Overview | Full Itinerary | More Details
Your flight must arrive by or before 4 p.m. on the First Day.
Your flight must depart no earlier than: 8 p.m. on the Last Night.
Day 1: Bangkok
Our first night is at tucked away in a green, quiet loop of the Chao Phraya River just across from Bangkok. You will be picked up at the airport by taxi and brought to dock, where we will be waiting for you at the dock.
Day 2: Introduction to Fruit in Thailand
After breakfast, we’ll depart Bangkok for a 2-hour drive to Suan Supatraland in Bangkok. This high energy Fruit Theme Park will really make you feel like you are in a new country! Here we’ll get an introduction to a lot of different Thai fruits all at one time, as well as immersing ourselves in how Thais like to enjoy their fruit and their holiday. It’s a little silly, but very delicious and a lot of fun!
When we’re stuffed with fruit and som tam, we’ll depart Suan Supatraland for our beach-side hotel on a 12-mile stretch of tan sand and coconut palms. You can relax and swim, or go in search of seafood at any of the restaurants along the beach. Anyone who would like assistance ordering vegetarian food or who would like the company can join Parisa and me at a restaurant for dinner.
Meals included: Lunch | Durian
Day 3 Cycling the Durian Countryside
Today after breakfast at the hotel, we’ll depart on bicycles to ride through the quiet and beauty of rural byways lined with durian trees. This is the heart of Thailand’s durian industry, and our ride will take us to two or three farms, depending on the appetite you work up and how much time and energy we have.
After about an hour’s leisurely cycle, we’ll stop at our first durian farm to feast in the shade. We’ll practice harvesting durians ourselves and pick mangosteens, longkongs, and other local fruits. If you’re still hungry, we’ll also have a light Thai lunch in the orchard.
After lunch we have a 45 minute ride to Farm #2, where we’ll relax, chat with the farmers, and eat more durian. From here it’s 30 minutes back to a large fruit market where, if our timing is right, we’ll immerse ourselves in the excitement of the Rayong Durian Festival. The dates for the festival have not yet been announced.
In total we’ll ride about 15 miles, broken into three legs so you’ll work up an appetite without even noticing you’re burning off all those durian calories!
Meals included: Breakfast | Lunch | Durian
Day 4: Into Durian Variety
Take the early morning to stroll on the beach as we’ll be departing at a leisurely hour for our main event of the day: a durian buffet with over 100 varieties of durian.
This family decided to take a major risk by cutting down their rubber orchard and instead planting heirloom varieties of durian. It’s now a commercial germplasm, and their durians are in such high demand that they are inspiring other families in the area to diversify their durian plantings. We’ll also taste their famous jackfruit.
In the late afternoon we’ll arrive at our peaceful bungalows along a red-sand beach on Koh Chang’s quiet east side. The hotel has kayaks and paddleboards which you are free to use before a group dinner.
Meals included: Breakfast | Dinner | Durian
Day 5: Elephants, Old Tree Chanee, Waterfalls
We’ll spend the cool morning hours at Ban Kwan Chang Elephant Camp, a center supported by the Asian Elephant Foundation. We’ll spend a few hours feeding, bathing, and sharing durian with the elephants.
If you like, you can also go for a short elephant trek through the neighboring durian orchards. This is included in the price of the activity; however it is up to you to decide if you feel comfortable riding an elephant.
When we’re hungry, we’ll say goodbye to the elephants and hit up an old farm with Chanee trees more than 50 years old. This garden now caters to people interested in botany and plants and all of the trees are labeled with the scientific names. Lunch will include a short demonstration on making durian guan, the cooked durian cakes which you will be smelling everywhere on Koh Chang.
When you’re too hot and full of durian, we’ll take a 15-20 minute trek through another durian orchard to a waterfall for a dip. This is the orchard where I found the best Chanee I have ever taste. We’ll return to our hotel in the late afternoon, so you can explore the beach on kayaks or paddleboards or just snooze in the sand.
Meals included: Breakfast | Lunch| Dinner | Durian
Day 6: Puangmanee Tasting and Durian-Inspired Dinner
Departing Koh Chang, we’ll drive to the biggest durian-producing province in Thailand — Chanthaburi. Our first stop will be my friend’s farm on an island in the Chanthaburi River. We’ll need to take a short boatride to get there.
He’ll have a spread of Puangmanee durians waiting for us, selected at different stages of ripeness so that you can taste the differences and understand the subtleties of how durian flavor develops. You can swim in the river, if you don’t mind a little mud between your toes!
In the late afternoon we’ll drive the 30 minutes into Chanthaburi Town, where we’ll check into our hotel and clean up. Dinner will be a durian-specialty affair at Chantorn Pochana Restaurant. Here we’ll taste the incredible richness of a Massaman Curry that uses durian in place of potatoes and the cheesy yet fresh flavor of durian in a pounded Thai salad known as Som tam.
After dinner you can follow me or Parisa to a recommended massage parlor or simply relax in the hotel. One massage is included in the price of your tour.
Meals included: Breakfast | Dinner | Durian
Day 7: Durian Factory and 100-year-old trees
This morning we’ll explore the Nam Phu Market, a morning fresh market with plenty of local character. We’ll stop for breakfast at Parisa’s family’s stall, where her mom will have cooked up a delicious batch of durian porridge with sticky rice.
After breakfast, we’ll return to the hotel to clean up and depart for our day’s activities. First stop will be the Chanthaburi Horticultural Research Station, where we’ll take a walk down their botanical trail and taste a few specialty durians bred by the center. We’ll also get to see a few different species of durian, including the inedible Durio mansoni.
Directly after we’ll head to a durian factory that freezes durian to export all over the world. The packing shed can contain over 300 tons of durian at one time. Ever wondered how the durian you buy in your home country got there? This is how.
When we’re super hungry and tempted from being around so many durians, we’ll drive to a small 8th generation durian orchard with durian and mangosteen trees over 100 years old.
We’ll return to our hotel around dinnertime. You are free to explore the nearby night market or join me and Parisa for a vegetarian dinner. After dinner you can follow us to a massage parlor or simply relax in your room after a long, busy day.
Meals included: Breakfast | Durian
Day 8: Old Heirloom Varieties
Today we’ll travel in the direction of Bangkok, but will swing north to visit Suan La Ong Fah in Nakhon Nayok. This is about a four hour drive. We’ll stop for a bathroom break at Wat Durian, a temple on a hill named for the Chanee durians growing behind it. The bathroom here is an amusing, startling pink.
This is my favorite durian farm in Thailand, a quirky, 100% organic permaculture durian orchard that has more than 50 heirloom varieties rescued before the 1940 flood in Thonburi. Chatri is a classically-trained oil painting artist who returned to his father’s orchard in order to preserve the diversity of Thailand’s durians. Coming here is always a treat and we’ll spend most of the day hanging out with Chatri and enjoying the beautiful place he has created.
In the afternoon we’ll check into our hotel. If we have time before a group dinner we can do some sight-seeing, like visiting the temple complex with 50-foot tall, pink statues of the elephant-god Ganesh, called Phra Pikanet in Thai.
Meals included: Breakfast | Dinner | Durian
Day 9: Nonthaburi’s Canals
On our last full day together, we’ll drive about 90 minutes to Nonthaburi, a canal-striped region just north of Bangkok that is famous for very high quality durian sold to royalty and other members of Thailand’s elite. These are the most expensive durians in the world.
After touring the durian farm and enjoying some fresh fruits on site, we’ll grab a quick lunch at a cafe in Nonthaburi and board a water taxi back to Bangkok, entering the “Venice of the East” by water. Your bags will stay in the van with Parisa, who will meet us at our final fruit feast at the high class fruit buffet at the Baiyoke Sky Hotel.
Relaxing in the air conditioning, we’ll review everything we learned in the week over fresh coconuts, juice, freshly cut fruit and other Thai desserts. Near sunset, we’ll take the two elevators to the top of the highest building in Thailand for a last, beautiful view of Bangkok before returning to our hotel. You may join me and Parisa for dinner or explore on your own.
Meals included: Breakfast | Durian
Day 10: Good-bye?
The tour is officially over, but you are welcome to stay and explore Bangkok, or a travel with me to the Bao Sheng Durian Festival in Penang a few days later.
If you are flying out today, I can help arrange your transport to the airport.
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