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Healthy Island Living
Everything seems to slow down gradually from the minute you
turn off the ring road in Lamai and make your way along the
palm-lined driveway to the car park. The first thing you notice
is the natural way the buildings blend into the gently sloping,
lush green hillside. A 100-metre stroll brings you into the
stone tiled reception area, with its Asian-style design, discreet
music and unique granite table.
Within seconds, you have an ice-cold, tamarind
ginger cooler placed in your hands, and it's at this precise
moment that you realize you're going to enjoy the place. Either
Shelley (the owner) or Som (her right-hand woman) are normally
on hand, welcoming you with the Tamarind Retreat menu of services.
And quite a list it is too!
There's Thai massage, relaxation oil massage
- and then there's aromatherapy oil massage next to wild mint
foot massage and neck & shoulders massage. Plus a whole
lot more. A popular choice is the 'Sheer Indulgence Package'.
For just 1,000 Baht, you get to spend as long
as you like (they're open from 11:00 AM - 8:00PM) before and/or
after your massage in the steam room and the dip pool. The
package includes a one-hour relaxation massage with a Thai
herbal oil of your choice and another half-hour stress relieving
massage on your neck & shoulders, face or feet. With this
package, you can effectively spend a whole afternoon here
and many do!
The steam room and dip pool are perhaps the
most imaginatively designed - anywhere in the world! The unique
herbal steam bath actually incorporates two massive boulders
in its structure, one of which serves as a natural wall extending
into the fresh water plunge pool below. Having an adjacent
well-stocked juice bar offering herbal teas, refreshing fruit
shakes, soft drinks and ice-cold beers, means you can lay
back in the pool and while away the time for hours, popping
back to the steam bath for a sweat-out every now and then.
All the towels, sarongs, slippers, shampoos,
conditioners and soaps are provided, so all you have to bring
along is yourself.
I'll leave the summing up of this extraordinary
centre to Tamarind Retreat' visitors themselves, by quoting
a typical entry in the heavily subscribed visitors' book -
'This place is like heaven on earth'.
Steve Taylor
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