- Good morning, I hope
you're having an amazing day.
It's Mark Wiens, I'm in Gilgit, Pakistan,
and in the Karakoram Mountain Range.
Today we are gonna go on a
cultural and food tour of Gilgit.
We're gonna explore the market.
We were invited to a
local home to eat lunch.
I'm psyched to be here,
it's just spectacular.
Okay, let's move.
(upbeat music)
All right, I'm gonna rewind
real fast to the day before.
Our plan was to drive
through Deosai National Park
on our way to Gilgit, but things
didn't work out as planned
so we ended up having to turn around
and make a very long drive
in the opposite direction
to get to Gilgit.
Before we start today's tour of Gilgit,
I just wanna show you a
little bit of yesterday.
We're not sure how much snow...
It snowed last night, but we're
gonna go across the plains
and try, attempt, to
get to the other side,
and then make our way to Gilgit.
Okay, getting kind of cold now,
but we've stopped at Satpara Lake.
(car engine revving)
(car door closes)
(upbeat music)
(car engine roars)
It's snowing.
(laughing)
- [Ali] This is the
starting point of Deosai.
This is the starting point
of Deosai National Park.
- Sweet.
(laughing)
Got a bit of...
Got a bit of a dilemma.
Okay, my lips are starting to freeze.
- This place is like 12,000 feet,
and it's gonna be 14,000 feet
once we get to Sheosar Lake.
- And it's gonna be snowing harder?
- Certainly harder, it's
gonna take the elevation
2,000 more feet.
- We're not sure if we should
pass all the way through.
I mean, if it's not safe
then let's not risk it.
That's just fresh powder.
That's, like, snow cone, cheers.
Did you eat some snow?
Oh, that's cold.
(upbeat music)
The chicken boti kebabs are on the grill.
It smells so good.
(speaking in foreign language)
Oh, nice.
Oh, wow.
Back in the car now, we're
on our way to Gilgit.
We still, I'm sure, have about
three or four hours left.
(upbeat music)
Okay, so it is midnight.
We've been driving since
6:30 a.m. this morning.
We finally arrived to Gilgit.
Thank you, nice to meet you.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Woman] This is homemade
crepe and fritter.
(upbeat music)
(laughing)
- They prepared dinner for us,
and we got here kind of late,
but they've graciously still
served us dinner at 1:00 a.m.
Okay, next up for a local soup.
It's so juicy.
(upbeat music)
Thank you.
(upbeat music)
Welcome to the center of Gilgit,
it's a bustling little city
but actually quite calm.
The air is fresh.
Actually we're driving in the van,
but we just noticed this giant
pot of food right up ahead,
and that's actually the
reason why we stopped.
We gotta see what's in there.
But just take a look at this truck.
Fully outfitted for the mountains.
They're loading it up.
There's garlic and vegetables on the top.
Look at that detail.
(speaking in foreign language)
I love how it's topped in
a leopard print blanket.
Oh, nice, he just opened it up.
Oh, that aroma, yeah, it's huge.
And it looks like such fluffy rice.
So it is Kabuli pulao.
He dishes you a plate,
and then he scoops on a bunch of yogurt
with tomatoes and onions
and cucumber inside.
Yeah, what a cool spot.
And, he's just, like, it's
in this closet-little shop.
The master pot, it takes up
the entire front entrance
of the entire shop,
and then there's some
dark seating in the back.
It's so light and fluffy,
like the cinnamon-y spices.
- Warm rice underneath,
and the cool yogurt
and the crunch from the
onions, that's really nice.
- Yeah, that fresh vegetable-like yogurt.
Vegetable-filled yogurt.
Thank you.
- [Mark] Get that yogurt on that.
(speaking in foreign language)
Oh, yeah, it would be good, though.
Okay, Ali is just asking
for a piece of meat.
Thanks to Ali we got the meat hookup.
He asked him for some extra meat there,
because there's not a
lot of meat in the dish,
mostly used just for
flavor, to flavor the dish,
but we did get a couple chunks
plus some more of that raita,
that's the yogurt sauce
with the vegetables in it.
Oh, the meat, yum.
And bathing in steam of the pot.
- He's eating in the car.
(horn honking)
(chill beats)
- The one over here is beef sliver.
(speaking in foreign language)
- We stopped at the next stall.
We saw... it's beef.
It looks so beautifully
marinated with chilis
and some kind of a red something.
How can you resist a stall
that looks like this?
We got also some chutney,
but let me just taste that straight meat.
This is right off the grill.
You just bite it right off the skewer.
It's dripping.
That's like salty, you
taste the chilis in there.
That's some good meat.
(dishes clanging)
(car horn honking)
And that chutney, I don't
know what that chutney is.
There's, like, lumps in it.
It's kind of, like, yogurt-y maybe.
The chutney is kind of plain,
maybe a little chili in there.
And I think that is yogurt, maybe.
Again, dip it in that
chunky, curdled chutney.
Never had a chutney like that before.
Oh, yeah, all the liver is great.
(upbeat music)
We haven't even made it to
the main bazaar, main market.
That's where...
We're on our way there right now.
(chill beats)
You just will not be able
to get over, to fathom,
the views from the city, just
the mountains surrounding,
and just, like, the most
rugged, jagged, steep cliffs
of any mountains I've ever seen.
And just snow-covered,
capped mountains everywhere.
(speaking in foreign language)
I just got the full spectrum.
(speaking in foreign language)
Thank you, it's so good.
(chill music)
Oh, that looks so good.
Again, just a total unplanned stop.
The man selling the curry, he
actually was smiling at Micah
and waving at Smile with this huge grin.
What an amazing man.
You couldn't resist the chaplis?
- Yup.
- No.
(laughing)
- [Ali] How could a day go
by without having chaplis?
- [Mark] When a day can
go by without chaplis.
- When we walked up,
though, he was like...
(food sizzling)
- Oh, it's like a doughnut.
And Uncle has this amazing
little dining room.
Check out this little
closet-sized dining room.
We're gonna sit in here.
Okay, we got the chapli kebab.
This is such a cool little spot,
and they have to have indoor sections
because it gets so cold
in the winter here.
Gonna start with the meat
curry along with the okra.
Wow, that has some oily goodness to it.
- Cheers, dude.
- Oh yeah, you could
just tell from his smile
and his, like, jolly aura that
his food was gonna be good.
Oh, that's just warm and
comforting and rich and delicious.
Very nice.
- Okay, okay.
- [Mark] Thank you.
It's got that wonderful, like, sliminess
from the okra.
(laughing)
He just sets it on the table.
Too bad it's not already
pre-cooked or we would order it.
But he really wanted us to see the fish,
so he set it on the table with us.
(laughing)
Gave us a big smile and thumbs
up while he was doing it.
(laughing)
What an amazing man.
Oh man, you can smell that.
The coriander seed is what
always is so noticeable to me,
and this is all buffalo
meat, made from buffalo meat.
Okay, beautiful.
(chill beats)
(laughing)
That's one of the greatest
possible formations of meat.
(woman speaking in foreign language)
Yes.
Okay, we're probably spending
way too much time here.
We could just not leave,
but we gotta move on,
because we gotta get to the village
where we have a home,
where we've been invited,
to eat a home-cooked meal,
which is gonna be spectacular.
Thank you, shukrian.
(chill beats)
(people speaking in foreign language)
The bridge actually leads
across, this is the Hunza River.
Oh, man, the peaks, the snow-capped peaks,
just fully surrounding, it's spectacular.
(motorbike engine roaring)
(water rushing)
(upbeat music)
We're on our way to the village now,
but walking through the
market, walking through Gilgit,
people were so friendly.
People wanted to shake hands,
dish they have a photo, to smile.
Yeah, people are amazing here.
(upbeat music)
(speaking in foreign language)
One of Ali's employees
is from this village,
and he invited us to his village,
to his home, for lunch today.
That's the backyard,
that's their backyard.
Look at that peak, you could just...
The mist, spectacular scenery.
Nizam is the...
He's hosting us.
What a backyard, and he said
that he takes his cattle
and his sheep and goats up
the mountain there to graze.
It's unbelievable.
We have a massive
mountain in the backyard,
but this is the front yard,
and if I can zoom over on this mountain,
can you see that trail that
goes along this mountain?
Nizam has just told us
that that's part of the
original Silk Road route.
Micah, can you shake hands?
- [Woman] Nice to meet you.
- [Mark] Yeah, good job, Micah.
- [Woman] Nice to meet you, Peta, look.
- He got to say hello to
some of the kids here.
They're so nice and friendly.
(kids laughing)
(speaking in foreign language)
Quick cup of tea before
we go to the garden
before we start more cooking.
(upbeat music)
Oh, that's great.
(upbeat music)
Okay, we're on our way to the garden.
But we gotta...
I guess it's a little
bit further than a walk.
We're trying to save some time
so we're gonna jump in
this little minivan.
(upbeat music)
(laughing)
- That was quite a struggle.
(speaking in foreign language)
- This is a saag field,
a vegetable that we've
been eating frequently,
and lots of corn as well.
It's sweet corn.
- [Ali] It's sweet corn.
- I can actually feel
the fresh mountain air
just entering my lungs
with every single breath.
(upbeat music)
We just made it to Nizam's
grandparents' home,
and this is still a traditional home
made of stones and mud.
(upbeat music)
(speaking in foreign language)
- So they cut them in pieces,
and then they dry them to
make a powder, a chili powder.
(speaking in foreign language)
- That is a beautiful sight,
one of my favorite ingredients.
I think we'll take some chilis for lunch.
He's gonna crush some chilis, yes.
(laughing)
I just showed him the photo
of him grinding the chilis.
He just burst out into
just ultra happiness.
(laughing)
(speaking in foreign language)
(laughing)
What an amazing man.
Thank you.
We got some of the fresh saag.
Just gonna sample it raw real fast.
Ripe.
Oh, it's wonderful.
- Is it?
- Yeah.
- How does it taste?
- It's sweet.
Sweet and so green tasting.
It's unimaginable how hospitable
and how generous and
friendly the people are here.
And just the chuckles and the handshakes.
(sighing)
And the fresh air.
One more type of saag that
we gotta see over here
underneath the cornfield.
Is this (foreign word).
(speaking in foreign language)
(upbeat music)
- This is one massive green chili.
Wow, it's almost the size of a banana.
(laughing)
(upbeat music)
Okay, back in the mini
mini-van on our way to go eat.
I hope we can make it up the hill.
(spices sizzling)
(women speaking in foreign language)
They've already prepared
most of the dishes,
but they're just preparing that saag,
especially that saag that we just picked,
and just kind of stirring frying
that in a little bit of oil
with some onions and chilis.
(speaking in foreign language)
Oh, it's dried tomato.
And now we're gonna go take
a peak inside the kitchen
where some of the dishes, I think,
have already been prepared.
- 120 years old, this place.
- This whole building?
Oh, cool, so cool.
What's really cool about this house,
I mean this old style house
is that there's a sun roof,
but also right in the center
is where the stove is,
but that also heats the little house,
and then there's just carpets
and mats and pads all around.
(woman speaking in foreign language)
It's spectacular, beautiful.
(woman speaking in foreign language)
(upbeat music)
All the food is ready,
it's placed before us.
A huge thank you to Nizam
and his entire family
for preparing this amazing, amazing meal.
(upbeat music)
Mutton curry, just look, it looks so good.
(upbeat music)
When it's this good
you just gotta reach in with your fingers,
get some of the rice, some of the mutton.
(upbeat music)
Oh, wow.
That is stunning, oh wow.
You can actually taste the chilis in it.
It's spicier than other
regions of food that we have.
You taste the chilis.
That sauce is so rich and succulent.
Oh, that is stunning.
And kind of tomato-y, garlic-y.
Okay moving on over to the vegetable,
and then yeah, I got that chili.
Oh, nice.
Here's some of the saag, and
we'll reach in for that chili.
That vegetable has a
really nutty taste to it.
When it's cooked down,
it's like sweated down,
it still has that crispness.
The big chili is coming,
but it has such a nutty
flavor to that vegetable.
Nice, the big chili.
(laughing)
Okay, try this chili.
(upbeat music)
It's not like intensely
spicy, but it's so flavorful.
It's so fresh tasting,
and this is the chili we
just picked up off the...
The chili tree, like, moments ago.
Would you guys all like
to have a chunk of chili?
A chili cheers.
(upbeat music)
Oh, it's sweet.
- So crisp.
- Yeah, not, not spicy.
- I was ready for the
worst, but this so good.
- Not really spicy, more like
crisp and sweet, actually.
I have to take one more
bite of the mutton curry
before proceeding onto
the beef curry, I believe.
Okay, this one is the beef curry,
and I got some of a
chunk of the roti as well
to sample with it.
Oh, I got a nice nugget of the beef.
The beef is unbelievable.
You taste the tomatoes,
and then you taste the cumin so vibrantly.
And it's like tomato-y.
Oh, that's incredible.
And the curries are
amazing, but that vegetable,
it's so fresh tasting, that nuttiness,
and how they just sauteed it down
in onions and garlic and the oil.
That's the way vegetables should taste.
(upbeat music)
There's only one thing that
can possibly make you forget
about the stunning scenery
that is right behind us,
and that is a meal and
hospitality this good,
but then when you
prepare it with the food
and you think about the
scenery that we're sitting in,
it just makes it like an
experience beyond belief.
(upbeat music)
What a treat, what a privilege.
The spices, the home flavors,
the natural ingredients,
the vegetables, and made with
so much love and hospitality.
I wanna say a huge thank you
to Nizam and his entire family
for their gracious kindness.
This was...
It is a meal I will never forget.
And this location.
(breathing heavily)
Blown away.
(kid crying)
Shukran, shukran, oh, the green tea.
Nice, shukran.
Just to completely wash it
down, nothing more satisfying.
This is a perfect situation,
and a beautiful family.
What a special day.
I cannot even...
I can't even fathom
everything from the scenery
to the hospitality and culture.
Man, what a day, what a day.
Buh-bye, buh-bye, thank you.
(upbeat music)
All right, back in the same place
that I started this video this morning.
That was an unbelievable day
here in Paksitan, in Gilgit.
Thank you to Nizam and his
entire family for hosting us.
And thank you to Ali from
Landmark Communications,
and Landmark Travel for organizing
and for setting everything up.
That's gonna be it for this video.
Tomorrow is gonna be another big day.
Tomorrow we drive from Gilgit
to Hunza, Hunza Valley,
which is supposed to be one of
the most spectacular valleys
maybe in the world.
It's gonna be an amazing
day, so stay tuned for that.
And thank you very much
for watching today's video.
Please remember to give it a
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Good night, thanks again for watching.
See you on the next video.
