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Six Senses Thimpu
Six Senses Thimpu is a beautiful hotel. With rooms facing the Great Buddha Dordenma; to wake up in the morning looking at this exquisite sight is truly unbelievable. We arrived in Thimpu about 75- 90 minutes from the Paro Airport. Since our flight had been at an awfully difficult time; we chose to use the day to rest, spa and relax. The Six Senses across the world , are known for their phenomenal spas so it made sense to massage the exhaustion out of us. It also made sense to get used to the altitude. If you do have high blood pressure or do tend to get breathless; this may be something you speak to your doctor about so they can help make the trip a lot easier.
Six Senses curates itineraries for you and I was very happy with the 4 night 5 day itinerary that they had curated for us in Bhutan.
So the next morning we went to see the Great Buddha Dordenma. This is is one of the largest Buddha statues in the world, at 169 feet (52 m). It is important to note that in places of worship; it is important to dress conservatively and wear no cap/ hat. Also within the Buddha there can be no photographs taken.Walking around the Buddha you are able to marvel at the sight of the valleys below and the gorgeous peace radiating from this very holy space. Inside the Buddha you’ll see monks praying and some looking thru Facebook! You’ll also see many altars you can pray from. The space us filled with calm and light.
We then went to the Simply Bhutan Museum which shared with us how locals live, their style of dressing and even the foods that they eat. The museum is tiny but they have a pre arranged tour where you are moved from space to space ; hence it does take approximately 45 minutes to an hour. Post this we were taken to a beautiful park for a picnic lunch. After a quick stop to see the national animal the takin- which is a mixture between a yak, a horse and a bull; we then headed back to the hotel to rest for the evening.
The evening was wonderful. A dance program had been arranged for the lodge with wine and hors d’oeuvres and a series of dances were performed with the tales surrounding these dances. This was absolutely lovely. On a crisp spring evening ; covered in blankets and shawls dancing with locals and watching locals dance was definitely a highlight of our trip.
The next day post a leisurely breakfast it was off to Paro!
Cost-:$1100 per night+Service fee and Tourism fee which varies basis the country you come from
Best times to Travel-:March/ April and May when the weather is pleasant and it’s spring time.
Six Senses Con Dao
It was #ParentTrap again and this time we decided to try the beautiful Six Senses Con Dao. Getting to Vietnam from India does involve multiple flights but Vietnam Airlines has a lovely business class and in a few hours with a couple of change overs we were in Vietnam.
A good note is to organise the Visa from India itself. the additional amount that you pay in India to fast-track your immigration process is well worth it.
Entering in to Con Dao is almost like entering your own private paradise. We’d booked Ocean Front duplex Villas so the beach in front of our Villa was almost exclusively ours. The sea was gorgeous and warm and all the exhaustion from the trip just melted away.
Downstairs we had a fabulous bathtub overlooking the sea and upstairs was a lovely bedroom.
What I loved about Six Senses Con Dao, was that it was effortless for us to plan things to do together. There were so many activities they could plan with you , that spending time with our parents doing fun, interesting things was truly a blast!
So off we were to of a cookery class together- not realising that we were quite literally making our lunch and then eating it as well. There was the uproariously funny water aerobics we took part in and of course the exceptional Chef’s Table Dinner where they introduced us to their fabulous selection of wine.
But the piece d’ resistance was the sundowner and dinner they laid out for us on the last night on the beach- lighting it up with just candles.
The food in Vietnam is light and tasty and the chefs were wonderful working to try and capture all our tastes and likes.
Con Dao should definitely be on your list and you should only stay at Six Senses!
Cost-: $2500 /- approx for an Island Getaway which includes a daily buffet breakfast, round-trip airport transfers ,complimentary homemade ice-cream from 11:30 to 16:30 hrs, a bottle of champagne ,assorted macarons and chocolate dipped fruits, and a plate of savory amenity. ,complimentary minibar: daily replenished, local soft drinks & beers ,one Complimentary experience (once during the stay)
Best times to Travel-:From April to October, turtles nest on the beaches around the Islands.During February to July, the waters around Con Dao are at their clearest for diving, with visibility averaging around 70 to 100 feet. But I loved November to February where the weather is cool and comfortable.
Travel with Divya 