South East Asia - Thailand Adventure Retreat - Malaysia - Durian Farm
I recently attended Grant Campbell's (Raw Aussie Athlete) fruit and adventure retreat in Chanthabury, Thailand. It was my first time in Thailand and I must say it was such an amazing experience. The people were so warm and inviting, I felt there genuine hearts and profound joy for life. The land of the free indeed!!
The retreat was so much fun, we visited fruit farms, ate at all you can eat fruit buffets and attended a fruit festival. We checked out local markets, swam in the ocean, walked along incredible beaches, enjoyed many traditional (often painful) thai massages. I tried my first champadak fruit, which tasted like a super sweat jack fruit. Grant did many inspirational talks on different aspects of health, lifestyle and empowering life choices. We sat and contemplated life in quiet temples, hiked through jungles, under heavy rain and through crazy mud slides, walked to stunning waterfalls with amazing vistas and views for miles, swam with river fish who loved to nibble. We shared our individual gratitude for the day around the table every evening. The food was always served following the 80/10/10 principals and prepared with food combining in mind, 100% raw, vegan and always with a healthy dose of love, thanks to chef Alicia Ojeda and all the volunteers.
We ran a hash-run through a thick jungle, which had to be one of my most enjoyable and memorable experiences in my life, I felt so energised by nature, alive and connected, I loved the healthy competition, overtaking people and finally reaching the finish line where we found out that we came in with the fastest time, (it wasn't a race officially...so we didn't win :(..but we basically did haha) even though we started 30mins later than everyone else!! All this plus many, many more, too many to mention, life changing moments that I will never forget and am truly grateful for.
If you ever get the chance to attend Grant's retreat next year in Thailand or any other of his retreats/talks, I would highly recommend doing so, you won't regret it. Connecting to like minded individuals is one of the most empowering things you can do.
We then travelled 16 hours in a night train to Malaysia to Bao Sheng Durian Farm in Penang. This was an unforgettable experience, being immersed in nature, surrounded by organic durian trees (some of the best in the world), living directly on the farm and learning all about this phenomenal 'King' of fruits. Durian Seng, his wife and son are all masters of finding the best, freshest durians around and it was truly amazing to be able to eat organic durian everyday for my 5 week stay. I will most definitely attend in the future.
Vintage film pics from Thailand...
Vintage B&W pics from Thailand...
Vintage film pics from Malaysia...
I've been so inspired by durian that i've teamed up with the wonderful artist and illustrator Sabrina Samsoodin to create a tee shirt dedicated to this magnificent fruit.
Buy yours here!!
Much love!