The Four Seasons at Sayan, Bali – an experience unlike any other
- Dr. P V
- Jan 9, 2020
- 4 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
Dense, lush greenery enveloped me. A tranquil Lotus pond, suspended in the air, lay before me. At ground level, the Ayung River snaked along. Soaked in the spell of this tropical jungle, I walked across a footbridge. On the other side of the bridge was the lobby of the Four Seasons Resort at Sayan in Ubud, Bali.
Architecturally, this resort is unlike any other. Carved into the lap of a jungle its architecture has been inspired by the Balinese rice bowl. The footbridge that meets tree tops signifies the chopsticks that lie astride the traditional rice bowl. The property is structured in layers that begin at the top and then reveal themselves beautifully, connotative of the layers of a rice bowl. They continue downwards to end at the stream of the Ayung River.
It came as no surprise to me, that for the second time in 2018 this resort received the award for the World’s Number 1 Hotel in the World by the prestigious Travel and Leisure Awards. The Jimbaran Bay Four Seasons in Bali has also received this award previously.
Seeing me wearing a white top with a white floral tiara the Manager welcomed me with the characteristic Four Seasons warm and charming hospitality. “Welcome to paradise and this paradise welcomes an Angel!”
Soon I was taken on a buggy tour of the property interspersed with rice fields on the watch of a virgin jungle. Besides the infinity pool, I was shown around the tripartite pools, contiguous to each other – with water that was warm, cold and at room temperature, respectively. They overlooked the infinity pool that stretched above the meandering river.
Dinner at Sokasi, the resort’s culinary school, made my first evening indelible. The curvature of its hut shape was reminiscent of a mushroom top or an oblique hat. The river sat at its feet. Small, ground lights illuminated the path to it, and then encircled it, with a rustic chic. The Head Chef treated us to a ‘Balinese Chef’s Table Dinner’ that comprised of a 7 course traditional Balinese meal freshly prepared in our presence, affording us an unrivalled insight into local ingredients and indigenous cooking methods. Personal socio-culinary stories from the Chef’s growing years made the meal all the more delightful. The food was elaborate and sumptuous yet delicate. Duck; king prawns; a whole suckling pig; locally sourced fish; chicken and baby corn, in artisanal servings, were all on the menu. Dessert was a medley of local fruits with a palate cleansing sorbet of indigenous citrus flavours served in petrified wood.
Quaint huts in the midst of Lotus ponds form the resort’s spa called The Sacred River Spa. Sekala (the seen or conscious world) and Niskala (the unseen or energetic world), that is the body and the soul is what the beautiful spa rituals work to harmonise. Wholistic, amazing, elaborate and rejuvenating were adjectives that best describe my experience of the Warm Riverstone Spa Ritual. Balancing the chakras by working on the Niskala (i.e., the soul) to refresh the Sekala (i.e., the body) to enable mind-body wellness is the philosophy that underpins the indulgent spa treatments.
I was very keen to go white water rafting and the resort made all the arrangements. Half an hour’s drive from the resort and a few hundred steps later, descending into an imposing gorge, we reached the point in the sacred Ayung River from where the rafting began. Our destination was the part of the river that winds through the resort. Along the way, my rafting ‘vice-captain’, explained the UNESCO marked subak irrigation system that utilizes an ancient system of sustainable engineering to distribute water through Bali. Like most Balinese people, he was friendly and full of intriguing stories. At a gentle paddling spot in the river he paused to narrate the story of how he took ex US President, Barack Obama and his family rafting and how Obama jumped off the raft to swim the stretch of river that we were passing.
Early morning of my last day I went for a jungle trek that brought me even closer to the magic of the island. My guide was the young gentleman who was the ‘deputy captain’ of my rafting trip. Again, he was full of stories as he explained local customs when we stopped at village homes along our route. We soaked in scenic terraced rice fields before the threshold to the jungle deep. The flora and fauna, how they teased the sun; the warm, moist air; the feel of the soil; the embrace of dense, lush vegetation and the surround sound of tropical insects made it an experience of nurture by unspoilt nature. I especially loved the bamboos trees, the touch me nots locally referred to as sleeping princesses and the bee hives. The trek was a humbling and life affirming journey – humbling to realize what an infinitesimal part we are of this rich diversity of life and life affirming to know that we are one with all life; that we are nature, we come from it and will return to it. Bali’s landscape brings this realization life affirmingly closer to home.
The Sacred Nap was my last experience at the resort – one that was a beautiful and blissful culmination of my stay there. Suspended from the ceiling of a bamboo hut in a purple coloured, 100% sure silk hammock, I was cocooned into a sense of complete, foetus like ‘no care in the world’ relaxation. Walking between our hammocks, the guide played singing bowls and gently narrated stories of spiritual upliftment. Essential oils fragranced the hut that accorded a bird’s eye view of the magical terrain of the resort.
The exclusive design of the villas and the distinctiveness, precision and curation of all the resort activities bore the undoubted mark of luxury. Yet what came across most emphatically was the weave of soul into the luxury. It is the soul pulsating in the tenor of the property, the soul palpable in the design of every facility and activity, that stays. Long after the actual journey completes.
Credit - The Four Seasons, Sayan.
This article was written by Dr Priya Virmani - who is an author, travel expert and well being therapist.
