---
type: Video
title: "The Side of Fiji The Media Won't Show You 🇫🇯"
description: A day in Suva, the Fijian capital no tourist visits — kava at $5 a basin drunk communally, a colonial history that imported a third of the population, and a city Harry refuses to call dangerous.
tags: [fiji, suva, kava, markets, colonial-history, indo-fijian, safety, rugby]
timestamp: 2026-08-05T12:00:00Z
resource: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SNiM7V0dYE
video_id: 8SNiM7V0dYE
upload_date: 2025-02-23
duration: 2465
---

# The Side of Fiji The Media Won't Show You 🇫🇯

Harry skips the resorts and spends the day in [Suva](/places/suva.md), the
capital of [Fiji](/countries/fiji.md) and a city almost no tourist goes to. He
has been told it's the worst city in the country and that it's dangerous, and he
disagrees from the first minute.

Two things run through it. One is **kava**, which he drinks at the start, comes
back for at full strength at the end, and which turns out to be the most communal
thing in the bundle — one basin, everyone sharing, applause when you finish a
cup. The other is **the colonial history**, which explains why a third of Fiji is
Indian and why there is still a Union Jack on the flag.

[Kieran](/people/kieran.md) turns up in the afternoon with a considerably harsher
verdict on the city, which the video prints alongside Harry's.

*Obs: the video carries a long eSIM sponsor read in three parts. Only the travel
content is recorded on these pages.*

## Key moments

- [00:00] Suva, the capital nobody visits, starting at the statue of Ratu Sir
  Lala Sukuna.
- [00:32] The history, with his own caveat that he's oversimplifying: Fiji is one
  of the few places that asked to be colonised — under pressure — and did it on
  conditions that Fijians wouldn't be mistreated or made to work.
- [01:03] So the British imported Indian labourers instead. Harry's word for it is
  slaves. Independence in 1970; Gujarati migrants afterwards; **35% of Fiji's
  population is now of Indian descent.**
- [01:34] The reputation he's arrived to test — supposedly the worst and most
  dangerous city in Fiji — and his verdict after several days: it's fine, and it's
  clean.
- [02:11] Kava, immediately. "Is it too early?" — it's never too early; it's 24/7.
- [03:18] What it is: powder from a root, mixed with water. Not alcohol.
- [03:51] **$5 Fijian dollars.**
- [04:24] The taste: like flavoured water, then like dirty water, and he says so
  rather than being polite about it.
- [04:58] **The tongue goes numb**, then the lips.
- [06:06] His own defence of it: nobody likes Guinness the first time either.
- [06:41] Six people, no music, just talking — which he says is his kind of night.
- [08:02] His surprise at how developed Fiji is, and the admission that all he
  knew was resorts, Fiji Water and rugby.
- [09:09] Fiji Water as a serious share of GDP, and the reason the country isn't
  purely dependent on tourism.
- [09:43] A shoe clean for $5, which he takes as the tourist price and pays.
- [10:47] Seven or eight hour days for about $40 a day.
- [11:24] A man whose son is a soldier at Buckingham Palace and plays rugby. Lots
  of Fijians go to the UK to work or study.
- [11:56] Rugby, and the sizes involved — Fijians are enormous, Samoans and
  Tongans bigger.
- [13:06] The Union Jack still on the Fijian flag.
- [13:40] **The opinion Harry says he couldn't voice himself**: Fijians didn't
  want independence, and Suva would be better today if it hadn't happened. The
  comparison offered is Hong Kong.
- [14:44] He pays somewhere between $30 and $50 for the $5 shoe clean, admitting
  he's still confused by the currency, because manual work in that heat deserves
  it.
- [15:52] Looking for a Fiji shirt.
- [17:31] $200, then $109, then one reduced from $119 to $79, which he buys and
  wears.
- [18:40] A viewer recognises him in Suva, which he didn't expect.
- [19:17] A spearfisher at the market — shot the night before, **$40 a fish**,
  **free-dived at 30 to 40 metres with no scuba gear**, sold on to five-star
  resorts.
- [20:59] A baby stingray for $10, and the largest sweet potatoes he has seen.
- [22:07] The market proper — one of the biggest in Fiji, and no tourists in it,
  because they all go to Nadi.
- [23:12] Hindi on the signs.
- [23:45] What success means here, as he understands it: not money, but impact,
  friends and family, and being a good person. A very religious country.
- [24:21] A strawberry milkshake for 50 cents. On the ice warning, he thinks Fiji
  is fine.
- [25:49] Why Suva has the reputation — cargo ships, building works, a working
  port. His verdict: not the nicest, not the worst, and not dangerous.
- [26:55] Old British Empire-era buses still running.
- [27:28] The comparison he lands on: an English town.
- [27:28] Cumming Street and the gold shops, which he's told have never had a
  break-in — and he flags that he can't verify it.
- [28:05] Kieran, asked for a brutally honest opinion of Suva, gives one that is
  much harsher than Harry's. Both stay in.
- [29:09] A group of women approach them; Harry stops filming once it's clear
  they don't want it, and the encounter is a solicitation rather than a chat.
- [31:32] A seller presses a carved ornament on him as a gift, then asks for
  payment. He declines the object and gives some coins.
- [32:49] The useful thing that comes out of it: they know where the best kava bar
  in town is, and that's where he goes.
- [33:40] Back for kava at full strength, and this time the whole basin.
- [34:28] Entirely communal — one tub, shared, and Harry notes it looks dirtier on
  camera than it is.
- [35:36] Applause every time somebody finishes a cup. He says nobody claps for
  you in the UK.
- [36:09] The export joke — a rival to Fiji Water called Kava Water — and the
  serious version: $5 here, far more abroad once taxed, and Fijian communities in
  Australia and New Zealand already drink it.
- [37:09] It was once for chiefs only. Now everyone drinks it, women included.
- [38:23] Kava over alcohol, largely because it's cheaper. He mentions he hasn't
  drunk in two months.
- [38:59] The one specific warning of the day: near the nightclubs at night people
  will try to rob you. His comparison is London.
- [39:30] Weddings, funerals, birthdays, and every day of the week.

## Extracted pages

- Place: [Suva](/places/suva.md)
- Country: [Fiji](/countries/fiji.md)
- Person: [Kieran](/people/kieran.md)
- Tips: [Judge a place for yourself](/tips/judge-a-place-for-yourself.md),
  [Try the street version of everyday services](/tips/try-street-services.md),
  [Reward honesty and hard work](/tips/reward-honesty-and-hard-work.md),
  [The gift that isn't free](/tips/the-gift-that-isnt-free.md)