Heaven On Earth

Tien Chew shares how a two-day excursion at The Banjaran Hotsprings Retreat serves as a good break away from the rat race, thus rejuvenating both the mind and body.

City life can take its toll on any individual, where your senses are constantly bombarded throughout the day, before you go to sleep, then hit the reset button and do it all over again the next day. Ask yourself this: when was the last time you had a well-deserved R&R? I’m not talking about grand trips to Europe that may require you to take a large period of time off work; I’m talking about short getaways, in our own backyard, that give you the ability to recharge your batteries after a night or two and put the bounce back in your step. One such location is a mere two-hour drive from Kuala Lumpur, to Ipoh.

At The Banjaran Hotsprings Retreat, my partner and I were able to temporarily leave our stresses at the check-in counter to enter a resort devoid of anything that would distract us from ourselves and were surrounded by lush greenery and tranquillity. Here are some suggestions on how to spend your time there.

First, you’re going to want to decide which of the resort’s three villas you and partner

HOT FOR HEALTH

A main attraction at The Banjaran is of course the hot spring waters that flow through it, allowing guests the benefits of soaking in the dipping pool; relish in thoughtfully prepared meals the resort has to offer (below) would want to stay in. Ranging in size, (from smallest to biggest) there’s the lake villa, water villa and the garden villa. We opted for the garden villa—a luxurious 2,808 sqft space we called our own personal slice of heaven for the day. The villa gives you all you need to de-stress: your own private pool, a private hot spring jacuzzi, a generous outdoor living room plus lofty bedroom quarters.