Borneo Blog :: durian orchard tour

I've relocated to Ranau, home of durian. It takes between 2-3 hours to arrive here by coach, depending on the traffic. There are many steep hills and if you get caught behind a lorry then the journey time increases! 

I'm in a homestay that has 7 rooms, but I'm the only person here! I have 3 bathrooms, a large living area and dining area, kitchen (with so many pink plates, bowls, cups! My kind of living!!) and balcony. It's awesome compared to the hostel. Also the temperature is lower due to being higher up, which is a welcome relief. I have been wearing my jumper and leggings so I appreciate having them (I've been wondering if I'd ever use them in the tropics!). 

The owner of the property also owns an orchard and when I told her daughter (Sherry) I love durian she immediately suggested taking me to see it. Unfortunately on my first day here it rained heavily, which cancelled the trip. However, I visited this afternoon. 

We took some very long battered roads. It's as if the council has forgotten that there's roads there because it hasn't been well maintained. Pot holes, bumps and huge chunks of tarmac are missing, which makes it hazardous and if you don't concentrate you could easily damage your car. 

When we arrived there were rows of papaya trees lining the entrance with huge fruit dangling from them, all green. It was muddy due to the rain so I took a stick to help my descent. I guess at this point I should mention that it was very steep, I don't envy the job of the workers because they have to navigate the orchard every day in all weathers carrying durian up these steep hills. 

The workers still use traditional baskets for carrying durian up the steep slopes

There were coffee trees, bananas, langsat, salak (snake fruit), mangosteen, coconuts, rambutan, another fruit similar to longon, some jungle fruit and of course durian. 

From top left clockwise : coffee, banana, langsat, fruit similar to longon (unknown name) and salak 

The views were incredible. It was amazing to see the durian hanging off the trees and then spotting empty branches where they've fallen to the ground set amidst a backdrop of steep mountainous landscapes. Breathtaking. 

Unfortunately I wasn't fully prepared because my camera battery plus spare ran out of power! So did my action camera. I am pretty sure I got all I could though. The weather wasn't fantastic either so the lighting was poor. 

Once we had had enough of walking around the muddy slopes of the orchard we returned to the entrance, where there is a large wooden building, and sampled some durian. My favourite part! Unfortunately Sherry forgot to call ahead of time to arrange for them to have ripe durian for me, but we did have 1 ripe durian to share (well I say we, Sherry and her daughter don't like durian, but her husband does!). 

Doesn't it just look so creamy and beautiful?! 

Apparently the people who work in the orchard don't see tourists often so they were excited that I came, that might be why they gave me a whole basket of durian to take back with me! I think it's 10 durians to be exact. I will be in durian heaven soon. It needs to ripen over 1 or 2 days. 

I have forgotten the durian variety, it's very pale, creamy and tastes like vanilla. Incredible. Sherry said the fruits are mainly round. I will update you when I eat the ones I have.