Waves, Yoga and all the Fun…Getting Soulful in Portugal

July 2, 2017 • Rach

Soul & Surf Portugal Pop-Up

Back from Asia, and Adam and I set off to host our second Pop-Up in Portugal for Soul & Surf. Portugal is somewhere the two of us have fallen in love with, offering waves, sunshine and tasty food, as well as gorgeous landscapes and people.

Our set up consisted of checking out surf breaks – we had to make sure the guests would like them! We were lucky enough to have other members of the Soul & Surf family to hang out with at the start, Franco and Jazmin, with our first surf being at Cordoama on the west coast.

A fun, punchy wave, with some more forgiving takeoffs after the sets, it was a lot of paddling, duckdiving and hard work. So much fun though, with some fast lefts and even faster rights. I definitely had to remind myself how to surf these kind of waves…six months surfing mellow peelers with a longboard in Sri Lanka and I had definitely got a little lazy with my take offs.

My kind of lines

We also spent a lot of time just driving around the beautiful and rugged landscape of this part of the Algarve. The south coast spots are much more sheltered from the wind and the west coast wild and raw. I loved it, the warm breeze coming through the car windows. This was definitely the best research I have ever done.

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Research – it’s tough, but someone has to do it

Another important aspect of our research was food. We had a brilliant chef coming to prepare the food for the villa, but we would also be taking people out to eat and recommending places for them to go. How can you recommend anything without trying it first? So for the good of others, we made it our mission to eat at as many local restaurants as we could, trying fish, shellfish, local delicacies (the sardine pate is the most addictive thing I have ever eaten) wines, coffees and of course a few Sagres’ (cerveza!)

I also must give a mention to Pastel da Nata (Portuguese Custard Tarts) I had one for breakfast. Pretty much every day.

The Villa

The bigger of the three (THREE!) pools

The villa we rented is a Quinta, a traditional Algarvian farmhouse, that has views over the national park, and also has three swimming pools, which is the perfect number, if you ask me. The villa has beautiful open spaces for yoga and relaxation, and is close to the fishing village of Burgau.

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Lush sunrise over the other two pools

The Yoga

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Getting up early is not so bad when the mornings are like this…excellent jumper courtesy of ROXY 🙂

Apart from a couple of chillier, windier mornings, I was able to teach the yoga classes outside, with the sweeping views of the countryside behind us. After the first week, the temperature noticeably ramped up, so that by 8.30am it was pretty sweltering. So a nice 7am Vinyasa Flow class to get everyone moving before the surf went down pretty well, with a few yin sessions thrown in when everyone got a little tired! It was such a pleasure teaching outside, with the sounds of the birds and the breeze. Even when the pool guy turned up…

Note the pool man in the background. A touch distracting in a yin yoga class.

The Waves

Soul & Surf like to work with locals as much as possible, so we teamed up with the Good Feeling surf school again, who gave us one of their surf coaches, Jose. He came and helped us for the whole three weeks, and his high spirits and local knowledge proved to be invaluable, and meant that Adam could bring the Soul & Surf magic to the surf lessons.

Jose putting the guests through their paces. In the nicest way possible, of course

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And of course we got a few waves in ourselves 🙂 PC: DTL Photography

We had guests of all abilities, and the brilliant thing about this part of Europe is the variety of waves available at all times. Driving around to explore the best spot for the day was all part of the fun, too! I found myself surfing a variety of boards – my single fin, a longboard and a selection of fun foamies! There were so many different types of wave around that it was fun to experiment with a variety of boards.

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Special mention must go to this excellent purple foamie. Soft tops rule. PC: DTL Photography

And a longboard for the tiny peelers. Zavial on a small day is the only time I’d dare take a longboard out there! Thanks to ROXY for the lush wetsuit and to DTL Photography for the shot.

The Food

surf yoga portugal retreat saltwater yoga waves soul healthy food vegetarian

cake. Oh, the cake

We found Serena in the Kerala Soul & Surf, and talked her into coming along to cook! She made an incredible mix of colourful, fresh and tasty food, drawing on local influences and a little bit of Keralan curry for good measure. We had a helper in the form of Ella, Adam’s niece, who became Serena’s sous chef.

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Poshest beach picnic I ever did see. Yes, they are pomegranate seeds.

Some of my food highlights were the beach picnics, which meant we could stay out all day, enjoying the beautiful beaches and waves.

Happy and fed Rachel. Dressed as a wizard, apparently

The Guests

We had a mixture of old friends and new, some guests we had met previously through Soul & Surf, and some we were meeting for the first time. As always, the Soul & Surf vibe attracts like-minded people, and guests that came as strangers left as friends. I miss you all! x

Old friends Chrissie and Matt. And Adam 🙂

Legends. Photographer Pete and Chef Serena. And a grinning weirdo in the middle

Incredible India

February 10, 2017 • Rach

And we’re back! India, land of colours, smells, rituals and food, multifarious and overwhelming, familiar but strange. It’s been two years since I set foot on this soil, and I must admit I had a slight apprehension about returning. Last time I was here I had completed my yoga teacher training in Goa and spent two months practising my teaching on anyone who would let me at Soul & Surf. Friends, guests, randoms, Adams. I was excited and nervous about my first teaching job in Sri Lanka, and by the time I left I was ready to give India a miss for a while.

It really is this colourful

So last year I didn’t come, and concentrated solely on Sri Lanka. I am only here in Varkala, Kerala, for three weeks, and I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about being back – a little nervous about meeting all the staff here, who had established their own version of the Soul & Surf I knew, and I also had a nagging feeling that I would somehow feel as though I was going backwards, that I should always choose to travel somewhere unexplored.

But I needn’t have worried. Three days in and it feels like I was never away, the familiar joy of wandering to a cafe on the cliff, lazily ‘working from my laptop’ (read: procrastinating on social media/reading my book) drinking fruit juices and iced coffees, snacking on masala poppadoms, pakoras and momos.

Papanasum Holy Beach, Varkala, Kerala, India

Papanasum, or Holy Beach. Papanasum means Destroyer of Sins. I feel my sins have been suitably destroyed, thanks

The garden at Soul & Surf is even more inviting and beautiful than ever, the food fresh, colourful and tasty, and the people equally as brilliant. I spent the whole of yesterday aimlessly wandering around tourist’s paradise North Cliff, drinking chai with my friend Latif – who Adam bought my engagement ring from – and admiring Tibetan trinkets and Kashmiri rugs.

And the best thing? I get to hang out with these weirdos.

Post surf posers. PC: Siona Rose

Adam and the boys

There is so much to look at and take in here, a sensory overload, and Indians are certainly not frightened of colour. I love it. It is busy and crowded, but you can lose yourself in that crowd, and I find so much pleasure in the simple act of watching people and listening to the same conversations we have all had. I sometimes like to sit and imagine what people’s stories are, why they are here, how they came to find Varkala; if they are running away from something, or trying to find themselves, whatever that means. And I wonder how I seem to others, if they are imagining my story.

One of the many pieces of street art you can find, hidden away from the main streets in Varkala

Inspirational India

I had dinner with my friend Jen last night, who is writing her memoirs (she has the most interesting stories.) And she has inspired me to be better at keeping an account of my days. I will never be a diary-writer, I am far too lazy for that, but I have an idea that I might just be able to stick to, and maybe one day will give me enough material to write a little story about my travels.

So I have bought a tiny diary, and I will try and make a note of the best thing about my day, every day, just a little bullet point to jog my memory. And if it means that I cast a rose-tinted glow over my life, is that such a bad thing? As sporadic as these journal entries are, hopefully they too will help me to remember these amazing experiences I am having, and remind me that even the uneventful days are perhaps not so mundane.

So I kick this off here:

The best thing about my day today was catching up with my friends Jen and Rob in a restaurant I have been to many times over the years, Marina Bay, and I ate Paneer Butter Masala and Garlic Naan, and had a very strong vodka and pomegranate cocktail.

It was lovely, thanks.

The gorgeous rooftop yoga shala at Soul and Surf. Notice the stretching man. Keen

Why Sri Lanka?

February 1, 2017 • Rach

Living in Sri Lanka can be a bit shit, actually. The road we have to use to get to surf spots is terrifying and thick with choking traffic fumes, rice and curry soon becomes very dull, and it’s almost impossible to walk around anywhere without spontaneously combusting, or being flattened by a bus. I have forgotten how to use my legs.

So I find myself sometimes drifting into a strange faraway mood, pining for home, craving order, a good coffee, a decent pub and a varied diet. And I miss walking. And PAVEMENTS. I really miss pavements. Often, I catch myself wishing the next two months away, daydreaming about what I am going to eat when I get off the plane at Heathrow, who I am going to go to the pub with, and how I am going to decorate our flat. I sigh wistfully as I watch Sunday Brunch on my laptop, eyes misting over as I remember how much I enjoy a cosy Sunday morning hangover spent with avocado, poached eggs and a nice bit of rye bread.

Which is all very silly. I am not in prison, I have escaped the bleakest months in the UK by opting to fly to a beautiful tropical island, farting around teaching yoga and splashing around in the ocean. I am in the shape of my life, I have a tan (first time ever) and my hair has gone a bit blonde (definitely not ginger.)

So why do I struggle so much out here? I have fallen into the habit of glorifying home, especially Cornwall, choosing only to remember the sunny days, the nice waves, and the good bits. But by the end of last year’s busy August filled with tourists, and nursing a sprained ankle, I couldn’t wait to go back to Sri Lanka.

When I get to do this in the mornings, how can I be anything but chipper? PC: Alejo Achaval

So I have a plan that goes a bit like this:

Stop being a dick
Remind myself of all the stuff that is good in my life, such as:
- I am not homeless
- I am not hungry
- I have a job I like
- I have an amazing boyfriend, friends and family
- I get to surf most days
- I am really quite bendy now, actually
- I am safe
Make the most of the next two months:
- I have just got back to India for a couple of weeks, which is AMAZING and I must take it all in. Pictures, food, yoga, people
- Surf in this warm water as much as I can. Before I face the reality of wedging myself into my winter wetsuit that has a hole over my bumhole
- Get even fitter and better at surfing so I can show off my mad new skills to all my friends
- Become a better teacher. Keep trying out new things
- Be patient with people I have just met.

I am actually working here

Also I feel I should mention things I like about being in Sri Lanka, because they are many (surf, anyone?)

I love to surf here
There is really good 4G everywhere.
Our three bedroom flat. Way too big for us, but has a cracking balcony
I can eat breakfast, lunch and dinner with Adam. That is a nice thing to do
I get to hang out on the beach and in the jungle, and when not travelling on death-defying, bus-crunching, lung-cancering roads, I can travel through paddy fields
There is a local dog that wears a bow tie. Sometimes a full tie
I really like dhal and coconut sambol
Baby sea turtles hatching and running to the sea happens a lot here
My friend and tuktuk driver Gayan cuts my hair. He is also an excellent dancer
It isn’t aggressive in the water here
Surf?
I adore the flowers, especially the jasmin flowers
I also adore my friend Jazmin, who lives across the road
I don’t feel the need to wear as much make-up here
I LOVE Poya. Poya is a celebration of every single full moon, and so there is a public holiday every four weeks. People down tools, there are temple festivals, fireworks and you can’t buy booze anywhere. Most of the shops close and it feels like a Sunday in a sleepy village back home. Or that weird thing where Post Offices sometimes close on a Wednesday afternoon.
The people are really nice. Especially the girls
waveswaveswaveswaves. Did I mention I like to surf here?

So basically I must stop being ungrateful and make the most of every second on this weird little island.

A baby sea turtle and a frangipani flower. Two of my favourite things in one place. Win