After boarding the plane to Koh Samui I had an incredibly quick flight to this beautiful island in which I am now living on for the next 30 days. I could not believe how fast the flight was. We literally boarded the plane, received a complimentary breakfast that consisted of a croissant with eggs, tomato and lettuce on it, blueberry yogurt, a mini fruit bowl with exotic island fruit that had pineapple, dragon fruit and another fruit I had never seen or heard of and it was all absolutely delicious, minus the egg which did not even look or taste like egg but I just took it off my croissant. Literally as soon as everyone on the plane had received their meal the pilot made an announcement that we were preparing to land. I was shocked that they fed us on such an short flight and luckily I wasn't too hungry anyways because the flight attendants came around and removed everyone's half eaten breakfast because there literally was no time to eat it, that's how quick our flight was. We then had to stay seated and fasten our seatbelts and landed within the next 10 minutes. The airport was to die for. It was the smallest and cutest airport I have ever seen. It was basically a tiki hut with palm trees everywhere and lush greens making it feel like we were in the middle of nowhere in a giant rainforest. We took a little tuk tuk like vehicle from the plane to the airport and everyone was just taking pictures and in awe of the charm this tiny little airport gave off. I posted pictures of it on fb as well as a few others from my layovers and of Vikasa but I will try and figure out how to upload multiple photos on my blog (for those of you without Facebook). Luckily after claiming my baggage and making my way to the airport there was a guy standing with a Vikasa sign who took me to the studio and gave
me some information about the areas were driving through; what beaches to go to and which ones to avoid, where the good shopping spots and night markets are, which bars and nightclubs were his favourite and showed me some other popular locations on the island. He was very friendly and was able to answer a lot of my questions about Vikasa and teacher training and get a better sense of what I was getting into before arriving. His job is to pick up all the guests from the airport and give them a tour and get them settled in. The studio is basically a giant resort and they run weekend retreats as well as longer ones when they are not running a teacher training. Yoga classes and the restaurant (which is known and very famous in Koh Samui for their amazing food) are available to the locals with a morning 9am class and evening 6pm class, which we as students are also allowed to participate in until training begins. We also can choose to eat and drink anything off the menu at anytime we would like until training starts on Monday ( I as well as many others were under the impression it began on Sunday). I'm super happy about this because it gives me an extra day to adjust and I am sure I will need it. So after we arrived to Vikasa the driver (I can't seem to remember his name) gave me a complete tour of the resort and let me know I have access to everything at anytime, this was my home now and to make myself comfortable. He took me down many many stairs in which we passed the two studios (giant huts with a roof but open all around so you can take in the stunning views while practicing), the infinity pool, the deluxe rooms (which I kinda wish I spent the extra $300 bucks for but more on that later) and at the bottom of all the stairs was more stairs that took you down to the ocean. It isn't a beach entry but just giant rocks that the water level drops down very deep off of so you are able to jump off the rocks and swim from there. He showed me the closest beach which is only a couple minutes drive from the studio that is supposed to be nicer to swim off but I've always enjoyed jumping off cliffs and diving into water as supposed to walking in like at a beach. The water is supposed to be very warm from what he said but he wasn't able to estimate a temperature as he had no idea really, but I'm sure it's super warm judging on how hot and humid it was outside. He told me that today was the coldest it ever gets there because they had just had rain for a few days. I'm excited to see the place on a nice sunny day because although it didn't rain for me, it was very overcast and not the greatest day weather wise. I found that hard to believe because I could not get over how beautiful it was even in those conditions. He then took me to the seaview suites where I was staying and I was able to chose which room I wanted as I was the first student to arrive who was staying in that set of accommodations. I have a decent size room with a nightstand, wardrobe cabinet, mirror, safe and a very comfortable single bed oh and air conditioning which is much needed. The washrooms and showers are shared and actually located about a 45 second walk from my room. There are about 5 outdoor showers and 3 girls bathroom stalls with a sink and mirror. Not sure how many people I will be sharing these facilities with yet but they really aren't that bad except for when I have to go to the washroom in the middle of the night and trek in the dark. The deluxe rooms are a lot bigger with windows all around so you feel like you are in the middle of the jungle. Their showers are attached to their rooms with rock walls but still outdoors like mine. They also have a toilet, hand washing station and mini fridge in their room. Now that I have somewhat settled in I can see why a lot of people chose those rooms just for the added convenience factor. Still this is luxury compared to the hostels and budget hotels I will be staying in and it's gorgeous so I really can't complain. Just slowly trying to adapt from being in the western world. After our tour the driver took me up to the cafe and we had fresh coconut water together and got to know each other a bit more. It was my first time ever drinking out of a coconut and it was so good, looking forward to having these after every class to rehydrate since its soooooo hot! After our drinks he had to go back to the airport and pickup another student (8 were arriving today with me being the first) so I just sat on the patio for a bit before heading to my room to unpack and take a much needed shower. The water was very cold and had little pressure but I was already warned about this issue in which they are working on. The resort just opened last week and they are still doing a lot of last minute projects to pull it all together. They took over a resort that was previously there so all they did was add another yoga studio for teachers training and built the seaview rooms which I am staying in so everything in my room is new. The wifi was an issue for the first 6 hours of me being here but then I was finally able to connect and stay connected. I do not have a computer but I do have my iPhone (without any cell service) to use wifi to keep in touch with everyone. After my shower I went up to the cafe, ordered some food and was invited to sit with two other students that were eating. I ordered a breakfast burrito that was called avocado temptation, and it was very yummy, can't wait to try all the amazing food they have here. It is not 100% raw like I initially thought from the website but they still have some raw and vegetarian options. I got to know the two other students who were very friendly, the guy was from Bradford, Ontario and the girl was from Amsterdam. Another student came up to the cafe as we were eating so we invited her to join us as well. She was originally from California but has been living in London, England for the past 10 years and has a husband and 9 year old daughter back home. We all shared our stories about our travels to Thailand, yoga background and why we chose to come to Vikasa and became friends very quickly, already planning day trips to see more of the island on our days off (every Saturday). So far I am the only one who will be staying to travel although Mike, the Canadian, mentioned hebwanted to stay a few extra days. Jade, from Amsterdam, had already been in Koh Samui for three weeks vacationing with her boyfriend who left her on her own to do the training. We dubbed her as the local as she was giving us the inside scoop from everything she has learned and done so far. After brunch (they only eat two meals at Vikasa, brunch and dinner) we all decided to go to the supermarket, Tesco, which they have in the UK and purchase some full size toiletries as we all just packed travel sizes. I was glad that this was happening because I needed to make the trip anyways and it was cheaper and easier to go as a group and I had no idea where to go. We took a tuk tuk and Clinton another student from London also joined us. I ended up getting all my toiletries as well as picking up a case of 12 600ml bottled water for about $1.75 which even though I can't keep cool in a fridge like the other students I could not turn down a deal like that and knew it would come in handy. They have a water cooler with drinking water in the cafe but it will be nice to have water in my room for at night so I don't have to make my way up to the cafe in the dark. When we all came back from our shopping trip we parted ways and went back to our rooms. It was about 2 in the afternoon and I was finally able to connect to the wifi so I just grabbed my journal, iPod and phone and went up to the bean bag chair lounge that had an amazing view of the ocean where I posted pictures to fb and instagram, messaged my mom to let her know I made it here safe and let her know about the wifi situation and also wrote in my journal. I was then starting to nod off a little so I decided to head to my room for a little two hour nap because I wanted to take the 6pm yoga class then eat dinner and pass out until the next morning at around 830pm. Unfortunately that did not happen because it is now 12:45 am and I just woke up from my nap. Let's just say I'm not too happy because I had a plan that I was hoping would help me adjust to this 11 hour (ahead, yes I am living in the future) time difference, which I unintentionally screwed myself from adjusting to. I am now just sitting on my balcony writing this post listening to the Reggae music I can hear from the Reggae bar across the street. I almost debated getting dressed and heading over there for a drink and to listen to the music for a bit and then coming home and going back to sleep. I will probably just read for a bit as I can already feel my eyes getting tired again. I guess I do really need this sleep. I'll probably just wake up early and go for a swim and make it to the 9am yoga class. I am hoping I'll be able to grab a smoothie from the cafe before as I am starving right now since I slept through dinner and the cafe is now closed and I haven't eaten since 11:00 am. I'm looking forward to class tomorrow to get a good sense of what training will be like and just stretch my body as it is not feeling to good from all those long flights and awkward sleeping positions. I will continue to try and update my blog as much as possible if you are all liking the updates. I'm sure once training begins I won't have as much time and who knows what this wifi will be like. Hope everything is well back home because life could not be any sweeter over here! Love you all and again thanks for taking the time to read my posts and share this journey with me. Time to try and fall back asleep and fix this mess of a sleeping pattern to get on Thailand time.
Nameste