I’m mendacity on a yoga mat on the garden of the brand new Anantara Resort on Koh Yao Yai island in Thailand, and Karn, our softly spoken meditation information, is main us by means of a tantric respiration train. In between the deep breaths my ears hone in on the sound of waves gently lapping on the seaside and a hornbill chattering in a close-by tree. Karn strikes seven totally different sized copper bowls.

Every has a novel tone and a drawn-out resonance that penetrates my ribcage and propels me right into a deep state of rest. It’s midnight again dwelling and I’m conscious I needs to be falling asleep however because the meditation continues I begin to really feel unusually energised. Remarkably, for the rest of my keep in Thailand I barely undergo from jetlag in any respect.

For travellers seeking to benefit from the full fantastic thing about southern Thailand away from the busy resort cities of Phuket and Krabi, Koh Yao Yai is a comparatively undiscovered island and a really perfect selection for a soothing tropical escape.

The island lies within the coronary heart of Phang Nga Bay, an inlet of the Andaman Sea that’s well-known for its ethereally stunning karst formation limestone stacks that had been immortalised within the James Bond movie The Man with the Golden Gun.

The boat switch from Phuket takes 45 minutes and on the resort we’re greeted by a musician carrying a shimmering crimson sarong and a pointed golden crown. She kneels down on a platform and begins enjoying the khim, a standard stringed instrument just like a European dulcimer which is struck utilizing leather-based tipped bamboo sticks. The advanced melodious refrains combined with piercing tropical birdsong lend an unique contact to the examine in process added to which we’re offered with glasses of sapphire blue butterfly-pea flower tea and scrumptious caramelized coconut muffins made by native villagers.

The resort is constructed on the grounds of an previous coconut plantation the place mature palm timber add a sleek backdrop to the gardens that are planted with beds of aromatic jasmine and vibrant pink morning glory. My villa is situated in the midst of the backyard and is discreetly hidden from view underneath a grass cover. Superficially it resembles a hobbit home however appearances may be misleading. Inside, the villa is a light-filled ensemble of cavernous rooms which have ground to ceiling sliding doorways that lead out to a backyard with direct entry to the seaside.

The view from my bed room appears out over a personal pool onto a tranquil lagoon which at low tide is protected by a spit of sand that arcs round in the direction of a jungle-covered island. Often known as Chicken’s Nest Island, its cliffs are a breeding website for swiftlets whose nests are harvested by locals to make the Chinese language delicacy hen’s nest soup.The affect of close by Malaysia is felt in southern Thailand’s spicy delicacies and after unpacking I stroll as much as the resort’s Pakarang restaurant for an al fresco lunch of native delicacies.

The shallow waters of Phang Nga Bay are well-known for his or her jumbo sized tiger prawns and I begin with Som Tum Thai Goong Yang, a refreshing salad of barbequed prawns and child inexperienced papaya drizzled with zingy lime juice. Coconut cream, chilli, coriander and peanuts are all staple elements of southern Thai meals and are available collectively in good concord in Pakarang’s gradual cooked Massamun curry the place the fiery spices are tempered by chunks of candy potato and, surprisingly, grapes.

Within the morning I get up simply earlier than daybreak, make myself a espresso and wander all the way down to the seaside to benefit from the dawn. The seaside is east dealing with and with wispy clouds within the sky I’m handled to a blinding array of colors that start with pale pink, progress to blushing apricot earlier than the solar rises behind Chicken’s Nest Island in a fanfare of flaming crimson. After breakfast I hop onto a golf buggy to the jetty to hitch an early morning boat tour to Hong Island, a jungle-covered nature reserve and some of the stunning of Phang Nga Bay’s islands.

We’re the primary day trippers to reach and as we stroll alongside the jungle boardwalks the one sound interrupting the hiss of bugs is the eerie whooping name of an Asian koel, a loud relative of the cuckoo. At Hong Island’s idyllic seaside which is sheltered by towering cliffs, I swim out a brief distance to snorkel round some coral lined rocks. At night time shoals of fish search shelter within the shallow lagoon and because the solar seems from behind the cliff edge and strikes the water I swim into tons of of miniature fish in a rush to move again out to sea.

As they swirl round my masks, their iridescence catches the daylight and the flashes of sunshine go away me feeling fairly disoriented. After snorkelling I metal myself for a 400 step climb as much as the highest of the limestone cliffs from the place I spot conventional fishing boats with elegant curved prows crusing across the close by islands.

Again on Koh Yao Yai some of the satisfying methods to discover the island is to hitch a bike sidecar tour. The route takes us alongside a dusty observe right into a rubber plantation the place the towering timber with interlocking branches have an virtually cathedral-like grandeur. At a jungle clearing our information disappears into the undergrowth and returns to point out us the cupped leaf of a speckled pitcher plant.

He explains that it’s identified regionally as a monkey pot and is an area delicacy used to steam rice in. Earlier than lunch we cease at Batik de Kohyao the place the pleasant house owners run batik workshops for novices. It principally includes portray within the gaps between pre drawn wax designs however within the warmth of the day is an immensely satisfying and stress-free exercise to whereas away the time.

Within the late afternoon I head out once more by boat, this time for a sundown cruise. As we lounge round on cushions having fun with chilly beers, sushi and a mellow Nineteen Seventies Spotify soundtrack we sail near the karst stacks the place I spot swiftlets returning dwelling to roost, their nests constructed above stalactites that dangle from overhangs above the waves. Darkness falls quickly within the tropics and because the solar units the sky out of the blue fills with flashes of distant lightning.

We have to make a beeline for shore earlier than the wind picks up and within the fading gentle the twisted shapes of the stacks start to play tips on my eyes, particularly after a drink or two. Sinister hooded monks, goblins and big disembodied fingers all make an look and after we attain the jetty and leap into the golf buggies I really feel glad to be again on terra firma the place for yet one more night time I can benefit from the creature comforts of this stunning resort.

Rooms on the Anantara Koh Yao Yai Resort and Villas from £359 per night time together with breakfast; www.anantara.com/en/koh-yao-yai-phuket