Koh Samui - the first stop

Nestled on the east coast off Suran Thani town is the third biggest island in Thailand -Koh Samui - with look and feel similar to any other beach town in Thailand. Small local population supports a large influx of tourists looking for sandy beaches, temperate climate and coral reefs while they are still around. I wasn't here for any of those. In fact Koh Samui was not even on my list of places to visit when I started out planning my travels for the year. I was supposed to be in Bangalore at the Jindal nature care center, if only I lied a bit on the registration form. They want patients with more serious issues than I had and being overweight wasn't serious enough ("this is a hospital my dear, not a spa!"). Well, that's ok because I would much rather be in the spa.

I called Ranga for some suggestions on spa choices in the south. He knows some people who own and run some of those high end ones. But the high end ones were frightfully expensive, and he himself had run away from a mid level one, not able to tolerate the mud-massage they made him endure. The spa people probably thought it was easier to chisel him away in shape, an idea that didn't find much favour with his body. So going to Thailand was probably the best alternative.

I had heard of Chiva-Som in Samui. If I remember correctly, Ashu and Neelu had been there and so did Gauri and Mohan. They only go to good places so it was definitely worth checking out first. I did that but at $700/night, I couldn't care if it was the gold standard of spa or platinum standard of marketing. Considering that I was going to be on a fast, their variable cost couldn't be more than $70 - that's a business I would rather be an investor in than a client!
I was going to be with out a salary cheque for the first time since I started work post MBA, and I wouldn't have paid that price in bull market that preceded 2008 crash!

I am more "value for money" type. A bit more search on google, and you can pretty much find any thing you want. Double check with tripadvisor, and you know what you are getting into. This is how I zeroed in on health oasis, which claims to be one of the oldest health spa in Samui. The resort itself was pretty basic, but with a very effective Programme. A few email exchanges to negotiate the price from published ones, throw in couple of nights of free accommodation, a few extra massages and I was ready to go. Unfortunately, only 2 airline fly direct to Samui from Singapore and they definitely overcharge, but no way to negotiate with them. In any case, I had a deal which I liked at the resort, I liked the Programme, and that's how I landed in Samui as my first stop.