SAVUSAVU - FIJI : Market Mini-Series

I lived in Savusavu for about eight years. As is the way when you live somewhere, you don't go around taking photos like a tourist. Whenever I went to the local market it was to do my normal shopping, just like everyone else. 

However, when I was commissioned to write a feature about visiting cruise ships I had the perfect excuse to take some photos in my local market without feeling self-conscious.

This is perhaps my favourite photo taken on the day I went into town with my camera to capture cruise ship passengers visiting our town. These ladies are selling lemons 'by the heap'. Yes, lemons with green skin. What's more, the flesh is bright orange and on more than one occasion I saw visitors bite into what they thought was an orange. Their expressions of mouth-puckering surprise was priceless.

These tied bundles of roots are Taro - called Dalo in Fiji. This is their equivalent of potatoes and, like the versatile potato, can be prepared in all the same ways. I never particularly liked the taste or texture of Dalo, but the Fijians eat it in mammoth quantities.

This Indo-Fijian market seller is preparing Jackfruit. Sadly, I don't have a photo of a whole Jackfruit to post, but it's an enormous knobbly green skinned fruit - roughly the size of a large watermelon. I have only ever eaten Jackfruit cooked into a curry and it's delicious.

Here you can see an array of Dalo, unripe bananas, lemons, chillies, coconuts and cassava. 

The wonderful thing about markets like this is that the produce is super-fresh, hand-picked (often that morning) - and the profits go to the locals who are selling it. 

Whenever I came across fruit or vegetables I didn't recognise, the market ladies were always happy to tell me what they were called and how to prepare them. Invariably, the instructions were: peel and eat, peel and boil, or peel and fry!

Finally... here is the lead photo used for my cruise ship article. I took this photograph from the deck of my house at about 6am.

I hope you've enjoyed my latest Market Series post. 

I'll be heading north west next week to a city replete with French influences. Can you guess the city?

LUANG PRABANG - LAOS – Market Mini-Series

Now that the April A-Z Challenge is over, I thought I would return to my Market Mini-Series for your entertainment.

During one of my South East Asia trips we travelled through Laos by bus. The journey was fairly gruelling, but it did mean we got to see quite a lot of the beautiful Laotian countryside, but I’ll save those details for another post.

Vangvien

Our bus journey terminated at Luang Prabang, a beautiful old city sited at the confluence of the Mekong and Khan Rivers. 

As we wandered the streets of Luang Prabang I was fascinated by the racks of rice cakes set out to dry everywhere. However, I didn’t sample these cakes because I was slightly concerned about hygiene.

The market stalls were equally fascinating with many foodstuffs and dishes I didn’t recognise. I watched these ladies stuffing lettuce leaves with an interesting range of ingredients. Although I was tempted - the smells from the various bowls were enticing - I decided not to try one of their little parcels because I wasn’t sure about the wisdom of eating salad leaves without knowing how they had been washed. 

These chickens were easy enough to recognise. 
They looked and smelled delicious, but I was a little disconcerted by the volume of flies that she was doing her best to fan away. I also wasn't entirely sure how we would consume a chicken whilst wandering around a market!

Finally, I could resist no longer because one of the joys of travel is to sample the food that the locals eat instead of the homogeneous, bland fare that passes for 'western' or 'international' food which is so often served to tourists. 

So, I bought a stick of sticky rice, and it was as delicious as I hoped it would be. 

I should have known better - rice is notorious for its dangers. I went down with food poisoning and spent two miserable days in bed. Ironic, eh?

It hasn't put me off trying local food - or market snacks - I just have to remember to choose more wisely!

MARRAKECH - MOROCCO Part 2 - Market Mini-Series

Following on from last week's post - our next big city was Marrakech. 

Finding our way to the car park where Motorhomes can park overnight was a nightmare. My navigator role was tested to the limit – as was my driver husband’s. How he held his nerve as we kept teetering on the verge of being killed, I’ll never know. 
Imagine a cacophony of cars, mopeds, tuk-tuks, bicycles, trucks, buses and donkey carts - all ignoring the marked lanes, no indicating, no entering and exiting round-a-bouts correctly, jumping red lights… you name it – they were doing it.

And that’s not forgetting the pedestrians stepping into the road whilst looking the other way. Inshallah that they make it to other side.

We were almost hysterical – but found the whole challenge strangely exhilarating.

I could hardly believe it when we found our car park. 
We were directed to a quiet location round the back next to a lean-to containing sacks of garlic.

A few men were sitting in the shade opposite us. After we’d settled in, we gave them French walnuts in exchange for tiny glasses of teeth-clenchingly sweet tea.

In the heat the pungent smell of the garlic was rather overpowering. 

We were a short walk from the main action in the famous Marrakech square: Jemaa el Fna (spelt how you will!) 

There were African drummers, snake charmers, men with monkeys and hawks, women offering to paint Henna patterns on my hands, fortune tellers, storytellers, clowns, dancers, singers and beggars. 

The hustling was good natured and friendly. 

At dusk the food stalls cranked up the action. Tagines, couscous and kebabs were all on offer. We chose a non-touristy stall and ate ‘Arabic’ soup with small wooden ladles and sweet sesame pastries called Chabakia.

Mint is massive in Morocco. We saw the aromatic herb being sold everywhere.

We returned the following morning. Things were much quieter, with people restocking their stalls.

All in all, the iconic square in Marrakech is an unmissable stop on any itinerary to Morocco whether you’re in a Motorhome or not.

Next stop Ouzoud in the Atlas Mountains…