1st Day in CHIANG MAI Thailand | Insane Street Food, Vibrant Culture, & Police! (REAL Thai Food)

What's up friends? Welcome back to the channel. I'm Alexander Ayling and I'm in Chiang Mai

Thailand stick around this is going to be an awesome video

All right friends well we have made it from Bangkok to Chiang Mai it's about five in the

afternoon it's just coming on dark it's a Saturday and there's a lot of street food

to be eaten there's a Saturday walking Market which we're gonna go check out it's been super

hot and there's definitely a thunderstorm on the horizon so if you hear thunder don't

be alarmed yeah we have a lot do about to see a lot to eat more importantly we're going

to start things off with two very famous street food stalls which are actually only about

10 minutes away from our hotel let's go. Chiang Mai Thailand's Northern capital is a city

that wears its history on its sleeve from its glittering temples to its bustling night

markets this vibrant city is a feast for the senses. And speaking of Feasts, Chiang Mai's

Cuisine is a celebration of the Region's Bountiful flavors and ingredients. We have three days

to explore this place and we're gonna do our best to make the most of our time.

Sampling lots of incredible local Cuisine exploring the history of the region engaging with the

culture and having a blast doing it so make sure you're subscribed turn on notifications

and give this video a thumbs up! I know we can get it over 2 000 likes. Are you ready?

Let's go Team! All right well we have arrived to the street food area, everything's getting

set up we're early we're hungry we haven't really eaten all day but there's a lot to

see here a lot to eat here and let's do it and I think we're gonna start things off

with the famous cowboy hat lady [Music]

The first dish in Chiang Mai. We've just arrived at this little Street Food

Market so there's an internet-famous street food chef here called Cowboy Hat Lady.

She makes this delicious braised slow-cooked pork leg served with some little Morning Glory

vegetable there and these soft- boiled eggs.

Okay so this is called "Khao Kha Moo Chang Pueak" and I don't know if I pronounced that right

but it's a slow-cooked braised pork leg served with rice and a boiled egg and some Morning Glory.

Here we go

hmm

super tender super juicy it's cooked in a Chinese five spice mix slow cooked I don't

know how long but. How long do you cook it? Since 7 a.m. Wow, all day.

Looks like it's been going for a while and just judging by how this pork just melts in

your mouth and falls apart it's definitely been cooking for a long time.

Really tasty.

Look how this egg is so soft. Let's stuff some pork in there and eat this egg.

Yum this is wonderful.

let me test the spice for you

[Music] yeah really good it's really good especially with a little spice on it

I'm a spice girl. You are a spice girl. Alex is a little bit unsure

about the spice but. I can take a medium spice. Pretty good for a "American".

You're spicy spice though, spicy spice.

[Music]

The rain might be coming but these guys are not worried about it they're just setting

up some tents but this little spice mix right here this is definitely the best sauce that

I've had in Thailand so far

it's spicy but not too spicy and has a little bit of sweetness to it definitely like a vinegar

taste as well but sweet and spicy I think it's probably vinegar Chili Peppers and garlic

rice wine vinegar Chili Peppers and garlic but it's really really tasty.

Started things off with just one between the two of us but it was so good that we ordered another.

Really tasty. So there's the food and dining area, but a lot of people

just drive up and pick up food to go. She's boxing up a lot of to-go orders but she said

that she starts cooking it at 7am and it's almost 6 p.m now so at least 12 hours of slow

cooking every day that's how you know it's good. It reminds me a lot of " Carnitas"

in Mexico but it's really good really fragrant, with tasty broth and melt-in-your-mouth pork consistency.

So definitely eat at the Cowboy lady's stall here in Chiang Mai. The best part about that meal

is the grand total 120 Baht which is like three dollars and fifty cents U.S. That's unbelievable, wow.

So for those of you who don't know marijuana was recently legalized, I think like

a year or two ago here in Thailand. There are just ganja plants all over the place.

So you can buy it legally at dispensaries or you can just see it on the street if that's

what you're into [Music]

[Music]

So we're just a couple of stalls down from the cowboy hat lady and the next thing we're

going to try is called Suki. It's essentially like mung bean noodles with a lot of cabbage

and some other greens and then you pick your protein. You can have Suki in two different ways

you can have it dry or wet :"Suki Nam" is the Suki soup or "Suki Haeng Moo" which is the stir fry

I chose mine with pork I'm doing the dry version Carrie's doing the soup she's doing hers with

mushrooms let's see how it is.

[Music]

All right

it's my first time eating the Suki and it's really good it's a very balanced combination

of textures these mung bean noodles are like super they're almost slimy but in a really

good way and then that's kind of juxtapositioned with the crunchiness of the cabbage [Music]

really subtle sauce like a smoky sense of like smokiness with the hot sauce and then

these nice little succulent thin pieces of pork everything's just cooked quickly flash

cooked in the wok and just really really tasty

[Music]

[Music]

This is the entrance to the market and this is my wife already shopping for clothes

look how cool this is what did you get a little handmade shirt looks like from recycled canvas

imagine what this looks like together with these pants. It's a good look.

So this is the Walia walking Market it's essentially a whole street that they've shut off and turned

into like a pedestrian Saturday night only shopping street now they have another one

tomorrow night on a different street. We could be in trouble my wife has found ceramics!

Look how pretty, wow. Are you gonna carry it? I can't but I would but I can't.

We found the dragon! Handmade, you can try it. Enter the Dragon!

I never drink Coke what just one but this is nostalgic it's like going to the movie

theaters it's hot outside and a Coke Slushy sounds amazing right now.

I'm gonna slurp and I'm gonna peruse and I'm gonna enjoy it.

Oh yeah that's glorious. What are those?

We found another unidentified fruit for us. A new fruit it's called a fruit plated ball.

I don't think it's a fruit is that real internet tell us what is "Loop Chup" is this a real fruit

or is this a human creation? Let us know in the comment section! I have no idea what this is.

okay, she wants me to have this one so I will do what she tells me. Okay she really

wanted me to get this one so we got that one and then I grabbed this one because I just

like the color of it. I have no idea if this is a fruit or a candy.

I still don't know. Is that an olive? It's not an olive, no. I think this is man-made. I think

it's a candy is that plastic I still don't know it was good to try it

this one has more taste that's how she wanted me to get it the closest thing I can is it

like a Mochi board related to it's like a Mochi ball but but different it looks like

a cherry

yeah that is not fruit that is man-made yeah I don't know what it is it's weird and some

kind of very like it's probably like tapioca in in like a little transparent skin see it's

got like a little skin on it

I've actually I've been to Thailand before but it was 10 years ago and it was only to

Bangkok for five days so this is my first time outside of Bangkok it's my first day

outside of Bangkok and I'm already loving the slower Vibe the slower Pace it's super

mellow here it's a Saturday night but it's like you know and we're on the main pedestrian

kind of shopping Zone but it's quiet and it's peaceful and it's calm and everybody is just

like super relaxed and I'm digging in [Music] oh my God it's literally long as Thai Ridgeback

long lost brother [Music]

[Music]

Chiang Mai was founded in 1296 as the capital of the Lana Kingdom and for centuries it was

the center of trade and culture in Southeast Asia today the city is a blend of ancient

traditions and modern Innovations with gleaming skyscrapers towering over centuries-old temples

and narrow Alleyways especially in the old walled City

[Music]

this is smart marketing even at the end smart business because this thing took us an hour

to walk through and by the end of it you need one of those quintessential Thailand experience

that's how we're getting home tonight foreign

[Music]

[Music]

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

thank you

it's simple

you used in a New Zealand only in Thailand only yeah good for your country not in Thailand

in the afternoon or evening bye

tomorrow

okay yeah can you give me a note saying I've already been I gave a ticket for you okay

15 fine

a note to all of you out there

either have an international driver's license or pay the extra 500 fine I'm gonna pay it

tomorrow and I'm going to use this bike and show that I've already been ticketed and yeah

they apply this one 500 Bob and uh if people get a receipt for you okay show the receipt

yeah okay okay

okay thank you all right you ready

[Music]

[Applause] [Music] okay well it's the next morning and we've rented a motorbike been

stopped and fined by the police and then let on our way which at this point I'm just looking

at as an additional cost to the rental it does seem like it's kind of a bit of a a little

a little scam the rental people don't let you know that if you don't have an international

driver's license um that you will be fined I have a motorcycle license in both California

and New Zealand but I don't have an international license so

thank you

thank you [Music] [Laughter]

[Music]

foreign

[Music]

all right well we've made it to Watford or fala Temple this is a beautiful Serene Buddhist

temple it was built in the mid to late 1300s during the reign of king kuena and the legend

of this place says that during his Reign the king rode his white elephant to the top of

this mountain and when it made it to the top of the mountain it died and so he built a

huge Temple at the top of the mountain but also the elephant rested in three places along

the way during the climb and this is one of them the name of his Temple literally translates

to Temple of the sloping rocks and you can see that right now I'm kind of in a cave with

all of these Buddha statues carved directly into the Rock it's a very very Serene Place

surrounded by lush jungle with a little stream Meandering through the middle of the temple

complex and it's a great place to just sit stock reflect and I just kind of absorb the

Tranquility of this place especially after a few days in Bangkok with over 12 million

people and lots of noise and cars this is a welcome respite from all of that it's beautiful

it's definitely worth the trip up here and I'm going to enjoy taking some time to just

be here be present be still and be grateful for life

[Music] but obviously being over 700 years old this Temple complex was in disrepair until

1934 when a wealthy Burmese wood Baron took it upon himself to renovate this place so

it's in a really interesting state of repair and disrepair certain areas feel like time

has kind of the Jungle has taken them back which I really think adds to the Mystique

and the charm of this Temple but it's obviously well taken care of there are monks all over

the place here that Burmese influence can be seen especially in the main Temple complex

and the architecture of the temple complex [Music]

[Music] [Applause]

[Applause] [Music]

thank you [Music]

[Music] okay well it's 101 degrees it's 101 degrees it's 1 30 in the afternoon and we're

at a restaurant called Nang earthen pot they cook the pork belly in these giant clay pots

takes about two hours to cook through it's cooked over charcoal and it smells absolutely

delicious they come out this crispy golden color and uh yeah I mean the crispy pork belly

skin I love pork belly but this is I've never seen it cooked like this I've never tried

it like this and it's served with some rice and usually some sometime which is spicy papaya

salad so yeah we've ordered up and let's see how this meal ends up it looks like it's going

to be really good [Music]

the

spicy papaya salad

[Applause] wow that is so good crunchy green papaya some green beans in there crushed up

garlic chili there's a shrimp

some peanuts

and it's all covered

in this lovely spicy like vinaigrette salad dressing it's really good refreshing spicy

delicious

oh

[Music] all right so for 70 Baht you get this plate it has rice the crispy pork belly a

little spring onion a half of a boiled egg two little pieces of cucumber and then some

sauce look at how crispy the pork skin is look at that it's almost like crackling uh

or chicharron in Mexico that looks good and then inside it's still moist and juicy got

this lovely sauce I'm really looking forward to eating this also comes with a little bowl

of broth with some parsley or something like that yeah

that almost tastes like a chicken tortilla soup

we're gonna start things off we're just trying the pork itself and dipping it into that sauce

here we go look at that [Music]

wow it's like eating rice krispies or something it's got a snap crackle and a pop this skin

you can actually see like there's like little air bubbles in there you can see the air bubbles

in the skin the textures are incredible it's got this amazing balance of like super crunchy

but then super soft easy to eat actually just a total Joy listen to that [Music]

thank you [Music]

the more I get into the dish deeper down into the sauce you're starting to get all these

subtle flavors of sweetness it juxtapositioned with the saltiness it's just really really

well balanced and absolutely delicious one of the best one of the best meals we've had

so far for sure [Music]

foreign

[Music]

foreign

stop here in Chiang Mai for any foodie trip is cow soy Mei Sai now this is the world's

cheapest Michelin star restaurant it's been in the Michelin guide since 2019 and they're

famous for cow soy which is Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand's signature dish so it's

really mellow nothing like any of the Michelin star places we tried to get into in Bangkok

I just rocked up it's lunch time on a Tuesday and I sat right down which is great smells

really good in here and I'm looking forward to this meal it's really straightforward you

just write down which number you want they give you a menu it's got pictures and numbers

on it and then you just write down which number you like on a piece of paper and they get

to work making it [Music] thank you

all right well this is cow soy mesae and this is the world's cheapest Michelin star restaurant

it's located right here in Chiang Mai they're famous for Hao soy which is this local curry

noodle soup really really good I haven't tried this bowl yet but I'm very excited this place

comes highly recommended it's been in the Michelin guide for I think the last four years

and it's the world's cheapest Michelin star restaurant so let's see how it tastes all

right well we have a little garnish here of some Morning Glory I believe some raw onions

shallots and a squeeze of lime

thank you

all right first bite

wow

it's perfect everything is absolutely on point consistency of the noodles themselves then

the crispiness of these noodles the broth the broth is like

the perfect balance it's not too spicy

it's just right it's hitting all of my taste buds all over my mouth it's perfect

nice succulent thin pieces of pork

so if you want a No-Frills affordable Michelin star meal come here

[Music] we'd been doing a lot of eating but it was time to learn a little bit more about

what actually goes into the cuisine so we signed up for a local cooking class all right

well we are here at zabali cooking school it's about 20 minute drive outside of Chiang

Mai and we're going to be learning how to cook some local dishes today including cow

soy spicy papaya salad and one other thing that I forgot thank you

I made fresh spring rolls those are great [Music]

[Music]

so

yesterday I got a ticket on a little motorcycle because I don't have an international driver's

license I don't know if that it's definitely an oversight on my part I should definitely

get one of those but I've been to many other places around the world and have never had

to use one so um I also think that it's kind of maybe a little scam setup on the part of

the rental people and the police officers the rental people rent to people without an

international driver's license they don't give you a heads up that you're not allowed

to do that and then later on down the road the police pull you over and give you a fine

so I'm about to walk into the Chiang Mai Regional Police office and pay my fine I'll let you

all know how it goes hello

obviously I was in the wrong here I didn't have an international driver's license that

being said it is something that you can very easily take care of before you leave your

home country and something that you cannot take care of once you've already left I would

happily go to the process of getting it but now that I'm already here it's like it's too

late and my luck hasn't been on my side today I fell off the motorbike about 20 minutes

after I got fined oh really good could have been worse though it always can be absolutely

but it did feel like the local police had a nice little flow of business coming in from

tourists renting scooters from rental agencies which did not tell us about this law only

for the police to find and ticket and make a little bit more cash so the moral of the

story is before you come to Thailand make sure you have your international driver's

license so you can ride a little motorbike have some fun and not have to pay for a ticket

in the end Chiang Mai is a city that defies easy description it's a place where ancient

traditions and modern Innovations coexist where the past and the present are intertwined

and where the food is as vibrant and colorful as the city itself so come for the history

stay for the culture and feast on the cuisine you won't be disappointed hey friends well

I hope you enjoyed this video if you did you know what to do give it a thumbs up let's

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and don't forget to subscribe alright see you in the next video foreign