Northern Thailand is dangerous. Come here and you may never want to leave. With breathtaking scenery, vibrant culture and food that will ruin you for anything else, there is so much to enjoy. And in this episode, we'll uncover Chiang Rai's treasures. Venture into the mountains for a unique adventure and savor the best flavors this region has to offer. We're starting our morning off here at the iconic white temple and I think it's one of Thailand's most recognizable. But is it worth visiting? Let's find out.
Built in 1997 and designed by a local Thai artist, everything here is symbolic and holds a deeper meaning. And I'm finding it a little bit eerie, if I'm honest. Our journey starts in hell. You'll see all these twisted faces and hands reaching up from the pit of temptation. Next, we cross the bridge to heaven, making our way ultimately to enlightenment. There's no denying it. This place is absolutely beautiful. The all white paints with the mirrored mosaic work everywhere, it looks like something from another planet. But I can't lie to you, it is
extremely crowded. There is a lot of people here, so just prepare for a little bit of push and shove. If you did want to avoid the crowds, you would have to come here as soon as it opened and I'm sure it would be well worth it to be able to have the whole place to yourself. Now one last tip guys is temple rules apply and they are very, very strict with it. So make sure your shoulders and your knees are covered. I'm just wearing a sarong and a button up over the top of my outfit today and that is more than fine. Yeah, that's the thing.
One night, two, take, that's lair, one and two, tip, you're brushing your soul 17, and we call on you For a delicious lunch today, we've come to a beautiful riverside spot. This is Chivit Tamada Coffee House. I'll have a link to the video description for you. Now when you arrive here, you'll be blown away by how beautiful it is. It's reminding me of like the deep south USA.
We're in this beautiful house with these sweeping granders, comfortable chairs, bamboo, the river floating past. Everything is lush and green. and then they bring out the food and it looks like this. Now there was a lot of good stuff on that menu. Western delights, local favorites, northern dishes. I've gone for a pineapple fried rice. And it comes out and it just looks like a good time. It served in the half pineapple, we love that. Let's just get stuck in and give it a try. I feel like if you're anti-pynapple on pizza, pineapple in fried rice is not going to be for you. But I'm
feeling it. Delicious. The rice is really yummy. There's actually all kinds of herbs and spices in there too. The pineapple is really lovely. It gives it such a fresh sweetness, which I really, really like. Mmm. Serpours tempera shrimp, aka prawns. Let's just full send that. Yum! Perfectly cooked. This place does great food and if you're up in Shanghai, I recommend visiting. Open in 2016, this is the Blue Temple. It is very, very blue in here. It's blue, bubabi, it's very
blue in here. Now when I was outside, I was kind of taken away by the size and how intricate all the sculptures were. And then you come inside and it is a huge open space. Every inch is covered in these intricate paintings and the color is... so vibrant and ethereal. And it all leads up to this huge, pristine, white Buddhist statue. I have been to a lot of temples in my time. I have never seen one that looks quite like this. Now you may be wondering, why is it blue? Well, according to the artist, who is a local artist, that created it, he wants Buddhism to spread as far and wide as the big bright blue sky. So he painted this temple, blue as well.
I love and love you. Again, as we saw this morning at the White Temple, this place is super duper popular. It is crawling with tourists. Now as me, somebody who's really into photography and videography, the light visiting after midday is kind of terrible. So if you want to get this place with the very best light and no other tourists you would come at opening time. But if you're coming
up to Chang Rai, you really can't do both the white and the blue. at the same time at opening time. If you could only choose one, that's a tough call. The white's pretty spectacular. The blue is the more offbeat, quirky, less Instagrammed option. Maybe that'll help you decide. For an afternoon pick me up, we've come to Lolita Cafe. And this place is meant to be Chiang Rai's
most unmissable spot. Oh my god! This place is amazing! Wow! I have never been to a cafe that looks anything like this before. This place is like if Gardens by the Bay Cloud Forest was a cafe. And you know what? I'm into it. Let's get a coffee. They have a waterfall. I cannot believe this is a cafe. I've never seen a cafe like this in my entire life. Wow! Wow, I'm blown away. Shout out to our amazing guides for choosing this place. Is this place just Instagrammy or does the coffee stand up? Live on the scene, ready to find out.
It's me! I've ordered another experimental coffee. Ooh, passion for a pineapple and espresso. What a classic combo. I don't want to stir it too much because it looks pretty. Let's just sip from the mid-links. It's so good. It's so good. I don't know how they do it. It's like sweet and refreshing and the
coffee just works and it shouldn't put it tons. And I also get a piece of cake because we haven't eaten enough food today. Let's try this. It's like a strawberry roll cake. She's thick, she's red, she's creamy. Yum. It's delicious. It's good. Okay. Tick. Not just Instagram. Actually really good as well. Worth Ani Chiang Rai itineries.
I'm never gonna get enough I'm a sucker for you love five your love I'm never gonna get enough you can Today is a day of temples and our third spot for the day is right here at Wat Kwi, Blackung. Now this place was built in 2001 and what's interesting about it, it was completed in 99 days exactly. And why does that matter? Because nine in Thai is a very auspicious number. Now to get up here, we are climbing aboard this buggy ride. And then we're gonna make our way up to the big Buddha. Come on! Mama used to tell me love ain't right if it ain't easy, but I'm into deep to walk away from you. We've ascended inside the Buddha up to the 25th floor and thankfully there's
an elevator and when you get up here, you can look through the Buddha's third eye. Whoa! This spot is gorgeous. I know we've seen a lot of temples today, but honestly, each of the three of them has been stunning. And it's kind of nice to end here on one that's a little bit more quiet and has a little bit more space. Now it's time for us to make our way back to Chang Mai.
It's gonna take about three hours to get there and we have a van and a private driver and an amazing guide thanks to absolutely fantastic holidays. I always use them when I come to Thailand. They are the best. I am genuinely friends with the amazing women who are my guide so I will have them linked in the video description for you. And when we get back to Shanghai, I'm gonna show you where I'm staying. I think you're gonna love it. I know I do. With so many adventures planned across northern Thailand, I needed the perfect base, and for me, that meant staying in Chiang Mai. Rati Lana Riverside Resort is the kind of place where you instantly feel at peace. It's the perfect mix of modern comfort and natural beauty, all surrounded
by lush greenery. The rooms here are spacious and stylish with just the right amount of Thai charm. And the infinity pool is absolutely stunning. The food here is fresh, flavorful and packed with local ingredients and the service is above and beyond. I have absolutely loved my room and absolutely loved my stay. I would definitely recommend this place and stay here again. Now I will have a link in the video description for you so you can check it out and book it yourself. It is time for dinner and we have come to Huntsun Tree. I had to practice that but I think I've
nailed it. Yes, I'm getting some nods. Alright, good. Now when we think of Thai food, we think of the dishes that we know and love. Pad Thai, mango sticky rice, a cheeky little fried rice, some tasty spring rolls, but if you come up to the north you want to dig a little deeper into the food scene because there's stuff up here that is so good and maybe you would never get to try it otherwise. I have got Some veg. With some rice. Yes, please. It's delicious. Yummy fresh greens, lots of garlic on there. Tasty rice. I've got some more greens. This is a different kind. Can't do that very well one-handed. Sorry I've dropped half of that.
Mmm, also delicious. And I've got some veggies. Covered in what I'm told is a very, very spicy sauce. I've just covered it in it. We're just going to send it and see what happens to me. No, it's a manageable amount of heat. Yeah. And then last but not least, we've got some soup. Oh, that's warm. That's warm to the taste buds. And absolutely delicious. It's so fragrant. The broth has so much depth. You can just taste all the good herbs in there. Yeah, 10 out of 10 recommends. Come to this place. It's right at Bowlinger River. Cool lanterns, live music, good food. What more
good you want? You know, Good morning guys! Today we have escaped Central Chiang Mai and we've headed out to the hills where we're going to be having a little bit of a wild adventure and seeing a part of this place I have never seen before. Chiang Mai is famous for good coffee so if you have coffee addicts like me, this This is the place to come view. Now rather than just enjoying all the coffee in town, we've come out here to do a bit of a hill tribe tour. Hello! So-a-a-a-a-a-a-a. We are really going off the beaten track for this one. Yay! As part of our Hill Tribe Coffee Tour today, we've come here to our guide Moonshines Coffee Plantation. I want to show you guys something really cool. If you have ever wondered what coffee looks like before it becomes the drink we know love and worship, it looks like this. An
unsuspecting red bean. It kind of looks like a cherry or a cranberry, right? I'm going to open it for you and show you what it looks like inside. Hold on. Oh! So if I squeeze that Out come these two little white seeds. That is your coffee, my friends. That bean gets treated, roasted, all that kind of good stuff and turned into the coffee that we drink. Now I'm gonna eat this because...
why not? Let's see what it tastes like. I think it would be a bad idea to crunch down on the beam. I won't do that. But the flesh tastes kind of yummy. Almost like a stone fruit, like a longin or... I don't know. It's good! Hello, sweetheart. Hello, Angel. Come me. Here we go. Ah, you are so beautiful! Whenever you travel, you always want to try authentic food. It does not get more authentic
than this. Our guide today, his mom, prepared everything we're about to eat. This is actually traditional, authentic, local, home-cooked food by someone's mom. My expectations here are pretty high. Now this looks like an all vegetarian feast. We love that. And everything that we're eating was growing here. We love that too. So let's just dig in and try a little bit of everything. Egg. I'm not really an egg eater, but that's pretty good. Greens.
Delicious. This is some kind of soupy, saucy business? I don't know what this is. Let's just send it, we'll find out. With some rice for good measure. Yeah. That's got some heat to it. There was a warning on that one. I've not heated the warning and now I'm paying the price. This is a sweet potato soup. That's delicious. Alright, can confirm. Mum's homemade cooking. Fantastic. I have a good time but I worry I'm awkward.
The theme of today is nature to my belly. So not only did we see how the coffee beans were growing and how they were harvested, now we are hand roasting them and that's what they do here. They hand roast all their beans. There's no machines involved. These are locals doing it and if you can't make it out here to do this experience, which you really should, you can try and buy their beans at three local coffee shops in the heart of Chiang Mai. I will have those in the video
description for you but you hear that sound? That sound is the first crack. Now I'm going for the second crack. That's where the beans split again and that's when I know I'm at a dark roast which is my favorite. When we hear that second crack we're going to take these bad boys off and give them a shake. I need to master the check for me. Do it now? Do it now! I'm panicking. And now! And now we shake.
Oh my god. It smells so good. This is a really cool experience. If you love to get outside the super touristy things and you like to do something a little more authentic and mix it with the locals and get hands on and have a really immersive experience in a really beautiful place, I cannot recommend this highly enough. Jack is an
amazing human. and what they're doing out here is really, really special. This is off the tourist path. This is such an authentic way to experience life with the locals. I really appreciate you, Jack. I'll have this linked in the video description, guys. Make sure you book it and come out here and check it out. My favorite part of this whole process is that you get to name your
coffee blend. And what do you guys think I named it? Because I named it for you slash us. It's the official. Bibby blend coffee. Yay! Yay! Get your baby coffee! It's like, she's good things, even good things, yeah, even good things, even good things, little bit of taste And after all that hard work, we get to sit down and enjoy our freshly roasted coffee. And the best part is they're really cute dogs here so we get to share it with the dogs. Oh, that smells so good. That is beautiful. It doesn't need anything. No milk, no sugar, nothing. Completely organic. I saw where this was growing. Just a few minutes ago. I watched it be roasted and now I'm drinking it.
It just does not get any better than that. Hey, bobees. Are you having a good day? Would you like to subscribe to my channel? No. No, that was a hard rejection. It was a hard rejection. It was not me. What is the market that everyone normally goes to in Shanghai? That really popular one in the center of town. For food, mainly, but to Chiang Mai market. Yeah. This one is... Okay, but isn't there a market? In Shanghai, it's really popular. We have Walo Lod, but that one more for buying and take home. They don't have
a place where you can sit and enjoy like this one. Right. You get a little bench there, you can sit and enjoy the food right now. And what's this one called? This one called Patu-Changmai market. I've been to Warrarot, is that it? It's great, but it feels like it's very popular and there's a lot of tourists here. This one feels way more authentic and a bit undiscovered. Yes. Sweet Serri knows I'm not a meat eater, so she's chosen something I can eat.
What have we got? Rice pudding. What was the name again? What was the name again? Kanom klok in Thai. Kanom klok? Yes. Okay. Because they cook in a special stove. It's got a little hole there. So it's actually making from sticky rice powder and coconut milk. Wow, okay. Let's try it. Oh, it came apart like a half and is there corn in that? Yep. It's unexpected? I really like that. The outside is crispy and like set. It's like a little bit hard. The inside here is gooey and soft. It's
coconuty. It's warm. It's sweet. It's perfection. I love that. I love that. I love that. So-wha-kha-kha- Thank you. All right, you guys, and with that, that brings this week's episode to a close. I really hope you've enjoyed it. Now, if you don't already, be sure to subscribe right now so you never miss a
single episode. And say hello in the comments below. I hope you have a great weekend and I will see you with a brand new episode next week. Love ya. Mua!
2025-02-04 14:35