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Centre yourself
in Thailand
A spa holiday
Island hopping in Thailand translates into
beaches, bars and backpackers galore. But on the party island
of Samui, there is a quiet haven away from the havoc wreaked
by those passing through. And your body will thank you for
taking the detour.
It's your party
Hidden at the northern end of Lamai Beach is The Spa Resort
- a laidback hippy health spa run by an American and his Thai
wife. Behind it, about a ten-minute walk away, is Tamarind
Retreat, an upmarket haven of individual bungalows and
a spa set in the hills. The combination of these two resorts
will make you wonder why you ever wanted to go all night partying
in the first place, or at least give you the energy to continue.
Merely standing in the open restaurant when I arrived at
the Spa and smelling the salty sea breeze was enough to take
away the effects of my last big, messy night in Bangkok. There
were wood chimes singing, hammocks swinging in the wind, and
lovely wooden boats moored in the shallow waters off the beach.
And that was about it. Not much else, really. All that was
left for me to do was sit back, relax and let my poor body
(and soul) recover.
Get emptied
Like Thailand at large, the Spa is fed by a Buddhist ethos
and has absorbed a range of practices from the country's Eastern
neighbours, especially India and China. In one week I did
a three-and-a-half-day fast complete with colonic irrigation
(yucky, yes, but infinitely beneficial), meditation and Qui
Gong on the beach at 7.30 every morning (free), and an hour-and-a-half
of Iyengar or Integral yoga every day (250 Baht, or $4). I
also had a daily Thai or relaxation massage, an aloe vera
body wrap, clay and herbal clay facials, numerous soaks in
a herbal steam room, reflexology and reiki, as well as two
sessions of hypnotherapy to give up smoking (it worked). I
learnt about chakras, positive energy and how to meditate.
Now, I'm veritably hooked on the roots-and-twigs lifestyle
I once scoffed at.
Combined with lying in hammocks, a wee bit of reading, swimming
and sunbathing, my days were full. The fast (about $120 for
three-and-a-half days) involved a rigorous programme of detox
and liver flush drinks, herbal supplements, broth soup and
a colema once a day to flush out the colon - carried out in
the privacy of my own bungalow after an instruction video.
I hadn't intended to fast, and I certainly hadn't intended
to allow 16 litres of water mixed with vinegar and coffee
to be flushed daily through my colon, but everybody else seemed
to be doing it and so in the great tradition of peer pressure
I gave it a try. By day two I was getting bored of constant
trips to the toilet. By day three I was looking a little thin
in the face. But I felt lively and truly cleansed by the end
of it, and when I got back to London I was bouncing off the
walls with energy - much to the irritation of my un-cleansed
friends.
A wonderful life
As well as the Thai staff, there is a little community of
extremely pleasant westerners dotted all over the island who
offer alternative therapies, even astrological readings, all
for around $25 an hour and contactable via the Spa's restaurant
- my hypnotherapist was a thirty-something English woman who
used to be in marketing but had lived on the island for a
year with her inventor-boyfriend. The all-vegetarian food
is surprisingly tasty - even for meat-eaters - and there are
loads of independent travellers on hand for company. Despite
the shortage of dance music and tequila slammers, I found
that a few laughs at life over coconut milk with fellow fasters
was enough to keep me entertained in the evenings.
Nothing is perfect: Samui is a party island, and a little
trek up Lamai beach revealed a few red-faced and unhappy westerners
and piles of rubbish amidst the friendly cafes. The lack of
nurturing of this beautiful island was distressing and seems
to have rubbed off somewhat on the Spa: it could do with redecorating
and has perhaps been resting on its reputation for its fasting
programmes for too long, making the staff at times complacent
and non-attentive. This is where the Tamarind Retreat comes
in, either to stay or to visit. It's only ten minutes' walk
from the Spa, so you could easily divide your time between
the two.
Affordable luxury
Whereas the bungalows at the Spa start at 250 Baht a night
($4), the cheapest here is just under $50 a night. There's
no restaurant, so it never gets noisy - instead you get a
classy kitchen in your bungalow, and they provide you with
breakfast and a basket of fruit every day. There's a lovely
herbal steam room set into rock, a cool natural plunge pool
complete with mini waterfall and a canopied area where you
can help yourself to herbal tea or cold water. Then move on
up to the circular massage parlours. Here, surrounded by woodland
and soothed by calming music, I had a vigorous two-hour Thai
massage, a wild mint foot massage and a Khamin and Prai facial.
The packages of treatments are nearer western prices, but
stunning all the same.
Caroline Sylge |
