Songkran 2013.

Today Thailand is celebrating the Songkran, which is a Thai New Year! The whole country is having a one big water fight this weekend!!!

The forecast was predicting a rainy day in Samui, and we weren't sure about how the Songkran would go.  But the rain has stopped just in time for celebrations and streets of our island were full of happy and excited people who came out to celebrate this beautiful occasion.  Tourists and locals have united in great water fight and it was bigger than ever!

Unfortunately I wasn't there this year, but my friend Julia Erofeeva took some great pics from the main point of water fight - Chaweng, so you can all have a look and enjoy!

Happy Songkran everyone!!!!

Bophut, Friday Walking street

Another Friday, another walking street in Bophut. People are enjoying the street market in Fisherman's Village, one of the most beautiful villages on Samui.
Tomorrow is the Songkran - Thai New Year, and normally it's a big water fight in Samui ( as everywhere else in Thailand) , but the forecast Windguru shows that it might be raining cats and dogs tomorrow and on Sunday, with waves reaching 2,2 m, so let's wait and see how Songkran will go...

But for now - enjoy the pictures from our lovely village, it's cloudy but no rain at the moment and walking street is in its full force!

Loi Krathong, 28 November 2012

Today Thailand is celebrating Loi Krathong and I wanted to share my first Krathong making experience experience with you. 

Every year Thailand  celebrates a beautiful experience of Loi Krathong - probably the most picturesque and beautiful of all Thai celebrations. The annual event falls on the night when the tides are at their highest and the moon at its brightest - the full moon night of the 12th lunar month, which is usually in mid- or end of November.

In the evening, people send their hand-made or purchased krathongs (translates roughly as "floating basket") down the river after lighting the candles and incense and making a wish for the coming year.  It is said that the wish will come true if the candle remains lit until the basket passes out of sight, and also that the longer the candle remains lit the better the coming year will be.

Originally, the krathong was made of banana leaves or the layers of the trunk of a banana tree or a spider lily plant. A krathong contains food, betel nuts, flowers, joss sticks, candle and coins. Nowadays kratongs are much more creative as many more materials are available. 

Yesterday we went with friends and kids to Sweet Sisters Cafe in the south of Samui, where they held Krathong making workhop. The krathong making process was a great fun, I tried it first time in my life, but the results was much better than I expected :-) 

Today most of Samui people will gather in Chaweng Lake and release their Krathongs to the water of the lake. Some people go to the seaside, but Chaweng Lake is the main point of celebrations. 

Some pictures from our krathong-making workshop:

All these beautiful krathongs were made yesterday in Sweet Sisters cafe by local Samui people, Thais and foreigners, and I think it's a great learning experience for both kids and adults. We enjoyed it a lot!!

And we will let them go tonight....

Rain, rain go away...

Rainy season is back on Samui. 3 days in the row it rains, rains and rains. My son's school is closed ( Panyadee),  the roads are not too good, and it's just very depressing in general.
Really hoping it will go away soon and sun will be back here again in  no time!

A few photos and videos from the last 3 days.

Samui Webcam and current weather

Today I would like to spread the word and introduce a great new website with Samui Webcams:

http://www.samuiwebcam.com/

It's a brainchild of my friend Matt and the quality is amazing, the best I have actually seen here.

So, now you can see Samui very clearly and in the few different points in Chaweng, Lamai, Bang Po.... Also it helps when you want to know about the weather in Samui. 

Talking about the weather - it's mostly sunny here, with some rains here and there in the previous few days, especially in the evening... yesterday was an exceptionally cloudy and rainy day ( at least in Maenam), the rain was not heavy at all, more like a drizzle, but still it was a pretty wet day. 

Today it's all nice again, some fluffy clouds out there, but still plenty of sunshine! 

Don't forget that I update the weather nearly daily on our villa booking website http://samuiconnection.com/weather/  
Even when I am not in Samui - my staff and friends supply me with the info and daily picture, so the page gets regularly updated. 

Back in Samui + new Vikasa Yoga.

Hello everyone, I am very happy to be back here, in Samui and in my Samui blog after a summer in London.

A few things have happened here while I was away....

My favourite Vikasa Yoga moved to a new absolutely unreal stunning location, my good friends Bonnie and Ian have opened a long awaited yoga studio in Fishermans Village in Bophut ( I still haven't visited it yet though, so will let you know about it later) , the Montessori school was opened in Bophut, organic dairy shop Lucky Cow has changed the management and added some new very yummy products to their already fantastic range, a few more lovely villas have been built, huge Central Shopping Mall was opened in Suratthani, Bangkok Airways started flying to Kuala Lumpur, and I heard some rumours about possibility of building an airport in Donsak ( if someone doesn't know where Donsak is - this is the place the ferries leave to Samui from).
Probable that's about it....Oh, and the best news is that Bangkok Airways decided to "postpone their price increase", so they will do it after high season... really nice of them, isn't it?

Otherwise the life is going on here in the same way, my son has just started in Panyadee school, which is lovely,  my beautiful garden has almost died during the summer ( 3 months no government water in Samui and I didn't have a tank with a pump), but now it's recovering as it started to rain here nearly on a daily basis, and the water is gradually coming back.

Today I am going to show you some photos of a new Vikasa studio, which is not just a studio any longer, it's the whole resort with the rooms for those who are staying there.
Vikasa now located after Chaweng Noi, in Coral Cove area, one of the most beautiful spots in Samui. They were oficially opened a short while ago, the monks gave them the blessings, and the classes started. They will also have a retreat coming soon 23-30 december 2012, I will let you know more after the photos. Enjoy!

Now a few more words about the retreat they are having.


Start date : 23 December 2012, finish 30 December ( just in time for you to enjoy New Year!)

This is an introduction to Vikasa Yoga retreat, suitable for all levels of practice, whether you are considering taking a longer course at Vikasa, or would just like to shape up before the new year. This is a rare opportunity to practice all-week long with the founder of Vikasa Yoga – Konstantin Miachin, as he has been extremely busy during the last year opening the Vikasa Retreat center, leading teacher training courses, and presenting at yoga events around the world, it was really difficult to catch him teaching regular classes throughout the year.

This course is totally suitable for beginners, and for long time practitioners as well. You will receive a lot of personal attention during this course, and a personal program can be tailored for you upon request by Konstantin upon completion of the course.

What you will learn:

Fundamentals of Vikasa Yoga methodology
Alignment principles of asana that can be applied to any practice afterwards
Breathing fundamentals – how to maximize your breathing potential and connect it with the rest of your practice.
Basic Vikasa Yoga sequences
Core salutations

Complete info www.evolutionofyoga.com/ny2013
If you register before November 1st, you will get 20% discount.  Good present for X-mas IMHO.

Have a great day, everyone!!!!!  We are so happy the dreadful forecast has changed and instead of 99mm or rain we got sun today! :-) Even the best forecasts are no always right :-)