Lagoons & Lotuses

Sharon Walker recharges her batteries by the sea in southern Vietnam.

- Sharon Walker

The birds sing louder at the An Lâm Retreats Ninh VanBay. I notice this in a yogaclass as I’m balanced, or rather not-quite-balanced, in tree pose, trying to fixate on a point to steady myself. Usually I pick a spot of dirt on the yoga studio floor, but here I can choose from the aqua marine ocean, a palm tree in the jungle garden or a green-carpeted mountain on the mainland beyond. Of all the places I have wobbled on one leg – and there have been a few – the view from the yoga platform at An Lâm Retreats is hands down the most beautiful. It makes me want to sing, too. Billed as the perfect honeymoon spot, this peaceful all-villa resort is adults-only for part of the year, and nestles in a tropical oasis between the jungle and sea on Ninh Van Bay, a 15-minute boat journey from the bustling city of Nha Trang, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam, north east of Ho Chi Minh City. We’d flown to Cam Ranh, the nearest airport, direct from Hong Kong, but you could fly here via Ho Chi Minh City, which is also well worth a visit, for a taste of real Vietnamese culture. This retreat is not the ‘real’ Vietnam, of course. For that you must board the boat back to the mainland, but after the bustle of Hong Kong, we were more than happy to immerse ourselves in this fantasy location, with its network of natural pools and tropical gardens where each guest is assigned their own bicycle and butler. Our own butler? Really? We’d laughed at the idea. But it’s surprising, shocking even, how easily we’d acclimatised to the new level of luxury, quickly outsourcing every ounce of organisation, from checking in for our flights home to keeping track of our belongings, as we left a trail of sunglasses and hats dotted around the hotel.

SUMPTUOUS DINING