautiful scarves;) So we went to dinner with the local Karen people. HOT PEPPERS!!! But as usual….good food. Then we went to a bon-fire where they showed us some traditional dances and music. I got some good video to show. Cool instruments. Then the tribes people wanted music from us, so of course they all looked at me and told me to play an encore of the previous night at Moisture. So played some music and then the people wanted to drink…..And I thought the Indians in the valley drank…..holy crap those boys can drink. We had an epic jam session with them and I was tired so I went to bed……I wish. There were some Irish boys that were also staying with the Karen so before I knew it I was awaken by my roommates and the Irish boys ripping my covers off, slapping a beer in my hand, and a guitar in my face yelling at me to play!!! So I told them I would just put some clothes on real quick, but I was told that I don’t need clothes to play Johnny Cash. So I drank beer and played music in my underwear with Justin, Emmet, Lucas, Kalen, Randy, and the three irish boys on the porch for another 45 minutes!!!! I was freaking tired! I think that the guys on this trip have finally found out another thing about Thailand. You can’t try to keep up with the local people and then with Irishmen. Duh!!!

Day 9

Well of course I can sleep in, so I woke up at 6:30am and packed my stuff and went for a walk. It was nice. Since we were about the same elevation as Etna, there was dew on the ground and not too many bugs. Took some good pictures and wished that I would have brought a fishing pole because the fish were jumping out of the water at the river. Morgan woke up so we went and sat by the river and talked. Then people started to get out of bed. I’m almost certain that a quarter of the people were still drunk. Then we loaded up and left for the “Royal Project.” Oh my goodness mom….I think we need to move you to Thailand. The Royal Project was organized by the King to help with jobs and help improve the agriculture for the Hill Tribe people. So he set up a huge flower garden and green house thing. Beautiful flowers. All the water of plants you could ever want mom;) Then we went to lunch and ELEPHANT riding!!!! Mit Now was the elephants name. The trainer let Justin and I ride it by ourselves. Not a big deal because regardless of what we did to the elephant, it knew where to go. Then we drove down the road and paid to get guided down the river on a bamboo raft. Like from Horn bridge to Black brigde. It was fun. There was all of the local people in huts all along the river splashing us and it was a water war the whole way down. There were 4 people to a raft which was nice. Not too many people on each. So we were all exhausted and we drove home. Then we took a shower and ran off to Sumo Sushi…..holy crap…..so good. Under 8 dollars for two plates of sushi and a coke. Super good and super cheat. Just how I like it!!!! Haha. Dane, even you would have been full after this meal. Then we came back and of course wanted to tell all of you about it and the internet wasn’t working. So I fell asleep.

Day 10

Woke up at 10:30 and now I’m at a coffee shop trying to get you guys updated!!!! And tomorrow “Flight of the Gibbons!!!” 2 km zip-line over the jungle!!!! Next time on the Blog!!!! Love and miss you all!

written by

Matt Eastlick on April 3, 2009 from Chiang Mai, Thailand

from the travel blog: Thailand Study Abroad

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