Life in Nong Khai

Hello Again!

I'm sure many of you have been hearing about the political unrest in Thailand.  There have been a lot protests and demonstrations but the majority of them are peaceful.  However, it's usually only the violent ones that make the international news so it must seem like we are in a lot more danger than we actually are.

Right now my study abroad group is Nong Khai.  It is a small town alongside the Mae Khong river.  We are right on the border of Laos near it's capital, Vientiane.  It's pretty quiet there isn't a lot to do in the actual town, but we are safe here.  We have been here the last few weeks because Cal Poly risk management felt that Bangkok was not safe enough and they were probably right.  Although a lot of the violence is isolated in a square where the red shirt protests are, there still have been many civilian injuries and deaths. 


On a lighter note, here are some pictures I that I have taken of the Mae Khong river over the last few weeks.  It has been so awesome to walk down the street and see such beautiful scenery everyday. 

Although I haven't written a blog in a long time I still have been taking lots of pictures and have many stories from my adventures here in Thailand, would anyone like me to continue to write some blogs about things that I have done even if it's after I'm back from the program?  Let know what you think!

Michelle <3

Bus to Pai: 72 Baht

Hello Again!

This is a blog entry about our adventures driving to the small town of Pai, pronounced "bye."  It is about a 3 or 4 hour bus ride north of Chiang Mai, where we are currently living.  Last Friday we had morning class and then took a songtao to the Chiang Mai bus station.  We paid 72 baht for our tickets, so about $2.30.  This is how I learned that no matter what country you are in, you get what you pay for, and 72 baht is very cheap for a bus ticket. 

When the bus pulled up we almost laughed in anticipation of how miserable the ride was going to be.  It was old and rusted with no door and no air conditioning.  It was booked to capacity so we sat two to a bench seat covered in hot, sticky vinyl.  There were fans attached to the ceiling and all of the windows were open, but the fans were still only blowing hot air and the windows weren't held in place very well so they would randomly fall down during the drive so we made sure to keep our fingers and arms out of the windowsill. 

We found out later that this was the bus that the locals take and that the tourists usually opt for the vans or the mini buses for the long journey.  I was sitting next to one of my friends from the trip and we would talk, read, and listen to our ipods.  Unfortunately there was an uneven number of us so one of the girls had to sit next to a Thai man who kept falling asleep on her shoulder!  She said it was pretty awkward.  

 

Luckily after the first half an hour or so it started to rain so the temperature cooled down immensely for the remainder of the trip.  The road was extremely windy and steep but as long as I looked out the window I was okay and we had some awesome views of the mountains and forests.

We had quite an interesting driver as well.  He would stop randomly to let people off or pick up others walking along the road.  This one time we picked up a man who looked at least 90 years old and was carrying what I think was a brain in a plastic bag!  I wanted to take a picture but I didn't want to be rude.  Here is a picture of some people we let off at a store to buy things and then they just hopped back on.  I couldn't believe it!  Our bus system is just so different in the United States. 

Our driver was also talking on the phone and texting while he was driving us through the windy roads.  I definitely did not appreciate it but apparently some of the people in our group were afraid we were going to crash or drive off the road a couple of times. 

I was also hearing this strange noise throughout the drive which I later found was the sound of him using the emergency break while we were going down the hills.  I have no idea what was going on with the regular breaks that he felt that he had to use an additional one, but either way we made it there safe and sound. 

Needless to say, we chose to pay the extra couple of dollars to ride back on the air conditioned van where we all ended up having two seats to ourselves that reclined, and they provided some snacks for us!  I'm still glad we ended riding on the local bus first though because it was quite an adventure.

Until next time!

Michelle <3

Fish Spa

Hi!

A couple weeks ago my friends and I went to a Fish Spa.  We had been seeing them around we finally decided to try it for ourselves.  What you do is sit on a ledge and put your feet into an aquarium tank with all of these little fish and they swim up to your feet and eat off all of your dead skin. 

As you can see from the picture, it was one of the weirdest feelings I've ever experienced.  I described it as a tickling feeling all over your feet, other people said it felt like the fish were pinching them or the pins and needles feeling when your feet fall asleep. 

We sat there for about fifteen minutes which was more than enough for me.  Afterward my feet really did feel softer!  It was an interesting experience and I am glad that I tried it out but once was definitely enough for me :)

That's all for now ttyl!

Michelle <3

Chiang Dao Caves

 Hello again!

As part of our road trip during Songkran week we visited the caves at Chiang Dao.  We had to pay to enter and then a tour guide with a lantern led our group through the passage ways.  There were some rooms that were so gigantic and the walls so detailed and intricate that I felt like I was inside of a cathedral of rock. 

There were several cave formations that we saw that have been named for their shape.  This one, for example, is called baby elephant because of the way it looks.  Unfortunately I don't know how to say baby elephant in Thai, but I do know that word for elephant is pronounced "chong."











I thought that it would be pretty cold in the caves because they are underground and all the other caves I have been inside of have been cold so I wore pants.  Unfortunately, it was not any cooler inside because it was extremely humid.  The air felt really thick and I think I actually sweat more and felt hotter inside of the caves than I did outside because of the humidity. 



 
We walked through the caves for a while, as far as the guide would let us, and then we also walked down another path to what we found out was a shrine with Buddha statues. 














Outside of the caves we saw these beautiful temples but we weren't sure what they were for or if we could go inside so we just took pictures.  I had a great time exploring the caves at Chiang Dao and I am glad that we made it one of our stops on the road trip. 

That's all for now!

Michelle <3

A Typical School Day at Chiang Mai University

Hello again!

I hope everyone had a great last week and weekend!  I had so much fun on our Songkran break, we went on a road trip around places in northern Thailand.  I will definitely write all about it later but first I wanted to share a little bit about what it's like to go to school here in Chiang Mai.

All of our classes are in the Humanities building on the Chiang Mai University campus.  Since it is a good ways from Uniserv (where we are staying) we take songtaos to and from the school.  Some people from our group have scooters so they can drive themselves, and the majority of the university students drive scooters too, as you can see from the picture of the parking lot.  

Once we get to the building there is usually already a long line for the elevator, especially since one of them has been out of order for a while now.  Our group usually runs late too so we take the stairs, all the way up to the seventh floor!  It is quite a long walk and I'm pretty tired once I reach the top. 

Our classes are two and a half hours each with usually a ten or fifteen minute break in the middle to get something at the coffee shop on the ground floor or at the Student Service Center store across the street.  On "A" days I have PSY 311 Environmental Psychology from 1-3:30pm and on "B" days I have PSY 350 Teamwork from 9:30-12pm and on Mondays-Thursdays we either have our Thai Language class or a guest lecture from 3:30-5pm.  I took the picture on the right today while our Thai Language professor was writing something for us on the board.  Since it would be too difficult to learn all of the Thai characters in this short amount of time he teaches us using English alphabet phonetics so that we can learn how to pronounce the words. 

It seems like its a long day at school but it actually goes pretty quickly because I am really enjoying my classes and we do a lot of class discussions and group work.  When we get back we usually walk down to the main street near Uniserv and find a place to eat dinner. 

Okay that's all I can think of to say about school but feel free to ask me any questions about anything!

 Michelle <3

Chiang Rai Karen Hill Tribe (Long Necks)

Hi!

So one of the places we visited during our Songkran break road trip was the Chiang Rai.  There we went and visited some hill tribes and one of them was the Karen Long Neck hill tribe.  We had to pay to go into their village which was kind of weird because it made it seem more like a tourist attraction and they were one exhibit, but at the same time I can see how if they money really does go to them it would help them out a lot.

We had a group of children as our tour guides and they took us around the village but I don't think they could speak much English.  They had this awesome swing/ferris wheel that they were playing on but no one went all the way around on it. 

We got to walk around and see their village and see them perform a few dances for us.  Honestly it was kind of depressing though because no one seemed very happy except for the little children, it was almost like a routine and not a special dance for them anymore.  There were also a lot of things for sale that we have been seeing in all of the night markets, so we wondered if they there were really authentic from the hill tribe or not.

Later we realized that we had gone through a different village first and then we headed to the Karen Long Neck tribe.  We got to hold one of the coils that women wear on their necks and it was so much heavier than I thought it would be!  Legend has it that women started wearing these coils to protect them from tiger bites.

The scarves here were definitely authentic though.  We saw many women hand weaving them, like in this picture to the right.


Going to this hill tribe felt a bit too much like a tourist attraction, especially with this other group there who were talking an excessive amount of pictures of the hill tribe people and posing and pointing at them as if they were on display.  However, it was definitely interesting to see these Karen Long Neck women in real life and I know it was something that I will probably never have the opportunity to see again so I'm glad that I went. Bye for now!

Michelle <3

Updates Coming Soon!

Hi Everyone!

I'm sorry that I haven't been so good at updating this week, things have been crazy!  Last week we had school Monday-Thursday and Friday-Saturday we stayed with a Hill Tribe and it was so fun!  We hiked to a waterfall, had a talent show, and sat around a campfire until late that night.  On Saturday we went river rafting and rode on elephants!  On Sunday my friends and I went to the Tiger Kingdom and got to pet baby tigers!  Yesterday was Thailand's new year, Songkran, and it is also a water festival.  We got to be in the parade with Uniserv (the place that we are staying at) and we got totally soaked!  We have the rest of the week off of school so some of my friends and I are going on a road trip around northern Thailand.  I'm not exactly sure where we are going but some of the places might be Pai, Chiang Rai, and the Golden Triangle.  There are pictures from all of these events I just need to get them from other people because my camera died for some of it and other things I didn't even bring it to because it is not water proof.  But when I get back from this trip I will definitely write in more detail about the things I have been up to.  I hope you are all doing well and I love you!

Michelle <3

Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School

This Sunday nine girls and I took a Chiang Mai cooking class.  We started off by having our Easter breakfast at the Uniserv restaurant The Lemon Tree around 9am and then a songtao picked us up and took us to what we thought was the cooking school, but it was actually just the meeting place and then another songtao drove us waaaay out to a gated community with huge houses where the cooking location actually was.

At the cooking school we each had our own station with a stove, wok, cutting board, knife, and apron.  We did all of the cooking outside so it was VERY hot, I think the temperature was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit that day.  Thankfully they had a couple water jugs (yes it was filtered water) that some how stayed cold so we were drinking that all day. 

Before we made each of the dishes we had a lecture/demonstration by one of the Chiang Mai Thai Cookery teachers.  We sat in a small room with tiered seats and it was air conditioned so that was a nice break from the heat.  Another cool thing was that there was an angled mirror so even if you were sitting in the back row, you could still see what they were doing.  Then we would go outside and try to recreate what they just did.  They did a lot of the prep work for us though so that made it faster.  Then once we finished we got to eat our food!


This first dish in the top righthand corner was the hot and sour prawn soup.  It was a little bit too strong for me but I think if I put less spice and lime in it next time it will be better :)











The dish on the left is a Thai salad which they actually eat after their main course.  It has chicken, rice seasoning, chives, and some other things in it.  It was actually my favorite dish of the day because it was the least spicy!   The cucumbers are there because the Thai people actually use them as spoons for eating the salad.









The picture on the right was the dessert that we made, and it was definitely interesting.  What you do is cut up water chestnuts (yes, the vegetable usually used in stir fry)  dye them pink with food coloring, and then roll them in tapioca flour so they are all covered in the powder.  Then you take the little cubes and put them in boiling water until they start floating up to the top, scoop them out and put them in cold water, and then put them in coconut milk and ice.  It has a very interesting texture but it wasn't awful, I think if I were to make it again I would dye it with fruit juice to give it more flavor and then put it in with cow milk instead. 


We got to keep a recipe book with all of the things that we made and also the recipes from other cooking courses.  Hopefully when I come home I can find all of the ingredients and make some of the dishes again!

Michelle <3

Factory Tours

Hi!

On Saturday we went on tours of several different factories in Chiang Mai.  A huge tourist bus picked us up from Uniserv (where we are staying) and drove us out to each of the factories.   

The first one we visited was a pottery factory and it was my favorite.  We got to see people actually doing each of the different steps to make a piece of pottery.  Afterward we went into the pottery store and I bought a few things from there.  

The next place we went to was a gemstone factory where we watched a video about how they harvested the gems from Chanthaburi in southeastern Thailand and then shipped them all over Thailand and the world to be sold.  We got to see a room where some people were working on refining the stones and carving them into different shapes to make figurines and jewelry, but there was only one person doing each job so I figured the real factory part where they mass produced them was some where else.  Then we went into a show room floor where they had cases and cases of all kinds of jewelry.  Unfortunately they were all high end and regular priced, one girl on our trip tried on a ring that she later found out cost $25,000!  There were a lot of signs saying that we couldn't take pictures so that's why I don't have any from this factory.

Afterward we went to a gold-leafing factory where we got to see the process of plating different items in gold.  There was also a shop where they sold some of the things they made but everything was expensive there too so I didn't buy anything there either.  The ladies who worked there were fascinated by us for some reason and asked if they could take pictures of us with our CMU (Chiang Mai University) bags so that was pretty funny.  

Then we went to a silver factory, but to me it didn't really seem like a silver factory because we didn't get to see any of the production part of it.  A lady just talked to us about what they do and then we were just led into another expensive show room.  There were a lot of pretty pieces in there though and I got to take pictures of them. 

 

The last factory we visited was a silk factory and I liked this one a lot too.  We got see all the stages of making a silk item, all the way from raising the silk worms to spinning the silk to weaving the fabric.  Then we walked around the silk store that had a lot of beautiful things but also very expensive.  I want to get some silk items but I will probably get them from one of the night markets instead.  

I was glad that these factory tours were planned into the study abroad trip because I don't think we would have thought to see all of these places on our own.  Okay I have to go get ready for my Thai language class so that's all for now.  Talk to you later!

Michelle <3