Chapter 03

Out in the garden

Behind a white wall at the quiet end of Rawai there is a lawn, a pool, a swing, a lot of palms and a whale painted on the wall. That is most of the plan for the day.

Pool lit at nightShaded lawnRope swingOpen-air kitchen

The garden at Naya: palms over the cottages and the lawn

Two stone lions guarding the pool at night

Naya Garden from directly above: cottage roofs, the lawn, the pool and palms

From fifty metres up

Small enough to know every corner

Seen from the air, the whole garden fits on one screen: the roofs along the top, the lawn in the middle, the pool on the sunny side, and the drive curling in from the gate. Nothing is more than a minute's walk from anything else.

The wall keeps the road noise out and the dog in. The palms keep the pool in shade until about eleven, which is exactly when you will want it.

A small field guide

Who lives in the garden

Five plants you will meet before breakfast. None of them need watering by you.

Frangipani

lilawadee

Drops flowers on the steps of Cottage A every morning. Smells best around dusk.

Coconut palm

maprao

The tall ones over the roofs. We clear the coconuts before they clear themselves.

Banana

kluay

Gives Cottage B its name and its privacy. Leaves the size of a surfboard.

Heliconia

lobster claw

The red zigzag by the kitchen. Sunbirds visit it on a schedule you can set a watch by.

Bougainvillea

fueang fah

Over the gate wall, in a pink that photographs better than it has any right to.

The same garden, all day

In other weather

Bright at noon, gold at six, silver after a downpour, and lit up like a lantern after dark. Swipe through.

The garden path at sunset, palms against a pink sky — Six o'clock

The tiled garden path shining after rain — After the rain

The pool lit up at night under a crescent moon — Under the moon

The drive curving between hedges and tall palms — The drive, midday

The rope swing in front of a cottage — The swing

The garden from above, roofs and the pool — From the drone

Ask anyone who has stayed

The whale on the wall

The pool wall carries a painted whale and a painted sun, and they have become the thing people remember. Children name it. Grown-ups photograph it. It is in roughly every holiday picture taken here.

The pool is open from seven in the morning until nine at night, lit after dark, and cleaned every morning before the first swim.