This week we decided to stay in Chiang Mai longer. We were originally planning a day rafting down the Nan River with a guide, but the town is 5 hours east by bus, and we’d essentially have to backtrack all the way to Chiang Mai afterwards to keep heading on to Laos. Chiang Mai has been a super fun city, so we were happy to keep exploring.

Today we checked out a few more food spots recommended by our favorite Asian foodie YouTuber, Doobydobap (check her out, Dad, you’ll love her). One was a proper sit-down restaurant named Neng Roasted Pork. They bake pork belly and whole chickens in these thick clay barrels to give them a nice crispy texture and smoky flavor. It was even better than the crispy pork belly from the Sunday market! And they serve it with this minced green chile paste that could totally have come from a shop in New Mexico.

After lunch, we took the bike to the edge of the city, where we walked up to a waterfall. There are lots of trails in the mountains west of town, and this spot was a nice, idyllic area to spend the afternoon in, with cool swimming holes and lots of folks just relaxing by the water.

We headed back to town to another Dooby recommendation, a little local’s nook serving larb, a salad dish from Laos and northern Thailand made from minced meat, chiles, mint, ground toasted rice, and other veggies. A lot of locals eat it with raw meat, but we weren’t feeling that adventurous today, so we stuck with cooked pork.

Afterwards, we headed to the other side of the moat to North Gate Jazz Co-op, a popular venue and distillery with live music every night. Chiang Mai seems to have a big jazz scene, with a consistent community of musicians playing jazz, rock, and funk at lots of venues in town. We got there early because the place fills up quick—lots of people stand out in the street to hear the music even when it’s full—and sat up in the rafters above the band. It was a super cool spot, and the musicians were on fire, especially the bucket-hat-wearing drummer!