Bali High

Friday was our first full day in Bali and we settled into our villa apartment located on the southern part of the island in Bakung, part of the wider region of Bali called Bukit Badung. On the map of Bali, this is the part that looks like a small outcropping south of the main part of the island.

Situated on an elevated area in the hilly region on the road to Uluwatu, the famous hilltop temple, our villa looks north, toward Jimbaran and Kuta beaches. On clear days we can see the runway of the airport to the left of the narrow strip that connects this part of the island to the rest of Bali. If it’s not too cloudy, the top of Mt. Batur, a still active volcano that last erupted in 1963.

On its slopes sits a complex of temples, Pura Besakih. Dedicated to three key forces in Balinese Hinduism—Siwa, Brahma, and Wisnu—it is situated in what is considered the cosmological axis of Bali. Kathy wanted to take the early morning volcano hike, but since it meant getting up at 100 AM to drive two hours before the hike even begins, we won't make it this time!

The weather in Bali is tropical—balmy and humid, but here on the hill it’s cooler than at the beaches visible in the distance below us.

Our villa is luxurious and large with a chef, a butler and two assistants. And tightly guarded. (All a bit overwhelming reminder of the bombings of only a few years ago at Kuta...and of our privilege). There is a canopied king-sized bed, a large Jacuzzi in a bathroom that opens into a courtyard where we can shower under the stars. We dine outside on the balcony above the companion apartment below ours, which has a pool. Luckily for us, since it is unoccupied for now, we have been given access to the pool by the managers of the complex, an unexpected plus.

The day after arriving, following a Western-style breakfast of bacon and eggs and toast, prepared by staff to comfort us with the familiar, we decided to orient ourselves slowly with a half day tour of Nusa Dua, exploring the beach. We set out around 1000 AM with an assigned driver and, after a walk along the beach, and a sneaky dip in one of the pools at Nusa Dua Beach Hotel and Spa, we returned to where the driver had parked and came back to the hotel—through the heavily secured front entrance this time.

Passing inspection from a set of very diligent guards who checked for explosives, the second reminder of the 2002 bombings (the first was the security evident at our Villa) , we made our way to the Chess Bar and Restaurant and enjoyed lunch at the beach, watching swimmers and other water sports enthusiasts, including parasailors and crazier folks who were harnessed to parachutes only to be launched into the sky and then kept airborne for a few harrowing minutes by fast-moving motorboats to which they had been tethered. Definitely not for the back-injured or faint-hearted.

Back at the villa later that night, we enjoyed an Indonesian dinner of delicately flavored Green Papaya soup, chicken and shrimp satay skewers with peanut sauce, and Nasi Goreng, a classic, traditgional savory and spicy rice dish with egg, chicken and vegetables prepared by a chef of the complex. (By the way, the detailed descriptions of tastes and foods are to satisfy the particular request of Valerie Berry, our London friend who is a chef, cookbook author and general foody).

Tomorrow, Saturday, we have planned a trip to Bali’s cultural and art center—Ubud. Stay tuned...and please, leave comments.

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Thanks!

K & A