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| Selling watermelons and pumpkins |
The day after I
arrived in Papua New Guinea my lovely MAF hosts took me on a walk around the
town of Mount Hagen in the centre of PNG, in the Highlands. It’s a
fascinating place, I’ve never been anywhere like it. There are people standing around on the sides
of the roads, either just chatting or selling things off a cloth or a small
table, either veggies, snacks or Beatle Nut (A narcotic similar to chewing
tobacco which makes your mouth bright
red and contributes to a very high rate of mouth cancer). Everyone was really friendly calling out “Good
Morning” from across the street.
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| Busy Saturday at the market |
When we got to the
market (The biggest and best in PNG) I couldn’t believe the amount of fresh fruit
and veg on sale. The fence around the
market was lined with women selling ‘Billams’ a hand-made bag woven from
manipulated nylon wool. The central area
sold ‘Meri Blouses’, very bright, unflattering tunics that all the women love
to wear. The rest sold fresh produce at ridiculously
cheap prices. I bought salad to feed a large
family (Lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, avocado, carrots) for under £5! That really contrasts against
the imported food from the supermarket which can be around 3-4 times the price
of the UK. A single box of Kellogg’s
cereal was almost £10!
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| Selling piles of carrots |
Visiting the market was also a delicious
experience. Someone kindly bought me a
banana saying “Once you’ve eaten a banana in PNG, you’ll never want to eat
another one from back home”. They weren’t
kidding, the flavor was incredible, I didn’t know bananas could be that delicious!!! I don’t
know how to describe them, but image bananas with an amazing, sweet, deep flavour!? What a sensory experience!
