One of the activities organised by the hotel for guests was “forest bathing”, a Japanese technique for taking time out, slowing down, and being at one with nature.  

We left the kids in bed, boarded a minibus on Sunday at 7.30 am and drove to the forest, about 5km away from the hotel. The outdoor guide told us the rules: no gadgets, no talking, 1 min gap between each person, forget everyone and everything, have clear mind, think of yourself only, walk at your pace, smell, breath, touch, listen and feel, for about a 5 km walk downhill through the forest to the small lake when path stops.

Steve was first, I was about 5^th to go. I had trouble to think of nothing and only me for the first few minutes and kept looking down my feet. It took me back to my childhood, when I would play in the woods for hours with my friends. I swear I could hear waterfall, but couldn’t see anything and realised, it was the wind between the trees. About 5 mins into the walk, I was able to just concentrate on myself when I felt suddenly something moving above my head. When I looked up for a split second, I glimpsed a furry animal. I couldn’t see a lot, just top of the trees moving and suddenly another one jumped – this time, I saw a long grey hairy monkey. What a privilege. Later I found out, it was most likely a purple leaf monkey – actually they have got black face, but when the light shines on them, they look purple. From that experience I kept looking up and not down on my feet – consequently ending up in the mud at one point, just like in life! When we all reached the finish point, everyone soaked up the scene by the lake and then started to take pictures, using their mobiles, talking and laughing and I just wished the walk was longer and everyone was quiet, or could even disappear!  The fresh air was heaven and a huge contrast to polluted city air. We should do this more often.

Rennie