• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • ABOUT
    • All About Grantourismo
    • Work With Us
    • Meet Lara and Terence
    • Itineraries, Tours & Retreats
    • Media Coverage
    • Contacts
  • SLOW
  • LOCAL
  • EXPERIENTIAL
  • RECIPES
Grantourismo Travels Logo

Grantourismo Travels

The website of globetrotting professional travel writing and photography team Lara Dunston and Terence Carter

Grantourismo Travels Logo
  • AFRICA
        • KENYA
          • Masai Mara
          • Mombasa
          • Tsavo West
        • MOROCCO
          • Essaouira
          • Marrakech
        • SOUTH AFRICA
          • Cape Town
  • ASIA
        • CAMBODIA
          • Battambang
          • Phnom Penh
          • Siem Reap
        • INDONESIA
          • Bali
        • JAPAN
          • Tokyo
        • LAOS
          • Luang Prabang
        • MALAYSIA
          • Borneo
          • Kuala Lumpur
          • Penang
        • MEKONG RIVER
        • SINGAPORE
        • MYANMAR
        • THAILAND
          • Bangkok
          • Chiang Mai
          • Isaan
          • Phuket
        • VIETNAM
          • Dalat
          • Hanoi
          • Hoi An
          • Saigon
          • Sapa
  • AMERICAS
        • ARGENTINA
          • Buenos Aires
        • BRAZIL
          • Rio de Janeiro
        • COSTA RICA
          • Manuel Antonio
        • MEXICO
          • Mexico City
          • San Miguel de Allende
        • UNITED STATES
          • Austin
          • New York City
  • AUSTRALASIA
        • AUSTRALIA
          • Adelaide
          • Darwin
          • Gold Coast
          • Melbourne
          • Perth
          • Sydney
  • EUROPE
        • AUSTRIA
          • Vienna
          • Zell Am See
        • ENGLAND
          • London
        • FRANCE
          • Céret
          • Paris
          • Perpignan
        • GERMANY
          • Berlin
        • HUNGARY
          • Budapest
        • ITALY
          • Alberobello
          • Calabria
          • Italian Lakes
          • Sardinia
          • Venice
        • MONTENEGRO
          • Kotor
        • POLAND
          • Krakow
          • Zakopane
        • PORTUGAL
          • Porto
          • Portugal Wine Regions
        • SCOTLAND
          • Edinburgh
        • SPAIN
          • Barcelona
          • Jerez
          • Mallorca
        • TURKEY
          • Istanbul
  • MIDDLE EAST
        • JORDAN
          • Desert Areas
        • QATAR
          • Doha
        • UAE
          • Dubai
Dubai on a Budget – How to Experience Dubai on the Cheap. Abras on Dubai Creek, Dubai, UAE. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

Dubai on a Budget – How to Experience Dubai on the Cheap

Dubai may have a reputation as a luxury destination – and we didn’t do anything to dispel that myth by staying at a swish villa on The Palm, did we? – yet it doesn’t have to be an expensive place to visit. Here’s our guide to Dubai on a Budget.

It’s easy to experience a life of luxury in Dubai with its abundance of opulent hotels, sumptuous shopping malls, and posh fine dining restaurants. However, it’s also not that hard to experience Dubai on a budget, if you know how.

Compared to many cities in Europe and Australia, Dubai can actually be a great value destination with loads of things to do that are free or cost next to nothing.

Dubai on a Budget – How to Experience Dubai on the Cheap

Book an airport transfer ahead of time

You’ll save loads of money by booking this US$15 airport transfer ahead of time. Unless you’re staying near the airport, you’re going to pay a lot more.

Check into affordable accommodation

Dubai’s reputation as a luxury destination was built on its lavish five start hotels and resorts, however, the city-emirate boasts plenty of budget accommodation too.

When we first moved to the UAE in 1998, before we shifted to Dubai, we were living in Abu Dhabi and used to visit Dubai for weekends. In those days we continued to travel as we always had up until then, as backpackers, and stayed in Dubai’s dodgy budget hotels in the gritty Gold Souq area in Deira.

These days there’s a far wider choice of cheap and cheerful 2-stars, including the ubiquitous global budget brands like the Ibis and Holiday Inn Express, which are each in a number of locations, and start at around AED220 or UK£39 / US$60. Dubai also has a youth hostel, however, this caters more for young Arab students, youth groups and sporting teams rather than backpackers.

We prefer to settle into one of the many serviced apartments targeted at business travellers, which for the same price as an Ibis or Holiday Inn Express, will get you 3- or 4-star facilities, more space, a kitchen and living area, and sometimes a swimming pool, which the budget hotels don’t have.

Use Dubai’s cheap and plentiful public transport

The sleek Dubai metro service is a delight to use. Click through to the link for metro maps and information on how to buy the metro pass. Buses are even cheaper and run frequently while taxis are also affordable and plentiful.

You can rent a car for as little as UK£20/US$30 a day, yet negotiating Dubai’s traffic can be stressful for those unaccustomed to driving in the Middle East.

A ride from one side of Dubai Creek to the other on an abra (wooden water taxi, pictured above) costs just AED1 or UK£0.17.

Do a Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour

Travellers in Dubai on a budget will save a lot of money on transport and get to see a lot of sights (Burj Kahlifa, Jumeirah Beach Park, Al Fahidi Fort, Dubai Creek, etc) on a 24-hour or 48-hour Big Bus Dubai Hop-on Hop-off Tour. The ticket also includes heaps of additional benefits and free admissions to museums, a free dhow cruise, a free Dubai walking tour, a Wafi shopping mall discount card, among other great deals.

Get cultured: Dubai museums are free or cheap

For travellers experiencing Dubai on a budget, the city’s cultural sights will be a high priority. Dubai has some engaging museums that offer a fascinating insight into the pre-oil days. Most museums are either free or cost as little as AED1 or UK£0.17.

Dubai Museum in Al Fahidi Fort, near the Bur Dubai waterfront, should be your first point of call. The museum provides a quick introduction to Dubai’s rapid development through a multimedia presentation, exhibitions of antique firearms, musical instruments, costumes, and jewellery, kitsch life-size dioramas, and a compact but compelling archaeological section.

Across Dubai Creek, the splendid Heritage House, a restored pearling master’s residence, and the adjoining Al Ahmadiya School, Dubai’s first school, near the Gold Souq in Deira, are also worth a visit.

Explore the historical Bastakiya or Al Fahidi Neighbourhood

On the waterfront near Dubai Museum, the lovely labyrinthine Al Bastakiya quarter is worth a wander. Dubai’s oldest quarter, it was settled by Persian merchants from the Bastak area, in what is now southern Iran, in the late 19th and early 20th century.

Recently renamed the Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood, the compact area boasts narrow lanes lined with traditional Persian courtyard houses with splendid windtowers which were beautifully restored in the 1990s.

The quarter is now home to atmospheric boutique hotels, excellent art galleries such as Majlis Gallery and XVA, and cafes such as the lovely Arabian Tea House (formerly Basta Art Cafe), where a thirst-quenching, freshly sqeezed mint and lime juice drink in the leafy courtyard is a treat.

Stroll Dubai Creek and Dhow Wharves for free

A saunter along Dubai’s action-packed Creek, from the Bastikya, where you can take in stunning views of the striking Deira skyline from Al Seef Road Park, to Bur Dubai souq, where you can browse the bustling textile market, is a must.

From there you can continue your amble along Dubai Creek to Shindagha, the oldest part of Dubai, and home to the Heritage and Diving Village, a recreation of the early fishing and pearling village, and Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum’s House, dating to 1894, one of several grand old residences lining the waterfront. Once the home of Dubai’s ruling family, it has fascinating exhibits of old black and white photographs. (See my walking tour here on National Geographic Traveler’s website).

You can then backtrack to the abra dock and take one of the little wooden boats across to Deira where you can mosey along the Dhow Wharves, checking out the extraordinary array of stuff the sailors load onto the old dhow boats – everything from kitchen sinks to cars!

See our guide to experiencing the real Dubai and our Old Dubai walking tour for more details.

Eat affordable street food at modest eateries

If you’re doing Dubai on a budget you definitely need to skip the hotel restaurants in favour of street food and simple street-side dining in the down-to-earth Arabic, Iranian, Indian, and Iraqi neighbourhood eateries that line the streets of Bur Dubai and Deira. They are liveliest in the evenings and many have alfresco seating – lovely at this time of year.

Dubai is home to several ‘eat streets’ including Al Dhiyafah Road, Satwa, and Al Riqqa Road and Al Muteena Road, a bit further afield on the Deira side of the Creek. At any of the fluoro-lit restaurants here a family of four can feast on an array of dishes and fresh juices for as little as AED100 (UK£17).

At Kan Zaman, an alfresco Arabic eatery adjoining the Heritage and Diving Village at Shindagha, you can snack on a few mezze and a mango juice, followed by a fragrant sheesha (narghile/hubbly bubbly) for AED60 (or UK£10), and take in the enchanting Creek views for free.

See our guide to Dubai street food and the eat streets and neighbourhoods where you’ll find it or if you’d like some guidance, book this excellent Dubai street food tour that provides a great introduction to eating in Dubai on a budget.

If you’re in Dubai on a stopover, see our guide to doing a Dubai Layover Like a Local, the first in a series of new guides and a taster for our soon to launch website.

BOOK AFFORDABLE DUBAI TOURS AND ACTIVITIES

Powered by GetYourGuide. Become a partner.

UPDATED: September 2017

Disclaimer: some of the links in our Dubai on a Budget guide take you through to Get Your Guide where you can book tours. Any bookings you make earn us small commissions which go to support the work we do on this site.

Support our Cambodia Cookbook & Culinary History Book with a donation or monthly pledge on Patreon.

SHARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Share4
Tweet93
Pin3
Yum
100 Shares

SUBSCRIBE TO THE GRANTOURISMO TRAVELS NEWSLETTER

Sign up below to receive our monthly newsletter to your In Box for special subscriber-only content, travel deals, tips, recipes, and inspiration.

100% Privacy. We hate spam too and will never give your email address away.

Share4
Tweet93
Pin3
Yum
100 Shares

Related Posts You Might Like

Advertisement

Find Your Dubai Accommodation

Booking.com

Shop for related products

About Terence Carter

Terence Carter is an editorial food and travel photographer and infrequent travel writer with a love of photographing people, places and plates of food. After living in the Middle East for a dozen years, he settled in South-East Asia a dozen years ago with his wife, travel and food writer and sometime magazine editor Lara Dunston.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Amy @ The Q Family says

    February 12, 2010 at 9:09 pm

    I have been loving your blog so far. What a great varieties of information. And now, I love the Budget Dubai post. I will definitely bookmark this one for future reference. :)

  2. lara dunston says

    February 13, 2010 at 1:50 am

    Hi Amy – thank you so much! So glad you’re enjoying it – especially the budget Dubai post! Thanks!

  3. kamaljit says

    February 24, 2011 at 5:40 am

    we are planning to visit Dubai and this information is going to be very useful. thanks a lot!!

  4. Terence Carter says

    October 31, 2011 at 6:12 pm

    Martin, thanks for your comment.
    We do mention the Metro in the post (2nd paragraph).
    Re the buses, the post was on Dubai the city itself not other destinations in the UAE.
    Lara is writing for a major UK newspaper right now about Sharjah and Hatta – we enjoy going to them both!
    Cheers,
    T

  5. Martin Kubler says

    October 31, 2011 at 4:43 pm

    From a long-time Dubai resident, thanks for this post. It’s fairly spot on.
    You could have mentioned the metro (which is excellent and very cheap) and the busses, e.g. you can take a bus to Hatta or Sharjah (plenty more free museums there!) for less than GBP 4.

    Happy traveling!

  6. Brooke Vlasich says

    January 4, 2015 at 1:41 am

    Excellent post and information! I always enjoy reading about the areas to wander and enjoy the city for free. Thanks for also sharing the info regarding museums, it’s fantastic they are free.

  7. Lara Dunston says

    January 6, 2015 at 11:12 am

    Hi Brooke – thanks for the kind words. Same – I love to simply walk and explore cities on foot. Unfortunately that’s not always possible (or, rather comfortable) all year in Dubai due to the blistering heat, but it’s lovely a few times of year. And, yes, the museums are either free or dirt-cheap in Dubai, plus they’re also very compact so don’t take long to explore. And they’re air-conditioned! Another bonus. Thanks for dropping by!

  8. Helen Rapp says

    February 4, 2017 at 3:37 pm

    Thank you for the super-informative and detailed posts! I’m going to Dubai in a couple of weeks for the first time, I’ll be sure to follow your routes!

  9. Lara Dunston says

    February 5, 2017 at 8:53 am

    Thanks, Helen! Much appreciated. Did you see the posts on How to Experience the Real Dubai http://grantourismotravels.com/2013/08/23/how-to-experience-the-real-dubai/ and the Best Local Experiences in Dubai? http://grantourismotravels.com/2010/02/09/best-local-experiences-in-dubai/ That’s the Dubai we lived in and loved – do those things and it’s hard to have a bad time. Enjoy!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

About Grantourismo

Lara and Terence are an Australian-born, Southeast Asia-based travel and food writers and photographers who have authored scores of guidebooks, produced countless travel and food stories, are currently developing cookbooks and guidebooks, and host culinary tours and writing and photography retreats in Southeast Asia.
READ MORE…

Featured Posts

A boy uses a mortar and pestle on Soi 38, Thong Lor. Bangkok, Thailand. Copyright © 2023 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved. Bangkok's Junior MasterChef.

Monday Memories: Bangkok’s Junior MasterChef

Cooking with Poo Cooking Class. Cooking with Poo at the Helping Hands Thai Cooking School. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

Cooking with Poo at the Helping Hands Thai Cooking School

Smoked Salmon Carpaccio Recipe for an Easy Elegant Appetiser Made in Minutes. Best Christmas recipes. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

10 Most Popular Recipes of May – Egg Drop Soup, Green Minestrone and Korean Spicy Noodles

Footer

ABOUT GRANTOURISMO

  • All About Grantourismo
  • Meet Lara and Terence
  • Work With Us
  • Itineraries, Tours & Retreats
  • Media & Advertising
  • Media Coverage
  • Contacts

THE GRANTOURISMO SHOP ON SOCIETY6

The Grantourismo Shop on Society6

GET THE BEST MANAGED WORDPRESS HOSTING

Get the Best Managed Wordpress Website Hosting with Flywheel

IMPORTANT DETAILS

  • Terms and Conditions
  • Editorial Policy
  • Comments Policy
  • Advertising
  • Privacy Policy

AMAZON AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE

Grantourismo Travels is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for website owners to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, audible.com, and any other website that may be affiliated with Amazon Service LLC Associates Program.

GRANTOURISMO AFFILIATES/SUPPORT

Grantourismo is reader-supported. Posts contain various affiliate links. If you click through and purchase something, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. That income supports the work we do to create content. Here are more ways to support Grantourismo.

SUBSCRIBE

SOCIALLY CONNECTED

  • 6,048 Followers
  • 2,580 Likes
  • 1,841 followers
  • 19,053 Followers

INSTAGRAM FEED

Still looking for Christmas cooking inspo? Check o Still looking for Christmas cooking inspo? Check out our seafood recipe collection, especially if you celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve with a fish focused meal in the Southern Italian tradition, transformed by Italian-Americans into the Feast of the Seven Fishes, or like Australians, who celebrate Christmas in the sweltering summer, feast on seafood for Christmas Day lunch, we’ve got lots of easy seafood recipes for you.

Our recipes include a classic prawn cocktail, blini with smoked salmon, a ceviche-style appetiser, and devilled eggs with caviar. We’ve also got recipes for fish soup, seafood pies and pastas, salmon tray bake, and crispy salmon with creamy mashed potatoes.

You’ll find the recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/seafood-recipes-for-christmas-eve-and-christmas-day-menus/
(Link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Merry Christmas if you’re celebrating!! 

#christmas #christmasfood #seafood #fish #recipes #christmasrecipes #foodstagram #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood #picoftheday #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #grantourismo #grantourismotravels #xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas
If you’re still looking for food inspo for Chris If you’re still looking for food inspo for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day meals, my smoked salmon ‘carpaccio’ recipe is one of dozens of recipes in this compilation of our best Christmas recipes (link below). 

The Christmas recipe compilation includes collections of our best Christmas breakfast recipes, best Christmas brunch recipes, best Christmas starter recipes, best Christmas cocktails, best Christmas dessert recipes, and homemade edible Christmas gifts and more.

My smoked salmon carpaccio recipe makes an easy elegant appetiser that’s made in minutes. If you’re having guests over, you can make the dish ahead by assembling the salmon, capers and pickled onions, and refrigerate it, then pour on the dressing just before serving. 

Provide toasted baguette slices and bowls of additional capers, pickles and dressing, so guests can customise their carpaccio. And open the bubbly!

You’ll find that recipe and many more Christmas recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/best-christmas-recipes/ (link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Merry Christmas!! X

#christmas #christmasfood #recipes #christmasrecipes #foodstagram #salmon #smokedsalmon #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood #picoftheday #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #writingacookbook #grantourismo #grantourismotravels 
#xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas
If you haven’t visited our site in a while, I sh If you haven’t visited our site in a while, I shared a collection of recipes for homemade edible Christmas gifts — for condiments, hot sauces, chilli oils, a whole array of pickles, spice blends, chilli salt, furakake seasoning, and spicy snacks, such as our Cambodian and Vietnamese roasted peanuts. 

I love giving homemade edibles as gifts as much as I love receiving them. Who wouldn’t appreciate jars filled with their favourite chilli oils, hot sauces, piquant pickles, and spicy peanuts that loved-ones have taken the time to make? 

Aside from the gesture and affordability of gifting homemade edibles, you’re minimising waste. You can use recycled jars or if buying new mason jars or clip-top Kilner jars, you know they’ll get repurposed.

No need for wrapping, just attach some Christmas baubles or tinsel to the lid. I used squares of Cambodian kramas (cotton scarves), which can be repurposed as napkins or drink coasters, and tied a ribbon or two around the lids, and attached last year’s Christmas tree decorations to some.

You’ll find the recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/homemade-edible-christmas-gifts/ (link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Yes, that’s Pepper... every time there’s a camera around... 

#christmasgiftideas #ediblegifts ##christmasfoodgifts #foodgifts #giftideas #homemadegifts #christmasfood #ediblegiftideas #hotsauce #chillisauce #sriracha #pickles #homemadepickles #recipes #foodstagram #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood 
#blackcat #blackcatsofinstagram #picoftheday 
#christmas #christmastree #xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas #cambodia #siemreap
This crab omelette is a decadent eggs dish that’ This crab omelette is a decadent eggs dish that’s perfect if you’re just back from the fish markets armed with luxurious fresh crab meat. It’s a little sweet, a little spicy, and very, very moreish.

Our crab omelette recipe was one of our 22 most popular egg recipes of 2022 on our website Grantourismo and it’s no surprise. It’s appeared more times than any other egg recipes on our annual round-ups of most popular recipes since Terence launched Weekend Eggs when we launched Grantourismo in 2010.

If you’re an eggs lover, do check out the recipe collection. It includes egg recipes from right around the world, from recipes for classic kopitiam eggs from Singapore and Malaysia and egg curries from India and Myanmar to all kinds of egg recipes from Thailand, Japan, Korea, China, Mexico, USA, Australia, UK, and Ireland.

And do browse our Weekend Eggs archives for further eggspiration (sorry). We have hundreds of egg recipes from the 13 year-old series of recipes for quintessential egg dishes from around the world, which we started on our 2010 year-long global grand tour focused on slow, local and experiential travel. 

We’re hoping 2023 will be the year we can finally publish the Weekend Eggs cookbook we’ve talked about for years based on that series. After we can find a publisher for the Cambodia cookbook of course... :( 

Recipe collection here (and proper link to Grantourismo in our bio):
https://grantourismotravels.com/22-most-popular-egg-recipes-of-2022-from-weekend-eggs/

If you cook the recipe and enjoy it please let us know — we love to hear from you — either in the comments at the end of the recipe or share a pic with us here.

#recipe #recipes #eggs #eggslover #breakfasteggs #WeekendEggs #egg #breakfast #brunch #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood  #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #lookingforapublisher #writingacookbook  #grantourismo #grantourismotravels
I’m late to share this, but a few days ago Angko I’m late to share this, but a few days ago Angkor Archaeological Park, home to stupendous Angkor Wat, pictured, celebrated 30 years of its UNESCO World Heritage listing. 

That’s as good an excuse as any to put this magnificent, sprawling archaeological site on your travel list this year.

While riverside Siem Reap, your base for exploring Angkor is bustling once more, there are still nowhere near the visitors of the last busy high season months of December-January 2018-2019 when there were 290,000 visitors. 

Last month there were just 55,000 visitors and December feels a little quieter. A tour guide friend said there were about 150 people at Angkor Wat for sunrise a few days ago.

If you’re looking for tips to visiting Angkor, Siem Reap and Cambodia, just ask us a question in the comments below or check Grantourismo as we’ve got loads of info on our site. Click through to the link in the bio and explore our Cambodia guide or search for ‘Angkor’. 

And please do let us know if you’re coming to Siem Reap. We’d love to see you here x

#siemreap #cambodia #asia #travel #instatravel #traveldeeper #slowtravel #localtravel #experientialtravel #exploremore #neverstopexploring #goexplore #igtravel #angkorwat #angkor #temple #temples #angkorwithoutcrowds #unesco #unescoworldheritagesite #unescoworldheritage #archaeology #archaeologicalsite #traveladdict #beautifuldestinations #beautifulplaces #travelgram #wanderlust #picoftheday📷 #grantourismotravels.
Our soy ginger chicken recipe will make you sticky Our soy ginger chicken recipe will make you sticky, flavourful and succulent chicken thighs that are fantastic with steamed rice, Chinese greens or a salad, such as a Southeast Asian slaw. 

The chicken can be marinated for up to 24 hours before cooking, which ensures it’s packed with flavour, then it can be cooked on a barbecue or in a pan.

Terence’s soy ginger chicken recipe is one of our favourite recipes for a quick and easy meal. I love the sound of the sizzling thighs in the pan, and the warming aromas wafting through the apartment. 

It’s amazing how such flavourful juicy chicken thighs come from such a quick and easy recipe.

Recipe here (and proper link to Grantourismo in our bio): https://grantourismotravels.com/soy-ginger-chicken-recipe/

If you cook it and enjoy it please let us know — we love to hear from you — either here or in the comments at the end of the recipe on the site or share a pic with us x 

#recipe #recipes #chicken #soygingerchicken #asianfood #southeastasianfood #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #cookingtime #recipe #recipes #comfortfood #foodblog #food #foodstagram #healthyfood #instafood #healthy #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #writingacookbook #grantourismo #grantourismotravels
Who can guess the ingredients and what we’re mak Who can guess the ingredients and what we’re making with my market haul from Psar Samaki in Siem Reap — all for a whopping 10,000 riel (US$2.50)?! 

Birds-eye chillies thrown in for free! They were on my list but the seller I spent most at (5,000 riel!) scooped up a handful and slipped them into my bag. She was my last stop and knew what I was making.

My Khmer is poor, even after all our years in Cambodia, as I don’t learn languages with the ease I did in my 20s, plus I’m mentally exhausted after researching and writing all day. I have a better vocabulary of Old and Middle Khmer than modern Khmer from studying the ancient inscriptions for the Cambodian culinary history component of our cookbook I’m writing.

So when one seller totalled my purchases I thought she said 5,000 riel but she handed back 4,500 riel! The sum total of two huge bunches of herbs and kaffir lime leaves was 500 riel.

Tip: if visiting Siem Reap, use Khmer riel for local shopping. We’ve mainly used riel since the pandemic started— rarely use US$ now as market sellers quote prices in riels, as do local shops and bakeries, and I tip tuk tuk drivers in riels. I find prices quoted in riels are lower.

Psar Samaki is cheaper than Psar Leu, which is cheaper than Psar Chas, as it’s a wholesale market, which means the produce is fresher. I see veggies arriving, piled high in the back of vehicles, with dirt still on them — as I did on this trip. 

The scent of a mountain of incredibly aromatic pineapples offloaded from the back of a dusty ute was so heady they smelt like they’d just been cut. More exotic European style veggies arrive by big trucks in boxes labelled in Vietnamese (from Dalat) and Mandarin (from China), such as beautiful snow-white cauliflower I spotted.

Note: the freshest produce is sold on the dirt road at the back of the market.

#cambodia #siemreap #foodwriter #foodblogger #foodphotography #igfood #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #instadaily #picoftheday #market #siemreapmarket #psarsamaki #marketfresh #vegetables #healthyfood #marketshopping #traveltips #foodtravel #culinarytravel #localtravel #cooking #cookingtime #curry #homemade #currypaste #grantourismotravels
My Vietnamese-ish meatballs and rice noodles recip My Vietnamese-ish meatballs and rice noodles recipe makes tender meatballs doused in a delightfully tangy-sweet sauce, sprinkled with crispy fried shallots, with carrot-daikon, crunchy cucumber and fragrant herbs. 

The dish is inspired by bún chả, a Hanoi specialty, but it’s not bún chả. No matter what Google or food bloggers tell you. Names are important, especially when cooking and writing about cuisines not our own.

This is an authentic bún chả recipe:  https://grantourismotravels.com/vietnamese-bun-cha-recipe/ You’ll need to get the outdoor BBQ/grill going to do proper smoky bún chả meat patties (not meatballs).

My meatball noodle bowl is perhaps more closely related to dishes such as a Central Vietnam cousin bún thịt nướng (pork skewers on rice noodles in a bowl) and a Southern relation bún bò Nam Bộ (beef atop rice noodles, sprinkled with fried shallots (Nam Bộ=Southern Vietnam) though neither include meatballs. 

Xíu mại= meatballs although they’re different in flavour to mine, which taste more like bún chả patties. Xíu mại remind me of Southern Italian meatballs in tomato sauce.

In Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, home to millions of Khmer, there’s bánh tằm xíu mại. Bánh tằm=silk worm noodles. They’re topped with meatballs, cucumber, daikon, carrot, fresh herbs, crispy fried onions. Difference: cold noodles doused in a sauce of coconut cream and fish sauce. 

Remove the meatballs, add chopped fried spring rolls and it’s Cambodia’s banh sung, which is a rice noodle salad similar to Vietnam’s bún chả giò :) 

Recipe here: (link in bio) https://grantourismotravels.com/vietnamese-meatballs-and-rice-noodles-recipe/

For more on these culinary connections you’ll have to wait for our Cambodian cookbook and culinary history. In a hurry to know? Come support the project on Patreon. (link in bio)

#recipe #recipes #vietnamesefood #cambodianfood #asianfood #southeastasianfood #ricenoodles #rice #noodlebowl #meatballs #igfood #igfoodie #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood  #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #writingacookbook #writingacambodiancookbook #patreon #patreoncreator #grantourismo
It is pure coincidence that Pepper’s eye colour It is pure coincidence that Pepper’s eye colour matches the furnishings of our rented apartment. So, no, I did not colour-coordinate the interiors to match our cat’s eyes. 

I keep getting DMs from pet clothing brands wanting to “partner” with Pepper and send her free cat clothes and cat accessories. Although she did wear a kerchief for a few years in her more adventurous fashion-forward teenage years, I cannot see this cat in clothes now, can you? 

#pepper #blackcat #blackcats #blackcatsofinstagram #blackcatsrule #blackcatsmatter #cat #cats #catsofinstagram #catstagram #catlover #catlovers #catlove #catoftheday #catphoto #catpic #catpics #cambodiancat #cambodiancatsofinstagram #catlife #catloversclub #catoftheday #catgram #catstagram #cats_of_instagram #catphotography #catsofig #catsoftheworld #catsofinsta #cats🐱 #siemreap #cambodia

SAFETY WING INSURANCE

Safety Wing Insurance

Images Protected By Pixsy

Protected By Pixsy

Footer Widget Header

WEB LOVE

As Seen in The Guardian As Seen on NineMSN As Seen on Tnooz
As Seen In The Independent As Seen on Frommers As seen on Viator
As Seen in Afar As seen on Gadling As seen on Context
As Seen in Fathom As Seen on Matador As seen on Inspirato with American Express
As seen on the Daily Mail website As seen on the Forbes website Grantourismo on the SilverKris website

ALL MEDIA COPYRIGHT © 2009–2023 GRANTOURISMO | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
DESIGNED IN APARTMENT RENTALS, HOTELS AND RESORTS AROUND THE WORLD BY GRANTOURISMO MEDIA.
ASSEMBLED IN SOUTH-EAST-ASIA.
GRANTOURISMO TRAVELS AND ‘MAKING TRAVEL MORE MEANINGFUL AND MEMORABLE’ ARE ™ TO GRANTOURISMO MEDIA.