A travel vlog by Nate and Kara Buchanan documenting arrival and first full day in Chiang Mai. They discuss moving between budget accommodations (mentioning Diva 2 guest house, expected AC but none), sample northern Thai food—especially khao soi at a nameless stall across from Blue Diamond Breakfast Club—visit temples and nearby shops, and spend the evening at Chiang Mai’s Sunday Night Market (described as ~1 kilometer of stalls) where they buy souvenirs, eat street snacks, play games, and get foot massages. The vlog records practical details: the night's total spending was 409 Baht (~$11.57), the Diva 2 guest house was about $10/night, Kara attempted to upload the vlog three times, and they planned a six-night hotel stay.
Questions this video answers
March 8, 2016
409 Baht
$11.57
$10 a night
Six nights
Chapters
Coffee's getting started a little later than usual this morning because the power has been out for the last 12 hours.
We finally booked a place with AC and we didn't even get to enjoy it. Thankfully, we're leaving this place today and going to a new hotel for the next six nights.
When will it come? Will my train come?
It's got to come. My turn.
We are packed up and trekking to the Diva 2 guest house.
Diva.
Stop. I never would have picked somewhere called the Diva 2 guest house, especially since it only cost $10 a night. But our friends from Koh Tao told us that this is where they stayed when they came to Chiang Mai and they enjoyed it. So we're gonna try it out and save some money this week and get some diva rest. No, I'm not gon.
We're supposed to have AC and not a fan. It's very hot in here.
This is not diva. Divas have ac.
You're a diva.
Now that Nate's done pouting about the.
Ac, it was an expectations thing. I thought we were coming to a room with air conditioning and I had not mentally prepared myself to spend six nights without it. The people here are super nice. I'm over it. It's not that bad with the fan. Turns out there are no AC rooms in this place. Should have read the description on the Internet more closely.
It's fine.
We've heard that the dish to try here in northern Thailand is khao soi. How did one of our blogger friends put it?
If chicken noodle soup and yellow curry made a baby, that's what khao soi tastes like.
So we got a recommendation from our hostel, so we're going to try to find it. Also, she said this restaurant didn't have a name, so I don't know how I feel about our chances of finding it.
We found a no name restaurant. We're going to see if they have khao soi.
Is it cow soy? Yeah, I have cow soy two.
Cow soy.
Chicken or tofu or beef or pork.
Two chicken. Yes.
I'm feeling pretty good about this place. The no name restaurant has several people eating at it. It's basically a street food stall ins it.
And it's not good. It's only a dog.
Let's go somewhere else.
Yum.
Not what I expected. I was expecting like pad Thai noodles. There's an entire chicken here.
Is it?
What's it taste like?
Oh, I'm so excited. Does it taste like.
It's like really rich.
Got like a deep, heavy Sauce to it.
Nice and like the perfect amount of spice. I am pumped.
That was spicy. Broke a sweat, but it was delicious.
That was the best and only khao soi I've ever had. But I don't think this is gonna be beat.
It was fantastic. So much better than pad Thai. So much more flavor.
So good. I still love me some pad Thai. I'm just excited that I have another dish that I'm like that excited about.
So if you want to come here, it doesn't have a name. You can't look it up on Google Maps. Put Blue Diamond Breakfast Club in Google Maps and then come right across the street to this place.
Back at our favorite coffee place.
This will be my third attempt at uploading the vlog today.
It was first at our first hotel. Second one was at our second hotel.
And this is my third attempt at this coffee shop Garden.
Crossing our fingers. There could be worse places to have to sit to upload the blog. Yeah.
Oh, we're already at 24%. Good deal. Looks like we're at a steady 84 to 86 minutes remaining.
I guess I can stay here for over an hour, get some more milkshakes, do one more.
Especially considering that.
Lunch for both of them, those bowls of noodles and we each got a water cost less than $3.
Shut up. Are you joking?
That was amazing.
I'm loving Chiang Mai more by the minute.
We decided after our tour, 29 hour journey up to Chiang Mai, we needed a day to recuperate.
Even though we've been here for like 36 hours and haven't really done anything. We are loving Chiang Mai. We'd read that there were like 20,000 expats that live here and I can totally see why. It's like a livable version of Bangkok. We're staying in this really cool, like quiet neighborhood. There's cobblestone streets, really cool coffee shops.
So tonight we're going to this Sunday market that is massive. And an entire kilometer is just street stalls.
First we're going to check out some temples.
We're already shopping where you're supposed to go visit temples and eat.
Got slightly distracted.
Do you like these squares?
I like whichever ones you like.
Fine. I like them all. So I need you to tell me, can I have some money.
Putting them in right now.
We didn't even haggle. They were only a dollar.
What do you think?
Oh, I love those.
Me too.
We can't tell if this is a real person.
He may be turning into a statue before our eyes.
I look like 40ft away. I still have no idea if he's real or a statue.
That's a statue. But it almost got us.
I mean, he hasn't blinked in, like, 10 hours.
I don't know.
The greatest statue I've ever seen.
We're not positive it's a statue.
I'm, like, 70 positive it's not a real person. But, like, literally, we've been within, like, 12 inches of it and still can't tell.
Don't call him an it.
He.
He hasn't blinked yet.
Crazy.
What do you think?
We're gonna do it. We're gonna do it.
All right, so what? I got one.
Uh, which one? Kara, you pick.
Yeah, let's get a small one.
That's it right there. Yeah. Good choice.
Cook to order.
Oh, this is happening.
Start with the leg. Doesn't look near as scary to eat now that he cut it all up. I thought we were just going to eat the whole thing on a stick. Here we go.
Pretty chewy.
Yeah.
Maybe a little bit. Like the cartilage of an ear.
Oh, gross.
It's not super fishy, though.
The sauce is spicy and good.
It's, like, gonna finish it so I don't have to eat it.
A subtle fish flavor and a really weird texture. That's not bad. All right, we have a whole entire bag, so. So.
No.
We haven't competed since Tokyo. Time for me to redeem myself. All right, first shot.
Wow. That was pretty good.
You got both eyes closed.
How'd you do? Pretty good. Better or worse than expected?
Way better. I stayed in the circle the whole time. All right, Nate, do you think you can beat me?
I'm feeling pretty good about it. I'm not.
I'm a little confident.
You impressed me. You hit in the red, like, seven times, so I'm actually a little nervous.
Okay, Nate's first shot. Here we go.
Oh, that hurts. That hurts. My first shot was in the red, don't forget.
I think my gun's off to the left.
I use the same gun, Nate.
No excuses.
Bulls are no.
Yeah, yeah. Rub it in. You won for one.
I will say you're not super happy right now, but you're normally a much sorer loser than this. You're taking it pretty well.
It's a hard life living on the road. We never get to keep anything.
If I would have won, we would have kept them.
She found something else she needs.
What'd you get?
I got a clippy. I'm gonna put it in right now.
All about immediately using your purchases tonight.
How Much more fun is this clippy than this clippy.
Oh, love that.
Ye. I love it.
Elephant postcard.
You'll see what this is for later.
We are an hour into the market. I think we might only be halfway. I still can't see the end.
Of something that's already doing next.
We've been on our feet all night and so we think we deserve a 2.25 foot massage while we enjoy our smoothie.
For how long?
For 30 minutes.
I can't believe how good my feet built right now. I didn't realize how bad they were hurting till I sat down. She was pushing hard too. Like it was kind of painful at some point.
Yeah, on the bottom of my feet, it legitimately hurt. It was like deep tissue. Foot massage.
I finally popped on my toe.
I love that. I finally, like, flinched when she was pushing so hard on the bottom of my feet. And she laughed and lit up just a little bit. It has now been exactly two hours and you still can't even see the end of this thing.
We're giving up.
I can't believe that we didn't finish. I feel like I'm getting old.
You did turn 25.
Like, oh no, I'm aging. I never thought I could make it.
Seriously, I can't even see the end. This is.
I know. It's so crowded and loud. I am old.
409 Baht.
On our way back from the night market, we decided to calculate up exactly how much we spent for the night and go. Including food, the things that Kara bought, and our massages. 409 Baht. Which comes out to $11.57.
I got earrings, a clippy, a foot massage, a smoothie, dessert, like four things to eat. I cannot believe this right now.
Hold up. Chiang Mai.
This is my favorite place in the world.
Let's go sleep.
Okay, my turn. For.
She is still trying to figure out if he's real or not.
