SPICE AND RICE
Spice and Rice - Luxury Travel Magazine
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Spice and Rice | |||||
| By: Susan Gough Henly, Issue 27 – Winter 2006 | |||||
| (Dheva Spa at the Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi - Chiang Mai, Thailand) | |||||
| The lilting tune from a Burmese harp welcomes me to the open pavilion reception area of the Dheva Spa and Holistic Centre. It is housed in a magnificent Burmese-style royal palace, its seven-tiered upturned teak roofs representing the seven steps to nirvana. The 3,100 square-metre spa is the centrepiece of the remarkable Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi resort on the outskirts of Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. The resort itself is a passionately recreated royal village with teak villas, colonial mansions and classic rice barns clustered amongst kapok, palm and frangipani trees across 24 hectares (60 acres) of rice paddies and vegetable gardens. The inspiration for both the spa and the resort is the Lanna Kingdom, which reached its height between the 13th and 16th centuries. According to spa director, Dr. Suchada Marwah, who is well versed in Thai and Indian holistic therapies, “We have a unique facility that can provide extensive holistic treatments aimed at long-term rebalance as well as wonderfully indulgent spa experiences that... make our guests look and feel years younger.” The Dheva Spa offers an expansive range of Asian, European and North African relaxation therapies and massages in 25 treatment rooms. There is also an elegant hammam, a Vichy room, an ice fountain, and a Watsu pool. I decide on a Lanna massage. After months of research, the Dheva Spa has painstakingly recreated such traditional ceremonies in line with the resort’s vision of honouring the authentic culture of Northern Thailand. Walking up the white marble steps of the Dheva Spa, I marvel at the exquisitely carved leaf-like scrollwork, mirror glass mosaic and intricate lattice work that epitomise Lanna splendour. At the delicate ring of a Tibetan cymbal, I am escorted to one of the sumptuous, calmly lit treatment pavilions. My therapist is demure and exceedingly accomplished. Her gentle movements and bowed head I discover is a reflection of the royal etiquette in the Lanna Kingdom, which is aimed at promoting serenity and contentment. After blending essential oils to enhance the tranquil atmosphere, she begins with a soothing foot ritual to help release my body’s energies. She then applies warm herbal oil all over me and gently massages the tissue along the pressure points. Next she takes a light gavel made of tamarind wood to tap rhythmically along my muscles, which has a powerful hypnotic effect on my usually hard-to-relax body. By the end of my treatment, I was transported to another dimension. Whether it was the ancient Lanna Kingdom I cannot say, but I would have gladly taken whatever steps necessary to follow her all the way to nirvana. | |||||
| Details: | |||||
| Dheva Spa: www.mandarinoriental.com/chiangmai/spa | |||||
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