Bowled over by Nepal: Revelling in the kingdom’s mystical beauty – and enjoying a very unusual spa therapy

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A tall, dark stranger was beating the metal bowl resting on my buttock with a lump of wood, and it wasn’t an unpleasant sensation. 

Each strike produced a loud, echoing toll and incredible vibrations that shimmied through my body from top to toe. It was quite extraordinary.

The Singing Bowl Therapy, so I’d been informed, is an ancient practice unique to the Himalayan region. 

Divine: Wendy stayed at Dwarika’s Kathmandu, pictured, a glorious boutique hotel richly furbished with examples of Nepalese craftsmanship

Human organs vibrate at specific frequencies when healthy and disturbed frequencies when sick, apparently. The bowl is said to have the ability to bring these frequencies into balance, thus restoring health.

During my 60-minute session, the therapist got through a stack of bowls of assorted sizes, and was uncannily accurate in pinpointing various trouble spots, including a dodgy back.

Did it cure anything? Who knows. I certainly slept very soundly that night, but that might have been down to the location. The Singing Bowl Therapy is one of the treatments available at possibly the best spa resort on Earth.

Sit almost anywhere in the forested 14-acre site of the Dwarika’s Resort Dhulikhel in Nepal and, poking out of the clouds ready for your inspection, you’ll see the jagged, iced peaks of the world’s most spectacular mountains. 

They even give you a map of the Himalayas identifying each peak you can see, weather permitting, from 26,289ft Shishapangma to the left, to 23,559ft Melungtse on the right. You can’t see Everest though.

Designed to echo a traditional Nepalese village, accommodation is in separate villas scattered around the gardens, which are packed with plants such as rhododendrons, chrysanthemums and orchids. Birds and butterflies galore flit around.

Relax: At the Pancha Kosha Himalayan Spa, she experienced Singing Bowl Therapy, an ancient practice unique to the region (stock image)

The best rooms come with a huge roof terrace – the perfect place on which to curl up and read a book. Public areas are equally gorgeous, with the most amazing infinity pool I’ve ever seen, the blue water melding seamlessly with the sky.

Most spectacular for mountain-watching though, positioned in splendid isolation as if on the edge of the world, is the Zero Zone Lounge and its roof terrace.

There are two restaurants – Nature’s Flavours serves delicious Nepalese meals and international fare, and there’s a Japanese, Mako’s Zen. 

To nourish the soul, there are gentle activities on offer – pottery, farming, yoga, gardening or meditation. You can also do nothing but lie around with your head in the clouds on one of a number of comfy day beds throughout the resort.

Oh, and there’s that amazing spa.

The Pancha Kosha Himalayan Spa has sound and colour therapy booths, a Himalayan salt house, open-air massage areas, yoga hall and steam rooms, and, tucked away in a quiet corner, the Singing Bowl Therapy Room.

There’s also an outdoor Meditation Maze – you shake off your shoes to feel the dew-kissed grass wrap around your toes as you slowly wander around. 

View: Dwarika’s Resort Dhulikhel, pictured, overlooks the world's most spectacular mountains

There’s nothing like fresh mountain air and a bit of pampering to calm the soul. And, frankly, you’ll need to be in good spirit to tackle Kathmandu.

Nepal’s noisy, busy, dusty, bustling, heavily populated capital is about an hour’s drive and a world away from Dhulikhel. It’s a shock to the system for the novice traveller, even if it is culturally fascinating.

It is taking time for the country to recover from the earthquake of April 2015 and for damaged buildings to be repaired. 

Head to Durbar Square, in the heart of the old city, which has about 50 temples, palaces and other monuments, Hindu and Buddhist, all with exotic names and looks. And close by is the Temple Of The Living Goddess.

The other must-sees include Swayambhunath, which is one of the most sacred Buddhist pilgrimage sites. The monkeys like it, too. 

When you need to retreat from the sensory overload, there’s the divine Dwarika’s Kathmandu, sister to the Dhulikhel property. 

Sacred: Buddha statues at the Swayambhunath temple complex close to bustling Kathmandu 

This beautiful boutique hotel is richly furbished with examples of Nepalese craftsmanship – the wood carvings are especially beautiful.

The founder, the late Dwarika Das Shrestha, described his hotel as ‘an asylum and hospital for the care of wounded masterpieces in wood where they are restored to their original natural beauty’.

He had been spurred into saving as many of them as possible after he came across chilly workmen fuelling their street fire with a number of fine carvings.

Prince Charles, who is known for his interest in preservation, inaugurated the hotel’s decorative water spouts in 1998, according to a plaque.

Mercifully, Dwarika’s Kathmandu required only minor work after the earthquake, while Dwarika’s Dhulikhel suffered no damage at all.

So Nepal still has wonderful places to stay and plenty to see, and those who depend on tourists for an income would be very pleased to see you, too.