It was about a year and a half ago when Bill Bensley told me about his fantastical plans for Shinta Mani Wild, his first entirely home-grown resort. “You’re going to take a zipline from the highest point on the property, over the waterfall and back, to the welcome platform, where you’ll be handed a gin and tonic,” he laughed, “because by then you need it.” Obviously, I then proceeded to gush to everyone about the double ziplines—even though I didn’t fully believe it. Hoteliers tell you a lot of things pre-opening, and many of them don’t pan out. This was the nuttiest thing any hotelier had ever told me, so the sheer chutzpah of the idea was exciting enough to pique the imagination about what the real Shinta Mani Wild might include, whether or not sailing in above the southern Cambodian rainforest was a realistic way to hand over your passport.
