The luxury of solitude
Updated: 2012-10-14 07:51
By Pauline D. Loh(China Daily)
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The pool villa has a huge bedroom, a carved stone bathtub a short distance from the bed and a pool by the veranda. Provided to China Daily |
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Traditional Thai prawn noodlaes, pad thai goong. Pauline D. Loh / China Daily |
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Akaryn Resort is very new and very hidden. |
It is an island where buildings cannot be taller than coconut trees, and it began resort life as a cheap tropical retreat for European beatniks. Now, Koh Samui is pure luxury, as Pauline D. Loh finds out on a nostalgic trip back.
Its beaches are still the color of butter cream, and its water still that pure true blue they call cyan. But other than that, this is a very different island from the one I knew in the 1990s when it was a favorite escape during long weekends from Hong Kong.
As our little jet circles and approaches the island airport, we look down on many other flashes of blue on land - swimming pools, both private and public, that belong to affluent islanders and still mushrooming resorts.
This is Koh Samui, an island on the fringe of the Gulf of Thailand, and one of the most popular resort destinations in Thailand.
It has one neatly tarred road running round the island and enough distractions - Thai boxing shows, the Reggae Pub, elephant treks, waterfalls, shooting ranges, the Big Buddha Temple, monkey shows, excursions to marine parks - to keep tourists happily occupied for a very long weekend.
But for many visitors, it is solitude they are looking for, a refuge from the high-pressure corporate jungle, and a place where phone signals, cable television and the Internet are only options, not necessity.
My husband and I spend what we wryly called our second honeymoon at Koh Samui recently, but the problem is, we both think we had somehow missed the first one. We cannot remember any more.
For our retreat, we had chosen the Akaryn Resort, very new and very hidden. We heard it had its own private bay and beach, and a large sea almond tree under which we can have yoga lessons.
It was the "very hidden" that sold us. We had three days, and we wanted to sleep, eat, swim, stroll and do nothing more strenuous than point at either the mango or pineapple juice.
The journey is a bit tedious since there is no flight on the Beijing-Bangkok leg. We end up flying the red-eye to Singapore and then taking another flight direct to Koh Samui.
Nevertheless, we arrive at noon, just in time to enjoy our first Thai seafood lunch, with a green papaya salad appetizer.
The Akaryn is a short drive from the airport, which itself looks like one of those exotic island stops out of the Hawaii Five-O series, the old one.
A smiling chauffer and car wait for us, and the first things he hands us as we settle back in the seats are a cold towel and a bottle of chilled mineral water. It is a thoughtful gesture that sets the mood.
Turning into the lane that leads to the resort, we pass abandoned cashew nut orchards and coconut plantations. Clearly, it is a lot more lucrative to sell beachfront land to international resorts.
Our villa is guarded by three coconut trees leaning into the breeze, and it has a huge bedroom, a carved stone bathtub a short distance from the bed and a pool by the veranda. The water is saline, and warm as summer wine. We end up spending the better part of the three days floating and swimming in the pool.
On the first evening, just before we are due to eat down by the restaurant on the beach, our pre-dinner drinks are sent up to us, giving us the luxury of sipping champagne by the poolside as we pick at a platter of Thai appetizers.
And all because we had told the general manager our plan of enjoying just our own company for a few days.
When you have an all-suite hotel and a clientele that does not count pennies, you can afford to pamper with style. At the Akaryn, they put up a romantic beach barbecue that will coax a proposal out of the most reluctant beau. We are very much married, but we enjoy the romance just as much.
A table for two is planted firmly on the sand, and as the setting sun slips over the unnamed islets in the sea off Hanuman Bay, a row of tea lights shielded by oilpaper shades guides us to our dinner. Citronella candles provide more light and serve double purpose as insect repellant.
A trio of salads appears before us, with my spouse's beloved green papaya salad among them.
Then we savor seared king prawns - sweetly smoky in their shells, a large squid that was barbecued to perfection, and mussels and clams that have just popped open on the fire.
It is a very generous spread, and we feel like royalty, with an attentive waiter hovering discreetly in the distance and two chefs at the barbecue station making sure our plates are always filled.
But wait, there is more romance. After dinner, we are invited to a small campfire on the beach nearby where huge paper lanterns are being held over the heat.
As warm air fills the lanterns, they rise like huge frisky white moths and we are told to make a wish before we release them.
The lanterns rise with our wishes into the dark Samui night sky, getting smaller and smaller until we cannot tell which are our lanterns and which are stars.
Reaching for my hand, my husband leads me back to our villa where we sip glasses of wine by our pool.
Breakfast is served at the restaurant under the sea almond tree, and I look longingly at the beanbag chairs that general manager Alex Castaldi says has the best view of the sea.
But hubby wants breakfast, and we proceed to pick up yoghurt and the most amazing jams - all homemade.
A three-tier cake tray appears with an elegant selection of pastries, fruits and cheese.
Chased down with good coffee and tea, it is a breakfast that we enjoy for three days and not get tired of. For those who must have their ham and eggs, you can order from the menu.
After breakfast, we go kayaking. A gentle paddle around the bay shows us that there is plenty of life under the water, with little fish leaping out before us as we splash around. If you like, you can get even closer by borrowing snorkeling gear from the hotel.
We soon return to our villa pool, and although we enjoy the comfortable deck beds, it is back to the water to cool off as the sun heats up at noon.
The Akaryn does not put chlorine or fluoride in their pools, but sodium chloride is used instead, so the water is very gentle on the eyes, even if you don't have goggles.
Samui is full of good food, and there is decent nightlife for those who like living on the edge. There are plenty of good local restaurants serving Thai food, lots of pizza and pasta places and even some excellent Japanese sashimi, using the seafood at the doorstep.
Racy entertainment by the lady-boys is probably still available in bars fueled by Thai whiskey, Singha beer and more of Samui's famous stimulants, but we prefer to stay staid.
The only concession is when I ask our driver to pass by Reggae Pub, the scene of so many wild parties so many, many years ago. Even that icon of hippiehood has grown proper, with a road leading up to the complex rather than that old rickety wooden bridge across the marshy lotus pond.
I was told the Reggae Pub is still as wild as ever, even if it caters to a much younger crowd these days.
But if I were to go back to Samui again, I will still stay at the Akaryn. It has that perfect formula of peace and pampering, luxury and solitude that urbanites need when we can afford it.
Contact the writer at paulined@chinadaily.com.cn.
(China Daily 10/14/2012 page16)