Posted Monday, November 15, 2004; 21:00 HKT
There are resorts and there are resorts—and then there's Four Seasons Bali, where spiritual and temporal planes intersect amid opulent greenery, hovering servants and every indulgence a spa director's mind can conceive. Better still, Four Seasons Bali is actually two resorts in one—the beachfront site at Jimbaran Bay, and the up-country villas at Ubud. Guests typically spend a few days at both, whisked from one to the other in an SUV with tinted windows and dapper chauffeur, bearing wet towels and freshly squeezed juices. Should a stay here be your good fortune, you and your beloved (for you are surely not alone in a spot as achingly romantic as this) must, on no account, leave without experiencing the lulur body treatment.

We say "treatment." It is, in fact, a Javanese body ritual, traditionally administered to couples before they wed. For an indescribable two hours, you'll both undergo a Balinese massage; exfoliation with turmeric, ginger root and sweetwoods; a rubdown with yogurt; and a bath filled with flowers grown on-site. As you are served a concluding herbal elixir and massaged with floral lotion, you may find yourself asking: Does God really exist, or did the lulur just come into being of its own accord?

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