I couldn’t help but look back nervously as the bullet boat roared away up the brown Rajang River. The tiny rental car, nicknamed the Pearl, grew smaller on the pier where we’d left her. No roads lead to Kapit. The only way to get there and scope out the Weekend Kapit Market, and search for rare […]
Australia Borneo Brunei Cambodia India Indonesia Malaysia Myanmar Philippines Thailand Puerto Rico USA Singapore Sri Lanka Vietnam
Durian at Jakar Sarawak Rest Stop
“Let’s make it a quick stop,” I said. If I had a watch, I’d have looked at it. But I needn’t have said it. Jakar Sarawak is small. Really small. From the highway, it looks like this: To be brutal, Jakar looks slummy. It’s a row of tin roofs and beach umbrellas crammed up against a […]
Sibu Market – Malaysia’s Largest Fruit and Vegetable Market
“Let’s meet at 10:30 at the Sibu Market,” his text said. I know a coffee date is the normal way to catch up with friends, but when your friends are all durian and fruit fanatics, the biggest outdoor market in all of Malaysia is really the only place that made sense for #teamdurian to meet […]
Where to go running to a Sibu Durian Orchard
Seven mile of running will make you hungry, especially when the run ends along roads lined with durian trees. As we stretched by the car, we knew it was time for #teamdurian to refuel at a Sibu durian orchard. Our first morning in Sibu, I ran from our hotel along the riverfront, near the Central […]
Kanowit Weekend Market and Longhouse Homestay
I hesitated before writing down the Kanowit Weekend Market on my durian hunting itinerary. I was thinking about the 80-20 rule. It’s supposed to be an efficiency hack, but it’s also my durian hunting philosophy. If I know something about where I’m going 20% of the time, I’m probably going to find something interesting. Probably. I […]
Orange and Yellow Wild Durians at Saratok Rest Stop, Sarawak
I admit I kind of smirked when I saw the first bus trundle past. I was sitting with friends at a table in the covered picnicking area at the Saratok Rest Stop. The curb was scattered with tidy clumps of exotic durian species, green spiny Durio graveolens and flower-shaped Durio kutejensis, as well as wild […]
Ferry Layover at Labuan Durian Market | Kota Kinabalu to Brunei By Boat
Labuan is not Sabah. It’s its own Malaysian territory 8 km off the coast of Sabah that comprises a main island and a tiny archipelago. From Kota Kinabalu it’s about a three hour ferry journey, and after a short layover in Labuan you can ferry onward to Brunei for a total travel time of about […]
Red Durian Tempoyak, a Traditional Dish From Sabah (Recipe Included) | Kota Kinabatangan
The bus from Ranau dropped Jess and me off at Medan Selera, a small food court in Kota Kinabatangan on the east coast of Sabah. We were on our way to the Kinabatangan Nature Lodge, to see orangutans and elephants and all the beautiful wildlife that people come to Borneo to see. But we immediately […]
Kota Kinabalu Durian Street in Sabah, Malaysia
You know you’ve come to a good place when you ask for directions to the Central Market, and the answer is “Just across from Durian Street.” And they don’t mean just a street named durian, because Rob and I have found those too. They mean an actual legitimate street lined with durian vendors. If you […]
Pink Durian at Kota Kinabalu’s Central Market | Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
Like most wet markets in Southeast Asia, Kota Kinabalu’s Central Market is most active in the morning and has more or less closed up shop by sundown. That’s when the nearby night market takes over. But on the late afternoon that Jess and I were walking by on our way to Kota Kinabalu’s Durian Street […]
Pasar Terbuka Pekan Ranau Durian Market | Ranau, Sabah
l I’ve known for years that Ranau town hosts a durian festival. I’ve just never been able to figure out when. It’s frustrating. So Ranau has remained on the back burner of my durian crazed mind, a geographical tease with the strong promise of some interesting durians and a dominant Dusun culture that I’d bused […]
Mount Kinabalu Durian, Durio Kinabaluensis | Sabah, Malaysia
The jagged peaks of Mount Kinabalu in Sabah shelters one of the most biodiverse regions in the world. More species of plants and animals can be found on these steep slopes than in Europe and North America combined, many of them uniquely evolved to survive the harsh conditions and metal-heavy soils of the mountain. Including […]
