After Ian left and I became a solo traveller, I got quite apprehensive about being alone and not enjoying myself. I booked myself on to a 6 day yoga retreat on Koh Yao Noi to have some structured relaxation. So far, it’s easing my apprehension.

Getting to the island (Koh Yao Noi) was a little complicated and daunting for my first time going alone by VERY public transport. But, the long tail boat journey was beautiful- we went through landscapes similar to Ha long Bay but with clean water!

The resort is in a beautiful setting- right on the beach surrounded my lush green trees. The buildings are small huts on stilts and there’s no air conditioning in the rooms which takes a little getting used to. We do two hours of yoga in the morning 07:30-09:30 and two hours in the evening 16:30-18:30. The time in-between is your own which was quite daunting initially as it’s a very small island seemingly with not a lot to do.

The sea near us is incredibly tidal- it goes out by almost a mile. Today, I swam right out to where the sea begins when the tide is completely out (see in the picture). The water was beautifully warm and stays at between chest and neck height the entire way. My second swim was about 2 hours after low tide which made for a great workout against the current!

The people are all very nice and welcoming. Although, you can arrive any day you’d like and stay for as long as you’d like which makes for quite a transient environment which, for me, means I work out who’s worth putting my energy into getting to know. For example, someone leaving tomorrow scores a 1 and someone leaving in two week’s time who I get along with scores a 10. Perhaps this will be a good practice for me to be patient with people and put equal amounts of energy into every relationship I form no matter how short their stay or intolerable the person.

The beach faces east, so I intend to wake up at 05:30 to watch the sunrise. If the sunrise is anything like sunset was over the bay (which is east facing, so I saw the effect of sunset rather than the actual setting sun), I’m going to be in for a treat!