Namaste!

On a long tail boat on our way to a hidden lagoon. The scenery around the island is
breathtaking - and not very different to Halong Bay

For a very long time I had longed to do the ultimate cliché: yoga retreat on an island in Thailand.

After much research and eliminating those places that offered the "supreme spa, detox, luxury experience" at a five star resort costing the entirety of my remaining budget for a five day stay, as well as those that offered the "we smoke pot in a circle and call it yoga" type of retreats, I finally found a place that looked like a winner: Island Yoga at Ulmar's Nature Lodge in Koh Yao Noi. It was relatively easy to get to from Phuket, too, just get a speedboat from the eastern side of the island, Bangrong Pier.

Arriving at the Bangrong pier I felt the familiar sensation of excitement in the bottom of my stomach, the same feeling I have every time when I'm about to go to a new place and embark on my next adventure.

Monkey business
There were wild monkeys at the pier that had, like in many other places in Southeast Asia as well, found that food was much easier to come by around a human residence than deep in the forest. At first everyone thought it was cute and endearing, the little monkeys walking around the pavements drinking out of coke cans and snatching the unsuspecting tourists' bags of crisps, but after more tourists and more monkeys arrived at the scene, the monkeys started to get a bit more aggressive and ganging up, looking more and more scary and making growling noises similar to those of an aggressive dog. They were clearly not scared of the children as they were smaller in size; they even teamed up and robbed a poor child off his drink he was carrying in his hand, despite his best efforts to defend himself and his cola bottle. The locals had long sticks they used to try to scare the monkeys away but once there were three or four monkeys teamed up against one man at a time they were not one bit afraid anymore and instead of running away towards the forest they raised the hair on their backs and went into full on aggression mode, showing their long sharp fangs and hissing loudly and disgustingly at the people.

This was my cue to get the hell out of there and go and sit as far as possible from the commotion. I wasn't quite quick enough though. One of the monkeys had spotted the rattling plastic bag in one of the side pockets of my smaller backpack, and before I had a chance to react it was pulling it out! I was too shocked and scared to do anything about it; one look at his eyes and long yellow fangs was enough to paralyze me. So there went my can of mosquito repellent, into the hands and mouth of an eager, greedy monkey. I doubt he ever got into the contents of the aluminium container, but would probably been a good lesson if he had!

The speedboat ride to the island was pretty uneventful. As always, the boat was overcrowded and because I took my time recovering from the shock caused by my traumatic monkey business I was one of the last ones on the boat and had to find myself a spot outside on the deck, with all the luggage. I wasn't about to complain, with the sun in my face and the warm wind in my hair headed towards new adventures, life seemed to be on a pretty good track.

A seafood restaurant Pui Wah and I found one day we 
were exploring the island on a motorbike 

Koh Yao Noi
Koh Yao Noi and Koh Yao Yai are two Muslim fisherman islands between Phuket and Krabi and my yoga retreat took place on the smaller of them, Yao Noi.

My princess room

Koh Yao Noi is what I presume Phuket kind of looked like 20 years ago. Why these two islands are not more popular I don't know. For me, this is what this whole trip is all about, finding spots like this that haven't (yet) been inundated with tourists and the tourist crap selling shops, tailors, and sex. Ulmar's Nature Lodge where I stayed was located on the ocean front, surrounded by peace and quiet far away from the only town on the island. It was exactly what I needed after two lively weeks in Phuket. My bungalow was a very basic bamboo structure with my own outdoor toilet and shower. The mosquito net and the pink sheets made it even cuter, I felt like an island princess sleeping in my little princess bed!

Rock climbing

Getting geared up!

Island Yoga offered many activities you could fill your days with when you weren't in yoga class. Amongst other things you could rent a bicycle, or a motorbike, once a week they organised a kayaking trip, and occasionally they had different workshops for those who were keen.

The wall from the distance - with Conni half way up it

Another activity they offered at Island Yoga was rock climbing; a sport I was only vaguely familiar with. It's not a hobby that had ever aroused a real interest in me, probably because I thought it would be too hard physically for me to climb a vertical wall - and factoring in my fear of heights I wasn't really attracted by the idea of it. However, finally the yoga instructors assured me it was perfectly suited for complete beginners with a problem with heights. And after other first-timers also signed up I thought why not, we've all gotta die some day.

And I am really happy I went, of course, don't regret it for one second! I only did two climbs, the first no higher than 5 metres but the second one probably 15 metres or so, at this stunning cliff rising vertically straight out of the sea. I was shocked and surprised by how easy it was physically to climb up a vertical cliff, and by how quickly I came to trust the equipment.

What a fabulous day!

Way up high!!!

Cycling
Not a real story in itself but an anecdote I don't want to forget: I also rented a bicycle one day to explore the island. I took one quick look at the map and saw that there was one main road that formed a circle, and that road went through the village where I wanted to get some "supplies" from (water, fruit, snacks). Easy enough, can't get lost. Don't bother bringing the map.

Good decision, dumb ass.

Getting to the village - no problem. Cycling back not the same way I came but continuing on the circle road which would eventually lead back to the bungalows - problem. My buttocks were already a bit sore from cycling to the village, which took about 30 minutes or so, so I should have thought about that and not taken any chances but this idiotic voice in my head kept saying "can't get lost, can't get lost" so I kept going.

And that idiotic voice didn't stop at the first blocked road sign either, instead it said "take a left onto this dirt track, I'm sure it's a shortcut."

Nor did it shut up at the second blocked road sign either, but told me to "ignore the locals who are laughing at your red sweaty face, and take right onto this other dirt track with the really steep hill that is in such a bad shape not even the best 4x4 could manage."

Half way up this hill (did I mention it was +35 degrees?) I saw a Thai man walking down and asked him if he could tell me how to get to my bungalow. With the help of a stick to draw a map on the ground with he demonstrated there was indeed no way back this way, and that I had successfully climbed a hill leading nowhere of course, and that the only way back was back through the village, same way I had come from. Phenomenal.

One of the streets in the adorable village

The whole way home the idiotic voice in my head kept asking what stupid moron listens to an imaginary voice in their head anyway; own ffffffing fault innit?!

That was over 3 hours on a bicycle, many desperate thoughts, many many swear words.

Bad memories aside, what I saw of the island was absolutely stunning, it was worth the pain and effort. Long, blonde, empty beaches, adorable rustic restaurants with handmade and handwritten signs, beautiful houses and gardens overflowing with big bushes of flowers and vegetation, and very friendly and happy locals.

The yoga
Yoga is something I have always wanted to try and to learn in a more serious way than just a class here and there since I knew it would help me with the aches and pains of everyday life. The way the retreat is set up is that there is yoga practice twice a day, at 7.30am and again at 4.30pm, and the classes are anywhere between 1.5 to 2.5 hours long and always include an aspect of meditation.

Already by day three I could feel the difference in my body. Waking up in the morning and getting out of bed happened smoothly and effortlessly, I felt my muscles and joints had become more stretched and flexible, my breathing had changed, and unless I was thinking about my pending masters application forms I was constantly in a happy, calm and relaxed state of mind (in the words of Cesar Millan! Woof!)

Meditation
I'm not going to lie. Some (not to say all) of the meditation exercises were a bit much for me. I'll put it down to the fact that I'm new at this and not at this stage capable of clearing my head altogether and focusing on.....oh that's right - nothing - when its 10am, we've done yoga for the past 2.5 hours and I can smell the breakfast being cooked next door. Had the teacher asked us to focus solely on an image of a fried egg that would have been different, I would probably have managed that.

One day we did Tai Chi and Chi Kung, pretending to have a ball of energy between our hands that we were moving around in a dance- like way, after which we did a few more "energy" exercises before coming together in a circle and going into a meditative state. Lying there quietly with my eyes closed I started feeling the bottom of my stomach and around my groin (we had just been focusing on that area) getting warmer and warmer and I thought "wow, so this is it!"

I couldn't believe I had accomplished this with the power of my mind and meditation, I could really feel it, physically! Finally curiosity took over and I had to open my eyes and look down.

So as it turns out it was the sun that was shining in through the window, the rays shining straight on that warm spot I had mistaken for successful meditation.

Almost had it!

The teacher was ecstatic afterwards explaining how he could feel the joint energy in the room, how much more powerful it was during class when everyone did it together as opposed to when he does it on his own. I gotta tell ya, other than the brief moment in the sun, the room nor I felt no different to me before, during, or after these exercises. Perhaps a bit more sweaty from the trance like dancing.

Akiko, one of the teachers, before class

But I'll tell you what I did enjoy. Every time we formed a circle after class to come together to meditate, there was a feeling of unity that felt really good; and just being together with this group of people was an enjoyable experience in itself. During these moments (when we were supposed to not think) I often thought how nice it was - and how grateful I was - to feel welcomed in this place and into this group of people. It is a nice feeling when you're accepted without anyone knowing anything about you and you have nothing to live up to or prove. That's what makes travelling alone not a lonely experience at all.

Maybe I didn't get to meditate like some of the others did, but it doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the quiet moments just as much.

I'm not sure I'll ever "get it" when it comes to the talk about the chakras and the reiki and the energies, but I do believe the mind is a powerful thing and probably if you know how, you can change your mood and how you feel with the power of your mind. More than once I have caused myself a real headache from faking one. I remember one time in particular when I managed to get a headache so bad from trying really hard to fake one, that even the strongest of my pills didn't cure it. If the mind is capable of this I completely believe it is capable of the exact opposite.

It is the physical aspect of the yoga that I enjoyed the most during the retreat, it really agrees with my body and mind - although I know yoga is about much much more than "stretching on a piece of sticky rubber" like one of the teachers would say.

I got a lot out of the retreat. Whilst I'm not sure it's all down my alley, I learned about a million new things, met some wonderful people, felt amazing both physically and mentally, and hope I can remember this for the rest of my life.

Enjoying a family dinner together with others from the yoga retreat.

Family Dinner - twice a week we all got together to enjoy an evening in good company and food. Here, at an organic restaurant a Swiss woman has on the island.