The luxurious road to wellness

The road to getting well is a solitary one – not a problem when you’re stowed away in one of Southeast Asia’s finest accommodations, COMO Shambhala at Begawan Giri Estate.

In Bali, singling out a place or property for its inherent spirituality is like preaching to the choir. This is an island where ceremonies are more frequent than traffic jams, where blessings are bestowed like compliments, and where no act is without ritual.

So when Ramal, the Balinese guide leading me on a nature walk around Begawan Giri Estate, stopped to genuflect at the source of a mountain spring, I thought it was normal practice. But n “This is a special place,” he said. “The Estate is built on a holy mountain; this is a holy spring. There is good energy at The Estate, especially up in the small Yoga bale, where spirits congregate”, he added, referring to one of two Yoga pavilions on the property.

We were at a spot halfway up the steep pitch of tiered hillside on which The Estate sits. For nearly three quarters of an hour, Ramal, myself and another guest, a Japanese woman, had followed a neat stone pathway that ran sideways along the hill, then down to the banks of the frothing Ayung River, past traditional rice-cum-meditation bales, and up to The Source, a threesome of stone-lined spring water pools.

At 9am, the weather was cool and tinged with smoke from morning hearths and incense. Rooster-cries from a neighbouring village pierced the air, but otherwise there was nothing to see beyond jungle and river. It was almost embarrassingly lovely.

With countless acres in which are hidden museum-like villas (more than a few of which are patronised by global jet-setters) and, as of 2004, the respected branding of COMO Hotels and Resorts, Begawan Giri Estate enjoys a celestial reputation.

Famed US-Yoga instructor Rodney Yee guest-teaches here. And the place has won more awards than most of the A-list actors and actresses who hole up in its villas.

But none of this really matters when you shell out thousands of dollars to spend a weekend in a secluded villa. You are buying your own experience, not Ms Karen’s, with the hope that it will be worth every Rupiah.

My own started and finished in one of the new two-story Terrace Suites. Unlike the rest of the accommodations, these follow a modern, streamlined and minimalist design similar to what you might see in COMO’s urban sanctuaries, the Metropolitans in London and Bangkok. On the upper level was a rectangular saltwater pool set in a massive deck area, four sun loungers, a swinging bed, a well-appointed mini bar and separate sitting and dining areas. Inside things were cosily domestic: a canopy bed, plasma TV, iPod docking station, desk.

Adjoining the bedroom was a double vanity with changing room and a large rustic soaking tub with jars of bath salts set against French doors that opened out to the pool. Jumping from pool to bath to pool again is, admittedly, a waste of time, but a therapeutic one for those who seeing bathing as a strictly five-minute rush-hour affair. As if that wasn’t enough, there was also an indoor steam-shower and outdoor rain shower.

All guests are assigned a personal assistant, which is, in a property so large that golf carts are the favoured mode of transport, a necessity. The result is that while you spend your time in total isolation (kind of eerie for this city girl), help is a phone call away, delivered with clockwork efficiency, and always customised. Coffee with a side of hot milk was served differently than coffee with a side of warm milk – things like that. It’s a radical concept, really, in that it embodies every sort of luxury without calling it luxury, just the absence of needs.

And something funny happens to you when you get to this point. You go a little weird, and do strange things, like sit in a meditation bale for an hour to watch the sunset, or pull the duvet off the bed and out to the sunloungers at night to fall asleep under the stars (and to wake up cold and damp, having forgotten that mountain temperatures do drop). And if all this solitude makes you squirrelly, there’s always group yoga and Pilates classes, nature walks, biking trips – all kinds of activities, every day, free for all guests.

Of course, you rarely see these other guests, as they, too, are stowed away in their villas, some of which are so magnificent they defy even the greediest imaginations. Who would have thought to build a Pizza Pavilion, where guests can enjoy pizza cooked in a wood-firing stone oven? Or a fire-pit at the edge of the swimming pool for evening bonfires? Or an outdoor bathtub in the middle of the garden? If you stay at The Estate, ask to see one of The Residences, all five of which are individually designed and typically comprise three or more suites. They are gorgeous.

What all this amounts to is a rather circumscribed route to wellness. A relaxed, calm and need-free person is probably also a healthy person – at least, healthier than when they first arrived. And after days of feeding on organic, taste bud-teasing nosh from Glow Restaurant (possibly the best of its kind in Southeast Asia), taking to the many waters in my villa – and even forgoing any and all spa treatments at COMO Shambhala Spa, believe or not – I walked feeling well, in a slightly crazy sort of way.

For further information visit www.comoshambhala.bz/flashintro.asp . Rates from USD 598 per night.

By Jane Teeling – Courtesy of lifestyleandtravel.com