Living Over The Water On Koh Lanta: "
Recently I’ve been staying with my friends Rob and Ning in their beautiful old wooden stilt house on the island of Koh Lanta, where the back garden is the sea…
It’s been a while since I’ve been down to my favourite island in Thailand, Koh Lanta, so when my friend Rob invited me to come and stay with his girlfriend Ning and daughter Baimon on Koh Lanta I jumped at the chance. Ning has set up an upmarket massage shop and spa called Serenity in Koh Lanta’s main port of Saladan. It’s located in one of the traditional Thai stilt houses that line Saladan’s waterfront, with the front facing the road and the back of the house dropping straight into the sea! Needless to say, the pier at the back of the house is an awesome place to hang out, and I spent many happy hours there writing and staring out over the water.
The Pier
The View From The Pier
What’s surprising about these stilt houses is how big they actually are – for example, there’s the massage shop situated at the house’s front, an extra room behind that, then the sleeping quarters for the staff and for Ning, Rob and Baimon, a kitchen and two toilets and showers, and then beyond that the pier itself.
Ning has put a lot of effort into making the massage shop itself feel welcoming, and I think it looks very tranquil. It’s quite a contrast between the front of the shop and the pier at the back.
Ning and a couple of the shop staff welcoming guests to Serenity
The nice thing is customers can come out the back and sit on the pier and have a cup of green tea after their treatment to relax and enjoy the view. Unfortunately I might have spoilt the ambience for a few customers as I was the bloke clutching a beer and tapping a laptop in the background…
A Nice Cup Of Tea With The View...
Unsurprisingly, the pier has turned into a bit of a social magnet amongst Rob and Ning’s friends on Koh Lanta so come the evening there’s usually a couple of people around having a quiet bevvie and enjoying the coolness of the sun going down. Conversely, in the morning when business is quiet, all the staff sit out on the pier to have breakfast before it gets too hot, and also dry all the previous day’s laundry by placing it out on the end of the pier which gets all the sun
My friend Tanwen choosing a spa treatment under a stormy sky on the pier
The pier has also been a big hit with Baimon’s friends during the school break, and they come around during the day when there are few guests and play – the photo below was from one of their rare moments of quiet contemplation – which even 9 year olds can manage from time to time…
Baimon and friends at the end of the pier
If you want to visit Serenity Massage on Koh Lanta yourself when you go to Koh Lanta, follow the link for more info. You’re very likely to find me lurking there again before long too.
This article was originally posted at: Travel Happy
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Living Over The Water On Koh Lanta
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