One of my favorite things about travel is experiencing local food. My Asian roots appreciate anything with a little fish sauce, my husband turned me on to authentic German cuisine, and after living in India I’m a huge fan of all the versions of rice stuffed or slathered in sambar and various chutneys. I love a good street taco, I’d have grilled salmon every night of the week if I could, I will never again enjoy fish-n-chips without mushy peas, I prefer West coast oysters served with a spicy accompaniment, give me all the sushi, I wish I knew how to make those little coconut pancakes from Sri Lanka, I eat a lot of mango smoothie bowls and I’ve yet to find a truly spectacular nasi uduk or nasi goreng outside of Indonesia. Ok, while it might seem like I’m a foodie, I should tell you that I’m actually not, particularly compared to the husband. I’m not nearly as adventurous of an eater and I could not bring myself to try the grilled guinea pig in Ecuador or the variety of fried critters in Thailand. I’m not always a fan of meat, and once I find a dish that I like, you’ll be hard pressed to get me to stray.

In Thailand, however, there isn’t much that I wouldn’t try. The local food is so good. There’s so much variety and so much flavor. I love sea food so all the oysters, crab and grilled shrimp make this girl quite happy coming from a land locked country. During my last trip to Bangkok I enjoyed a smorgasbord of grilled meats and yummy oysters in a street food market. The street food in Thailand is incredible. It’s clean and even the small vendors follow good sanitation practices. We are big fans of mango sticky rice, and my favorite go-to meal is basil pork fried rice with an egg on top (pro tip: add a little fish sauce and spicy red peppers). Stephen can never get enough pad thai in Thailand and we’ve not had a bowl of soup that we didn’t thoroughly enjoy. Tom Yum, Tom Kha… all the Tom’s and all his friends are particularly delicious in their home country. Some of my crew are very adventurous eaters. They’ve sampled fried scorpions, circuits, and some sort of worm-looking thing at the Pattaya Floating Market. Don’t worry, if fried critters or grilled crocodile aren’t really your thing, there’s no cultural expectation to partake. And If street food doesn’t seem appealing, there are plenty of sit down restaurants serving fried calamari, salmon steak, pad thai, bok choy, and all the local favorites.

Both on Thai Airways and on the day train, basil fried rice was served and you just can’t seem to go wrong with any version of it. Don’t cancel your ticket  if the local food doesn’t draw you, you can get a lot of international cuisine in Thailand as well. Unlike several other Asian countries, Thai eat beef and you are no doubt just minutes away from a good burger or a steakhouse. Surprisingly, we also had the most amazing German food in Thailand. It’s easy to find good coffee, and there are many communities of expats from all over the world and everything from sushi and top notch Japanese food to penne pasta and Swedish meatballs can be found. There are a variety of grocery stores carrying all kinds of local and imported goods and we traveled back to Nepal with a suitcase full of Eggos, Pop Tarts, salt and vinegar chips, DIY boba tea packets, pretzels, spices to make our own Basil Fried Rice, and other goodies.

During this last trip to Thailand, I took a cooking class, which I highly recommend and plan to start doing in each country we visit. We ventured to a local market and learned about local rice and spices, and the facility was located on a farm so we prepared our meals with fresh Thai basil, Thai coriander, fresh lemongrass etc. The experience was definitely fun and I’ve already made Tom Kha soup and Pad Thai here in Nepal.