Eco-Logic Yoga Retreat, Pak Song, Chumphon, Thailand

Where: Eco-Logic Yoga Retreat, 71/2 M4 Bahn Paksong, Amphur Phato, Changwat Chumpon, 86180 Thailand

When: 17th – 24th March 2018

Website for information and bookings: https://www.ecologicthailand.com/

Well, I had such an overwhelmingly beautiful time here at the magical land of Eco-Logic, it’s been difficult to know where to start with this one. So how about the basics! It is a retreat centre set in the beautiful rainforest near Ranong, Thailand. With a holistic and inclusive approach, the retreat centre supports the work of The Thai Child Development Fund with an emphasis on sustainability, community and healthy living.
Arrival and Welcome

I took the minibus from Ranong bus station in the morning of Saturday 17th, and jumped out at the intersection, I was a little early so decided to take a walk up, a friendly group of children with a lady who were all tending some vegetables in the vegetable gardens directed me up the track to Eco Logic. I met the lovely Ton, hospitality manager, who welcomed me with a beautiful blue butterfly pea flower tea – with reusable metal straw – and gave me an induction to the retreat and explained my programme. Ton continued to be a helpful and friendly font of all knowledge throughout my stay.
Accommodation

I stayed in a private riverside bungalow and on the walk down from the restaurant, it became apparent that not only are the natural surrounds beautiful, there’d been some creative human touch too, with murals on the exterior dormitory walls, paths and buildings creatively built. My little bungalow, a retreat in a retreat was just perfect, large private bathroom, double bed, flowers, ample wardrobe and even some books. Outdoor seating made a nice space to sketch from too. The bathroom was large, with a sink, traditional Thai ‘bath’, shower and toilet, with samples of toiletries including shampoo and soap made by the children of the school. Alternatively, they also offer comfortable rooms with private bathrooms and a shared dormitory too, I usually travel in hostels if I’m alone, this was a welcome change and totally worth it. You can also check out a couple of videos of the room here on Instagram.

Homegrown Food, Sustainability and Conscious Healthy Eating

Nestled in the rainforest, surrounded by banana, mango, papaya and coconut trees, and pineapples sprouting from the ground, as well as cultivating their own vegetables such as beans and blue butterfly pea flower, EcoLogic is adept at making use of locally grown food, and their aim is to be as sustainable as possible.

This relies on a dedicated, knowledgeable and valued team, including the gardeners who are able to both cultivate and forage appropriate plants and the creative chefs – Moon, Ae and Poon – in the restaurant, transforming these into an array of creative dishes.

Foraging from the forest – Young ferns, banana stems and young moonflowers are all foraged from the forest providing important nutrition and interesting tastes in salads and dishes in the restaurant. You can join Son for an afternoon as she shows you how to pick these wonderful fruits of the forest.

Mushroom farm – Most people who know me would understand why I would get excited about being somewhere with a mushroom farm, I love mushrooms and all things mycology related and have wanted to visit a mushroom farm for ages. Here the oyster mushroom farm is sustained by waste and leftovers from the restaurant, composted and over time is a perfect medium for growing oyster mushrooms.

Basket of freshly picked oyster mushrooms from the farm and ferns from the forest

Home-made soya milk – Ingrid (one of the lovely founders) makes soya milk for use in the restaurant, the leftover beans from this are then used to make small bean patties, nicknamed ‘soy yummies’, they are indeed yummy!

Herbal teas – each day a different tea is available all day in the restaurant, often from leaves cultivated in the gardens and displayed with information about how it grows and its properties. Whilst I was there we had ginger, lemongrass, pandan and others.

The Restaurant –

Breakfast – Western and Thai breakfasts are on offer, ranging from fried rice, Thai soup and toast with home-made pineapple jam and home-made peanut butter. I’m a total peanut butter fiend and this home-made recipe is really special, as is the freshly made pineapple jam.

Lunch and dinner – buffet style with a range of different dishes every evening, mostly vegan choices with the occasional omelette. There were curries, salads, rice, soy yummies, oyster mushrooms and tofu dishes and noodles. All flavour-some and fresh.

Desserts – desserts were extra but a nice little treat, usually mini chocolate cake or ginger cakes, home-made, of course, and vegan.

In addition to the buffet lunch and dinner options there is a menu offering various Thai and Western style dishes, made to order. Packed lunches can even be provided if going out for the day, presented in beautiful banana leaves. The restaurant can be visited whether staying at Eco-Logic or not.

The Bar – The bar is available with fruit shakes, coffee and beer, and even delicious cocktails when Ton the barman is about. Check out the awesome Cocobongo cocktail he makes with fresh coconut and rum, one of his specialties.

Yoga

Yoga is provided by professional, dedicated teachers. I was blessed to have Rainy for my first couple of days, teaching us vinyasa flow yoga, she has a beautiful calming voice and fluid way of teaching. For the rest of the retreat I was delighted to also have Remy, a student teacher who is a superstar at EcoLogic, having volunteered there many times before on various projects. We had a mixed group of students in terms of ability, some complete beginners, some about to start their own teacher training and some somewhere in the middle (me, I think!). Remy was great at adapting his teaching, which focussed on hatha yoga, to us all, he shared his knowledge with humility and sincerity, but also elements of fun.

Yoga takes place, ordinarily, twice a day, a session in the morning before breakfast and a session in late afternoon before dinner. They are usually in the yoga sala just below the restaurant, but yoga sessions can take place elsewhere such as by the river or the waterfall which are beautiful places to practise too. All programmes are flexible at Eco-Logic, meaning that you can book a programme that includes all yoga sessions or go on a session by session basis. You could, in fact, go to no yoga at all and just enjoy spending time in the beautiful surroundings and with the beautiful people.
Activities

As well as yoga classes and enjoying the immediate surroundings there are ample opportunities to take part in organised and self led activities both at the centre and in the area.

Tour of Eco-Logic – One of the must do items is a tour of Eco Logic, a comprehensive walk around the grounds with a chance to ask questions and see elements such as the recycle bank, the school, the hydroponics set-up, the vegetable gardens, the mushroom farm and the Din Dang mud huts.

Volunteering in the gardens – My programme was booked as volunteering in the gardens and yoga retreat. This is a great chance to learn about growing food in a tricky climate, in a sustainable way. Son is the head gardener and a guru of growing and foraging plants and vegetables! I helped with weeding, watering and placing coconut shells round the bases of young trees to help the soil retain moisture. It was very hot so remember to keep yourself watered as well as the plants!

Haew Lome – You could take a hike to Haew Lome waterfall, through the village and past old palm plantations, a chance to wander and see the local community as well as past much beautiful flora. A handy hand-drawn map is provided by EcoLogic.

Muay Thai – You can arrange a lesson or two with Noi, the excellent former national Muay Thai champion, based in the nearby village. Trophies lined the shelf above the ring – trophies from his own achievements and his students – and a few punchbags, hang at the side. The lesson was full on, but in an awesome way. We packed punches, kicks, knees and sequences into one lesson, there were 4 of us, and ranging in experience, he took this into account and was encouraging but not pushy. This actually turned out to be an unexpected highlight of my trip, I’ve enjoyed martial arts before including muay thai and tae kwon do, and this brought all the enjoyment and motivation back.

Yours truly, getting some knees and kicks in with Noi, a master of his trade.

Pak Song Market – A local market with fresh produce and locally made goods appears at the crossroads every Wednesday morning. We found amazing delicious, fresh dragonfruit, mangoes, pineapple, bananas and oranges. If taking part in the cooking class this is also a great opportunity to select your ingredients for your lesson.

Amazing varied and fresh vegetables at the market and on the right, a tasty vegan treat.

I could photograph this fruit all day long, it’s so colourful and beautiful!

Cooking Lesson – Having enjoyed the wonderful food prepared by the chefs at the restaurant, you can learn to cook with them. I didn’t take part in this activity but my new lovely friends did and had a great time cooking a number of dishes, which we enjoyed eating that evening.

Massage treatments – A range of treatments including traditional Thai massage, body scrub, foot massage, herbal scrub and more can be booked and take place in the treatment room adjacent to the restaurant. I enjoyed a number of these, my favourite was the foot massage.

A talk with one of the founders – Eco Logic Resort and the Thai Child Development Foundation (TCDF) was founded by two special people, Ingrid van der Straaten and Roos Tieges. You can book a talk with one of the founders to find out more about Thai Child Development Fund and the story of Eco Logic. Ingrid is incredibly personable, sincere, open, honest and compassionate, having the chance to chat to find out more about the project with Ingrid was like the icing on the cake. She was happy to tell me all about the origins of the project, the building of the school and the development of the resort in order to support local children with special needs and provide them with vocational training and education. You can read about Ingrid’s inspiring personal story here too.

Din Dang – Din Dang is a project promoting sustainable living and building techniques and is a 60 second walk from EcoLogic. They also grow and roast coffee here to fund the projects and the staff are happy to demonstrate and talk about the roasting process. The huts are beautiful and make use of local and recycled materials. What struck me was that not only are they built sustainably, but that they are also built beautifully.

Other activities include food from the forest foraging activity, snorkelling trip and volunteering in the school; a chance to meet the kids and help out with English or other activities. How fantastic!
The Shop

Tucked into the corner of the restaurant which acts as a hub for the resort centre is the treatment room and shop. There is something about retreat places, though moving away from consumerism and materialism, they always have the best shops. So here at Eco-Logic’s gift shop you can buy Din Dang coffee, natural rock deodorant, vegan bug sprays, beautiful Thai trousers and sarongs, toiletries made at the school, EcoLogic cookbook with all the tasty recipes in, t-shirts and lots more all supporting the retreat and TCDF.

I had the best time at Eco-Logic, and if you care about sustainability, learning, and being involved in a community I urge you to make the trip. It may not be entirely vegan, (catfish are grown in part of the hydroponics set-up for example), but they are holistically thinking, creative and caring individuals. It’s the little things too, the things you can’t put your finger on, the vibe of a place, the heart to heart conversations with people who are coming from a similar point of view, who can uplift you in a single conversation with their honesty and wisdom. Various programmes can be booked with opportunities to learn, explore or simply relax.