Realigning our Chakras

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We ended up going back to Ko Pha-Ngan for a week after Ko Tao but for a very different reason than the Full Moon Party that drew us last time. We booked ourselves in for a 5 day Yoga retreat to get some R&R and try and reverse some of the excesses of the last 3 weeks in Thailand. The retreat is run by an English couple, Teresa and Kes, who live there with their son Jesse. Teresa was waited for us at the jetty when we got off the boat and drove us to the retreat, about half an hours drive from the main port town. It is set in an idyllic location on a hill overlooking the sea and all the bedrooms and the Yoga platform look out onto the dense jungle behind. The kitchen was also completely open air with a huge dining table and hammocks all around. We instantly felt at home here - we had a massive bedroom for the 3 of us to share and were encouraged to help ourselves to any food or tea and coffee from the kitchen. After nearly 3 months of being on the road it was such a novelty to just to able to make a cup of tea and breakfast when we wanted it and how we liked it.

We practiced Yoga twice a day and also had sessions with Teresa learned about the philosophy of Yoga. I have always enjoyed Yoga but never really saw it as proper exercise before - preferring a pounding on the treadmill or rowing machine. However, my opinion was soon changed during our first day when Teresa was gracefully holding a pose in front of us sweating and shaking. And after the first couple of days we were all shuffling around and moaning and groaning about our achy muscles. Muscles I didn't even know existed were in agony. We all devised our own routines and I vowed that i would do it every other day but sadly a year later I have only done it twice?! I even bought a Yoga mat, which i dragged around with me for a few weeks before realising I was kidding myself!

We had our afternoons free and mostly spent this time in the hammocks reading and catching up on our travel journals. we did walk down to the beach a couple of times and also used their steam room, which was fantastic after weeks without a hot shower. The retreat was supposed to be a complete detox and we vowed to eat healthily and not drink alcohol. The alcohol promise we kept but Kes cooked us such amazing meals every evening that cutting back on creamy coconut curries never really happened. Despite this I really did fell an improvement in my flexibility and tone and felt fantastic again after 5 days.

Unfortunately, this feeling didn't last long as our last night on the island we moved back to Thong Sala, the main port town and it turned out that this night was the Black Moon Festival (a party held on the beach between each full moon party). Obviously we had to go and ended up with raging hangovers the morning of our departure with 20 hours of boat and bus travel ahead of me. It was the last time I would see kerry on my travels as she left a week later to go to New Zealand. It was really sad to say goodbye as we became good friends and we had fun - no? Hannah and I also separated here for 2 weeks as she wanted to spend longer on the islands while I decided to head North to go trekking.

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