Year of the Durian

The Fruit Hotel | Kanchanaburi, Thailand

2013-06-17T08:56:00.001-07:00

Many durian-lovers like to book a relaxing weekend at their favorite durian orchard. Now not only can you sleep in a durian orchard, you can actually sleep inside of a durian in a durian orchard. I imagine you could even eat durian inside the durian too. This is the creation of Ban Phasawan, an unlikely Disneyland-esque resort set uncannily in the middle of nowhere. The closest city is a

Supatra Land Fruit Theme Park | Photo Essay

2013-06-16T04:14:00.002-07:00

At this point, I've visited a lot of durian orchards. A lot. Some offer tours and fruit buffets to tourists, but on a small scale. I'd never seen to anything like Suan Supatra Land, a 700 rai orchard that takes fruit tourism to the level of a theme park. Tourist gimmicks aren't usually my thing, but I couldn't miss this. The farm (if it can be called that) caters mostly to large tour groups

Video: Sharing Durian with an Elephant | Koh Chang, Thailand

2013-06-13T20:06:00.001-07:00

Koh Chang literally means "Elephant Island." It's a token to the shape of the island, and not to the many elephant camps that have sprung up along with the surge in tourists. The elephants haven't been there long, but the durian trees have. I rented a motorbike from my hotel on Kai Bae beach and spent the day overcoming my fear of things that go fast. I was rewarded with a truly amazing

Penang Durian Festival Schedule

2013-06-12T19:44:00.001-07:00

The Penang Times Square durian festival is really one of the most fun, and not just because the durian is so good. The organizers do a good job actually sponsoring durian-related events, so you don't end up wondering where the durian part of the durian festival is like I recently did at the Chanthaburi Durian Festival. Here's a look at Penang's festival last year. Venue: Chin Ho Plaza

Places | Koh Chang, Thailand

2013-06-10T09:45:00.000-07:00

Sometimes my travels take me to really nice places, not just really nice durian. While walking back to my hotel I happened to catch the sunset reflected in this seaside pool of the Chill Resort and Spa on Kai Bae beach. This would make a wonderful picnic spot, if they allow durian on the premises (not likely).

Chanthaburi Durian Festival in the Rain | Photo Essay

2013-06-07T21:33:00.000-07:00

The Chanthaburi World Durian Festival is probably the most famous of the durian festivals, although there are actually no less than 6 durian festivals in Thailand. (Count 'em and weep with joy, durian fans). The festival attracts hundreds of visitors from Bangkok and neighboring provinces, and a fair number of foreigners too. Despite the heavy rain, this year's festival is even bigger than

Durian Porn | Chanthaburi, Thailand

2013-06-06T08:58:00.000-07:00

I'm starting a new weekly post featuring my favorite durians. I ate this one yesterday. It was awesome. I've got a little secret to reveal: I have a hard time finding durian I really, really, really like in Thailand. It's a matter of personal preference, and doesn't mean there's anything wrong with how people in Thailand like their durian. Except how they like it, which is terrible. That's

Recipe: Durian Thai Salad (Som Tam)

2013-06-03T17:09:00.002-07:00

Som Tam, or Green Papaya Salad is one of my favorite foods here in Thailand. It's refreshingly tangy, sweet and spicy with a juicy crunch, just the thing to finish off a day eating heavy durian. Som Tam is typically made with a base of green papaya, but it can be made with any unripe fruit, including durian. At the Laplae Durian Festival, the highlight event is the Dancing Durian Salad

Laplae Durian Festival, Uttaradit Thailand | Photo Essay

2013-06-02T18:11:00.001-07:00

Laplae is a little known district in northern Thailand's Uttaradit province that has recently made headlines for its unique and expensive durians. The city hosts an annual durian festival every year in June. This year's festival started on June 1st, the same day as the more famous Chanthaburi Durian Festival. I had to make a choice - Chanthaburi's grand opening, or a new durian adventure in

Durian News: May 2013

2013-05-31T07:53:00.002-07:00

May is when Thailand begins to be flooded with durians. Durians pop up for sale just about everywhere - in markets, street corners, pick-up trucks, laundry mats, and shoe stores. Cities across Thailand celebrate the durian harvest with festivals, most of them ostentatiously called "World Durian Festival." With all the durian goings-on durian was unsurprisingly in the headlines a lot in May.

Durian Desserts in Phnom Penh

2013-05-28T22:11:00.001-07:00

The last time Rob and I visited Phnom Penh, we did the usual tourist thing and visited all the really depressing monuments to the mass genocide of the 1970's. Rob wrote one of his few yet treasured posts about the experience, a somber, philosophical article that has nothing to do with durian. This time around was a lot more fun (and a lot more durian). My friend Jess is an English teacher in

Fruity Temple in Kampong Cham, Cambodia Photo Essay

2013-05-26T08:43:00.000-07:00

I've never posted a photo essay, even though I have loads of photos I never get to share. Ever since I caved and bought myself a snazzy new camera last June, I absolutely love taking pictures. I take pictures of everything, everywhere, and especially of my favorite subject: durian. I've contemplated adding a photo gallery to this blog, and have been playing with Pinterest (yes, Year of

Durian Gourmet Food Festival in Phuket, Thailand

2013-05-23T22:05:00.002-07:00

If you've taken a look at the Durian Recipes page of this blog, you might have noticed that while there are tons of durian desserts, the entree section is a little lacking. It's not just because I've been bouncing around so much I haven't had the time to organize and put up recipes (true). The world of durian cuisine is just a little lacking.in savory durian dishes, something I may never

Kampot, Cambodia's Durian Capitol

2013-05-22T08:00:00.001-07:00

Nestled along the Kampong Bay River at the foot of the Elephant Mountains, Kampot is a quiet, peaceful place that is quickly gaining a reputation as Cambodia's number one tourist chill out. Most Western tourists probably have no idea that Kampot is also practically synonymous with durian. That might explain the prominent setting of Kampot's durian statue, the roundabout

Kep: A Durian Beachside Retreat

2013-05-18T05:46:00.003-07:00

In the year that Rob and I spent combing Asia for durian, we visited the beach maybe five times. Durian typically prefers the slightly elevated interior regions, and so we spent over two months in Thailand avoiding those gorgeous stretches of white sand I always see in travel magazines. Rob actually does hate sand. But I would happily be a beach babe, and in Kep I finally got my days of sun,

Durian Island: Koh Kong Cambodia

2013-05-16T07:56:00.000-07:00

One of the things I like about durian hunting is that it has a tendency to lead me off the beaten track, even in heavily tourist-ed areas. There are no beaten tracks in Koh Kong. Koh Kong is the southwestern-most province in Cambodia, and is still largely unpopulated. Most of the interior is accessible only by boat and the mountains are home to Asian elephants, wild ox, leopards, and tigers.

A Very Durian Border Crossing: Hat Lek/Koh Kong

2013-05-13T08:26:00.002-07:00

It's pretty well established that crossing overland into Cambodia is asking to get ripped off. Whether it's bogus visa sellers, fake quarantine tents, artificially elevated transport prices or corrupt officials, somebody's getting more cash than they should. I remembered that Rob and I had a little trouble last year when we took the Ban Pakard/Prum crossing, but I thought that was because we

The Inedible Durians

2013-05-12T07:00:00.000-07:00

Of the 27 species of durian, only a handful are generally considered good enough to eat. The main qualifier for the "edible" category seems to be a relatively high flesh-to-seed ratio. The rest aren't poisonous, but their palatability is in the tongue of the beholder. Most, but not all, have only a very thin layer of flesh. Others have no flesh at all, only shiny bare seeds. Some have strong

Laplae Durian Festival Schedule 2013

2013-05-11T22:14:00.000-07:00

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Chanthaburi One Year Later

2013-05-09T11:26:00.000-07:00

I arrived in Chanthaburi, Thailand too early for the Chanthaburi Durian Festival but just in time for a gathering of durian freaks. My friend Grant Campbell hosts a shindig for raw foodists every year, usually during the festival. Grant is the two year reigning champion of the durian speed eating competition. This year's festival was delayed to June 1-10th due to some bad storms, but Grant

Durio Grandiflorus

2013-05-04T04:05:00.000-07:00

sketch by Masters This is the last in a series about edible durian species. It's definitely the saddest, because there is no picture of the fruit. I'm trying not to be a crybaby about this. Of all the durian species on Borneo, I was the most excited about Durio grandiflorus, known locally as the ghost durian. I didn't believe that finding it would be hard, as it apparently grows all over

Durio Mansoni

2013-05-03T04:19:00.004-07:00

Drawing by Joseph Hooker, 1922 This is Durio mansoni. Sorta. It's the only wild durian species endemic to Thailand and Myanmar, but for now we can only guess what it looks like. That's partly why I'm so excited to be returning to Thailand. These undocumented durian species leave a lot of room for adventure! I'm pretty certain I know where a tree is, and with any luck I'll be replacing

Durio Wyatt-Smithii

2013-05-02T04:30:00.000-07:00

This durian is one of the more obscure of the durian species. Although it is accepted in the scientific community as a separate species, no one has made a complete description of the fruit. So why am I bothering to write a whole post about it? Because supposedly it tastes good, and that's what matters. There's an adventure waiting for anyone wishing to confirm its palatability.

Durio Graveolens

2013-05-01T04:47:00.002-07:00

Durio graveolens is the poster child of the jungle durians. That ravishingly red interior is so shockingly bright many people question the use of food coloring. It's also one of the most popular durian species, sold widely in markets throughout Borneo. Many people actually prefer it to regular durian, and with good reason. Despite it's notoriety (or maybe because of it), Durio graveolens is

Durian News: April 2013

2013-04-30T04:28:00.001-07:00

We interrupt the series on edible durian species to bring you this month's durian news. Durian never fails to cause controversy somewhere. In this month's edition , a durian fanatic (it wasn't me, I swear!) flies into a temper tantrum in a Chinese airport when officials deny passage of her beloved fruit, a durian inspector's life is threatened after he exposes some shady durian business,