We wanted to spend two weeks in a non-party Thai beach town this July and planned to do a road trip from KL, so it couldn’t be too far up north of Thailand. After a few googling searches we landed on Koh Lanta during low season. It was a 12 hour drive with one overnight stop in Hat Yai in between and we arrived at Villa Manao, Koh Lanta close to sunset.

Villa Manao is a complex of four to six bedroom villas with a private pool located off Khong Klong beach which is sort of the middle of the island, and facing the Andaman coast (the west side). We took Villa 25, which had a view of palm trees, greenery and the rocky beach. There were four bedrooms, two downstairs and two upstairs. One bedroom downstairs faced the pool and al fresco dining area and the other bedroom did not have a view as such. The two bedrooms upstairs faced the palm trees et al and one of them also had a balcony. There are also two bathrooms downstairs none of which are en suite. The kitchen and lounge area sits in the middle of the villa and comes fully equipped with a dishwasher, microwave, stove and all the pots pans, toaster, kettle and cutlery required to make simple uncomplicated meals. You can have a deep dive of the villa pictures in their website here https://manaovillaskohlanta.com/vacation/manao-villa-25/

The best part of the villa is the peace and serenity, the 200 metres path that takes you right to the beach, the private pool and al fresco dining outside, the clean Swedish aesthetics to the layout and most of all how well equipped it was. Whether it’s a security safe, extra hangers, clothes peg and line, a hammock, washing machine, even multiple yoga mats and multiple deck chairs, it’s clear that the owners have really considered what a holiday maker would need in their vacation home and made it available. I spent so many beautiful mornings on the terrace overlooking stunning hues of greens blues and browns of palm trees, feeding cows, the gentle undulation of the Andaman sea as I worked through surinamaskers and meditated with a private yoga teacher. If getting away from chaos is what you are looking for, then the location is also a sweet combination of being far away from hustle and bustle but a 3-5 minute drive to supermarkets, delicious local restaurants (we loved Yawee) and convenience stores. You can also walk to restaurants on the beach for breakfast (we ate twice at the wonderful Jeabs Dining which does a western brunch menu and has live music on Saturday evenings).

The first thing that a city dweller such as myself noted about the villa was its lack of security. There was a ‘Guardian Angel’ guard at the front of the complex who stopped working after 10pm and the rest lies on one’s trust on the good people of Koh Lanta to not intrude on our security – this was proven fruitful as Koh Lanta is one of the safest places in Thailand with violent crime almost unheard of and we had a blissful and uninterrupted two weeks living here.

The layout of the two rooms on the upper floor needs some explanation – one of the rooms is accessed through what can only be described as a stepladder which makes it very tricky for any elderly/ child/ or otherwise non-gymnast to gain entry to. Remember also that there are no en suite bathroom, so whoever stays there needs to climb up and down a ladder to use the lavatory. There are mosquitos and the house can get hot and balmy without the air conditioning running so it would have been great if there was a netting screen for all the doors and also standing fans available – this way we could open the sliding doors around the house and get a breeze inside without switching on the air conditioner and also risking an army of mosquitos and other creepy crawlies from entering. And finally if you are coming during the monsoon season and had dreams to swim in the sea outside your villa, this is not quite a swimmable beach as it tends to get quite rocky.

Apart from these little minuses though, it was an overall very special experience….soft, innocent and unhurried. Days of meditating by the Andaman coast, watching peaceful cows feed themselves, butterflies float down different paths and lazy cats sunbathing. A place and time to rid ourselves from wanting more, and learning to have less.