This is an excerpt from our spring 2015 issue, out now. Stockists | Subscribe
My visit to Vikasa was most assuredly serendipity at work. A friend said ‘Let’s go to Thailand’. I closed my eyes, imagined golden sands, sunshine and super cheap Thai massages and said ‘Yes, let’s.’ When she told me that she had chosen a lovely yoga retreat called Vikasa, I didn’t argue. Just before I arrived, I discovered that my good friend Kerry O’Neill, a healer from Dublin, was working there, so I deemed it to be a sign from the Universe that we were going to the right place.
From the website I learned that Vikasa is perched on a cliff, with spectacular ocean views, an infinity pool, and an assortment of different rooms, from the traditional wooden beach hut to a super smart one with bathtub and telly, which was the one I chose. I also learned that the owner was a Latvian ex-DJ called Konstantin Miachin who had decided to change his life, embrace a healthy lifestyle and spread peace and love through what he calls ‘the evolution of yoga’.
There would be yoga classes twice a day as well as meditation, gong baths, Oolong tea ceremonies and a buffet brunch and dinner included in the room price, which seemed excellent value, starting at 60 euro per night. You may well be on the right track spiritually speaking, but that doesn’t mean things turn out the way you picture them. When I arrived at Vikasa, it was late on Christmas day and everything was dark.
This is an excerpt from our spring 2015 issue, out now. Stockists | Subscribe
