I'm so excited to eat durian and all of the exotic fruit. As I've never been there before, I was wondering where are the best places to stay? Safe, preferably beach front, eco friendly, quiet, somewhere where there's easy access to fruit? Actually any information on the Philippines is appreciated. Organic stores? Vegan restaurants? Best ways to travel? It's my first time going there, very very excited to explore the country and would love to know where I could find some amazing places and enjoy the best fruit. Thank you so much and much love <3
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The Philippines is your #1 durian travel destination, great choice. Although durian can be found year-round, the peak is around August normally with mini-harvest seasons throughout the year.
Davao City in the south is where you want to fly to. The city is quite safe and you can find nice accommodation within walking distance of the major markets (the two main city markets are Bankerohan and Agdao).
When you want to get away to the beach you'll take a taxi to the nearby ferry in Sasa which will take you to Samal island. There are many durian trees on Samal, but depending on the time of year you may or not find it in their local market. Samal is only about 30-45 minutes away from downtown Davao City.
There are a handful of vegan restaurants in Davao and you can find a small organic farmer's market held every Friday afternoon near the city hall on San Pedro.
(btw, a place called Magsaysay has fruit stands that sell durian and other fruits year-round)
Don't forget to check out marang, it will soon become your new favorite fruit without the heaviness feeling durian leaves behind.
Let me know if you have any additional questions!
I disagree with Philippines being no.1 destination for Durian, the best place I have found was Borneo (the origin of the Durian). They had the best fruit I ever tasted with Durian, Marang and Cempedak everywhere.
Fair enough, and in two weeks I will leave for borneo to sample some of what they have to offer.
The verdict is still out of the origin of the native durian, by the way.
You do bring up cempedak which the philippines is seriously lacking in (almost non existent in the market) so that's good enough reason to visit Malaysia.
Edward I plan on visiting Kuching and Kota Kinabalu, anywhere else you'd recommend as a hot spot for fruit? Thanks!
you will be just in time for durian season.
its been widely accepted now that borneo was the origin due to the 19 out of 27 of the indigenous species found there, more than anywhere else but people will always disagree about fruit.
i travelled around sabah living in kk for a couple months but also visiting kudat in the north, sandakan (nice ww2 memorial) and semporna. all of them had nice fruit markets but kk had the most variety, especially cempedak & marang. every sunday there is a market with villagers coming in to sell their fruit and i found some interesting ones i had never seen before.
i intend to visit sarawak next time for about 6 months to see what its like over that side and do some border crosses to the indo side also. if u are there the same time we can meet up.
the place to find durian in kk is underneath the big walkover bridge you can see from the main market.
i will be in bali for the fruit festival there for the next month if u head that way also.
Awesome! Great info, will most certainly want to check out the WWII memorial.
My plan is Kuching, KK, then Bali; staying in each place until bored. Bali would be a good place to spend Christmas and New Years so maybe we'll cross paths. I'll add you as a friend here on 30bad to keep in touch.
~take care
Thank you so much!
I had a good time there but if you want the best durian then go straight to Penang and visit Bao Sheng. Call ahead to ask what is in season.
Philippines is good but Thailand has a far stronger fruit culture and way more vegan restaurants. Chiang Mai being the pick.
No where better for vegans and fruit lovers than Chiang Mai Thailand imho.
hey cristya! I'm from the philippines and as for the places to go, it depends on what kind of experience you want to get out of going here. If you want to go on hikes and experience breathtaking view of the mountains, theres Benguet for that, if you want beaches Palawan is a good choice, or if you want a beach party kind of scene theres Boracay. If you want the city scene (I wouldnt recommend this very much but maybe thats just me) you could go to Manila. This comment is getting kinda long so if you want to know more just pm me and i'll tell you everything i know. The philippines is a very beautiful place, I hope you enjoy your visit! <3