BALI, Indonesia -- Imagine, if you will, a paradise.
A verdant valley filled with the sounds of bird song and gurgling streams. Above, an azure sky with white, fluffy clouds and, carried on a gentle breeze, the sweet scent of plumeria blossoms.
In this vision of Shangri-La, construct a spa using the finest local materials -- white pebbles from Java, black volcanic stones from Bali, smoothed over eons by water in a fast-flowing river, and beautiful butterscotch-hued paving slabs from the central Javanese village of Palimanan. The water is pumped from a source some 130 meters below the surface.