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For each trip, we tend to indulge in one ‘little’ splurge. We might buy a small souvenir (something practical though – no more tchotckes!) or spend a night or 2 in a really nice hotel. Given the 10hr 45 min and 12 hour time changes between Toronto, Nepal and Tibet (not to mention the great deal we got on the flights) we decided to spend a few days at Dwarika’s Himalayan Shangri-La Resort in Dhulikhel, Nepal before starting our tour. After having a really rough go in Peru last year, we are also hoping that an extra couple of days might decrease the risk/severity of altitude sickness in Lhasa.

We might end up saying this a lot in this blog but, ‘Can’t say enough good things about this place.’

We didn’t arrive at the hotel until around 1 am. It is currently the off season and, for a few hours, I think that we were the only 2 guests at the resort. Despite that, there was a full staff at the front desk, kitchen and porters waiting to check us in. They even whipped up a ‘light snack’ – a 7 dish Nepali thali served in our room!

We went with the smallest room option but were escorted to a near palatial suite with a rooftop terrace overlooking the valley and rolling hills. I can’t imagine what the executive suites look like.

The grounds are beautiful. I know that there has been a massive amount of work put into them but it seems like the pathways and buildings just grew organically out of the hillside ‘jungle’. It makes me think of a Nepalese jungle version of a Japanese garden – it is wild and chaotic but the sight lines seem perfectly aligned and every view is calculated.

The altitude helps keep the pace down but the meandering paths through the hillsides make sure that nothing moves quickly here. Dwarika’s almost forces you to slow down and take in the nature around you. (I watched the sunrise over the rolling Himalayan hills from the rooftop yesterday morning. As the sun rose, there was a crescendo of sounds from an orchestra of invisible birds and insects. It was like being stuck in the middle of a nature relaxation white noise soundtrack.)

The resort is a holistically centred retreat that strives to “create harmony between body, mind, spirit and earth” based on Hindu, Buddhist and Himalayan knowledge. They strive to provide the support you need to help you accomplish whatever journey you choose to take. (I know that sounds a bit “airy-fairy” but if you want to seek enlightenment or just be pampered, they can help you do that and everything in between.) They offer a full range of spa services and daily pottery, cooking, yoga and meditation classes. For a more spiritual journey they offer sound therapy, intensely coloured meditation rooms to help focus each chakra, a walk-able Mandala shaped maze for meditation, a vedic library and a room encased in 20 tons of Himalayan salt to help with respiratory issues. I would definitely recommend the consultation with their Ayurvedic doctor – it was an absolutely fascinating experience. If you’re on a different kind of journey, you can always just float around in the infinity pool, gazing at the Himalayas with a cocktail in hand…..

Dwarika’s Resort is a great place to get away……….I wonder if they would consider making this into a retirement community as I never want to leave.