A Trip to The Market

June 16, 2012 in Asia, Thailand, Travelogue

People are forever asking what we eat when we travel.

The answer to that varies widely, depending on where we are in the world. Generally, we try to eat local and small scale, meaning we shun big box stores in favor of buying from individuals in the market. I love market shopping and I love meeting the purveyors of our dinners face to face and exchanging a smile and our thanks along with a few baht. 

The market happens in our town on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, meaning I only have to buy a little bit at a time, but our “biggest” shopping day is Saturday (today!)

Above is a picture of me returning from the market today:

As you can see, my traveling backpack serves as market bag too! When it gets full I strap stuff to the outside. I think the locals think I’m a little loco, but they’re getting used to me!

Below is a picture of what we bought today:

 Including:
  • 1 watermelon
  • 2 pineapples
  • 4 guavas
  • 4 red fruit we don’t know the name of but that taste a bit like appley-cucumber
  • 3 mangos
  • 1 what we hope very much is our Guatemalan frog fruit
  • 2 yellow peppers
  • 2 red peppers
  • 3 onions
  • 3 HUGE carrots
  • 6 potatoes
  • 4 tomatoes
  • 2 cucumbers
  • 2 heads of garlic
  • 1 bunch of lemon grass, galangal & kefir lime leaves
  • 1 bunch of meter long green beans
  • 3 HUGE ears of corn (pre-cooked)
  • 1 kilo of limes
  • 2 kilos of small oranges (kinda like tangerines only not quite)
  • 3 bunches of lettuce
  • 1 bunch of cilantro
  • 1 bunch of green onions
  • 6 plates of funky friend noodle stuff with sauce that we love (tonight’s dinner)
  • 12 pieces of friend chicken (tomorrow’s dinner after the beach!)
  • 1o chicken thighs
  • 1 fish-kabob (a la Gabriel)
  • 3 long stems of orchids
  • 2 boxes of coconut milk (not pictured)
  • 1 litre of Coke (not pictured)
  • 2 boxes of milk (not pictured)
  • 5 gallons of water (not pictured)
Total bill: $55 USD for three days worth of food for our family of six, including two teenagers. Make it an even $60 if you add the oatmeal and eggs they’ll eat for breakfast that we already have in the house.
 
Twenty bucks a day, and that’s with two meals of “convenience foods” (meaning pre-cooked at the market and carried home.)  $3.33 per person per day.
 
Needless to say, this is rather below our US and Canadian budget!