Thailand – Adventure Retreat

Tropics, Exotics & exciting Jungleadventure

Traveling in the tropics has always awakened refreshing and exciting feelings in me. Adventurous jungle hikes, amazing landscapes and white sandy beaches. New species: from the acrobatic gecko to the crazy monkey. The tropics offer new cultural and culinary perspectives in many ways. The juicy delicacies like papaya – also known as the fruit of the angels – mango and durian, probably the most stinking fruit on the planet. Their flesh is like a creamy sweet cream, some of them with fine coffee or liqueur flavors.

Grant Campbell, Ultramarathon runner, frutarian and speaker brings together many of these aspects (and more …) in a 2 week retreat as part of an adventurous group trip. Our community experience contains tropical forests, massages, fruit markets, waterfalls and the harvest of the King of Fruits: Durian. Grant’s warm welcome connects participants and prepares us for the coming days. The connection and the harmony of the group intensifies in the course of the journey. Some of the participants of the group had already been with Grant for two weeks when I arrived. He usually hosts the events in Chanthaburi twice a year. Furthermore, this year for the very last time in cooperation with Lindsay aka “Durianwriter” the Bao Sheng Durian Festival in Malaysia takes place. In Chanthaburi, Grant works with “Nong” and native Thai people. Nong gives us, so to speak, the best durian available directly from his farm, every day! His carefully selected fruits made sure we had a delightful eating expirience. Memories of vanilla, cheesecake and sweet cream came to our minds while being nurished by the Durian. Speaking of sweetening, Grant’s Retreat has a lot to offer. Mostly started with watery fruits such as watermelon, mango or dragon fruit, we started our trips to various regions of Chanthaburi.

 

We went through demanding jungle hikes. After plenty of height meters, we had lunch with a colorful variety of fruits. A particularly nutritious specialty of nature: The Sapote Amarillo or also called “Eggfruit”. It has a dense structure and reminds of fine biscuit cake or boiled egg yolk. Another milestone of our trip was a visit to Thailand’s national parks and some waterfalls. There you could enjoy wild spring water. At the first sip of water there, my eyes widely opened, as if the water had revived me from the inside. Some waterfalls also gave us the opportunity to slip along the wet stones. The possibilities to make international friendships is one of the positive side effects of such trips. With teamwork, you can usually do more than just alone and things get done at a higher speed and with less effort. Skills, abilities and characters complement each other to form a harmoneous group picture that benefits everyone. At noon, group discussions were held. Mostly on health, nutrition and socializing. Grant and the participants shared years of experience. The retreat has it’s sporty activities, culinary fruit tasting and community life in the group. For young adults up to the age of 70, the program is well visited. As daily activity generally takes place on a voluntary basis, breaks can be taken at will and some activities tailored to individual needs.

Grant’s sense of empathy and group dynamics is very good for the event. He responded to the wishes and abilities of each participant to create a satisfying event for everyone. We also traveled the waters of Thailand by boat and visited a former shrimp farm, where some friends of Grant and Nong live. During this two-week journey we are always accompanied by new people and it was good to make new friends and do some networking. The highlight of this trip for most were probably the fresh Pungmanee durian, a specialty for Thailand. Besides that we visited Mangrove forests, came closer to wild monkeys and filled up our fruit stock at the market again. Thailand’s prices are quite affordable. There was 1kg of high-quality MahaChanok mangos for 20 THB (50 € -Cent), golden-yellow pineapple for 5 THB. Usually, however, the kg price for fruit is in the 2-digit baht range. For Durian you pay around 100 THB / kg. Fruits and various vegetables in buffet-style are generally included at Grants Retreat. Special requests, can still be satisfied with visiting the markets.

 

The conclusion of this trip: for health & activity enthusiasts definitely a recommendation. Grant offers a rich selection of fruits in superb quality with daily activity for physical and mental development. An adventure with a funfactor, in which each participant can unfold its uniqueness and have an amazing time while living in a community.

 

 

More Information & Booking: http://rawaussieathlete.com/

 

 

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