Dangerous Fruit

    This is a sad story...
  
   Two newspapers here on the island reported last month that a 49 year old man in East Bali had been killed by a falling durian. 

    The fragrant (smelly) durian fruit can weigh several kilograms and is surrounded by rock-hard sharp spikes that give this fruit its name (duri = thorn).  Falling from a high tree and striking an unsuspecting passerby, a durian can indeed be deadly.

    The man's name was Komang Supandi, and he was discovered in a field by a passing schoolboy at 7:00 am.  Police theorize that Supandi was struck by a falling durian at 7:00 pm the previous evening. A severe head wound and the position of a nearby durian served to strengthen suppositions of accidental death by durian.

   Supandi’s body was taken to the big hospital in Denpasar to confirm that his death was in fact due to the falling durian and not foul play.

The Sweet Smell of Durian...

It's that time of year again, when Durian fruit is in season. All over the city, trucks are parked on the side of the road loaded with Durian. This wildly popular fruit tastes great (according to my friends), but it has one down side: the smell is enough to knock you off your motorbike. The smell is something of an onion/sweaty socks/hot garbage mixture...

The one time I tried Durian, it tasted great... for about three seconds. Then the sweet tasted turned into the onion/sweaty socks/hot garbage mixture already mentioned. I only swallowed it because I was surrounded by friends who had offered me part of their Durian, which is relatively expensive.

Maybe one day I'll learn to appreciate it, but for now, I look forward to the day when Durian season is over...

For those of you who don't know about this interesting fruit, click here.

Doing What You Have to Do, Round Three

Durian has been the subject of many posts on this blog.  You can click here for a sampling.  However, we have found ourselves slowly coming to not only be able to endure the smell and taste of Durian, but even enjoying it.

Here's a picture of us on our way to a friend's house for a special occasion.  We brought a present and a Durian.  Usually I would have hooked that thing up to the back of the car, tied it to the rack on top, etc.

But I have made peace with the Durian, and so it was allowed to ride in the car, up front with me (although all the windows were down).

Good Call

We were in downtown Denpasar when we pulled up behind this van. Notice anything out of the ordinary?

There is a durian tied up to the bottom side of the van. If you have been following this blog for a while, you know that a durian inside of a car would be nearly unbearable (I have had the unfortunate privilege of riding in a car with durian). The smell of the these things would be enough to incapacitate the driver.

2009 was kind to us in the durian department. We only got offered (and you have to accept) it about five times...

It's That Time of Year Again

It's Durian season again in Bali! For those of you that are unfamiliar with Durian, it's a popular and expensive fruit that grows in SE Asia. It also has a very unique and pungent odor (you can click here for a fuller description of the smell).

Right now in our city of Denpasar, there are piles of Durian for sale at road side stalls, in the back of pickups, and just laying on the ground - like in the picture above.

There is nothing like driving the motorbike while passing by one of these piles. The smell is indescribable...