By the end of the arrival process, I was less interested in sightseeing than in recovering normal brain function.
Then came the boat to Shangri-La. Noise receded, water took over, and arriving at the resort's private jetty felt like changing channels to something considerably more pleasant.
An ambitious programme of very little
Two beaches, fine sand, space and a reassuring shortage of urgency. I swam, sat and looked at the water. Later, the sunset handled the entertainment without requiring a reservation.
Doing very little is sometimes treated as a failure of travel writing. Here, it was the entire point.
Dinner, with perspective
My meals outside the resort were less consistently convincing. Bangkok, Singapore and Samui may have left me with an inconveniently high benchmark. Inside the hotel, I appreciated the reliability.
That is a personal impression, not a verdict on an entire island.
What Shangri-La did especially well was create distance from the journey. The airport could keep its noise. I had found somewhere to stop solving things.
Paradise does not always announce itself. Sometimes it simply stops asking questions.
Edited and shortened from Batty’s original. Personal impressions reflect the visit described; details may change.