Advertisement
Published: April 7th 2010
Edit Blog Post
Bali Day 5 003
My little villa I read an article in the National Geographic Traveller magazine about how the quality of sleep increases for people when they are on vacation. Too true! I honestly have not slept this much and this well in I don't know how long. Feels great!
Also the people here have been so incredibly welcoming and charming. Although I obviously do not have great fears about travelling alone, there is always of course a healthy level of concern and hope that everything will go smoothly and very importantly that I will be safe. I have truly felt safe the whole time that I have been here.
So today was the day that I bid Legian goodbye and transfered to the Villa Sarna in Ubud. Before doing so, I needed to have one last banana pancake and then it was time to check out. I had made arrangements with Villa Sarna to have someone pick me up in Legian at 8:45 am. I was waiting in the lobby and the staff seemed quite concerned that my car had not arrived by 9 am. At one point one of the security guards came up to me and I am understanding that he wants
Bali Day 5 001
The day bed just outside of my villa me to call the hotel to make sure that they have not forgotten me. What he was actually telling me was that I had a phone call from the hotel ... I only understood when he pointed to the poor little receptionist holding up the phone and pointing at it and then me repeatedly. No big panic ... the driver was stuck in traffic.
So finally my driver pulled up. His name was Koko and truly the name was quite befitting ... not that there is anything wrong with that. So Koko and I hit the road to Ubud! At one point, there was a bit of a slow down in the traffic at which point Koko points to this archway and says "see ... wedding ceremony". Honestly I didn't get to see much because of the large number of people milling about but the archway was elaborately decorated which apparently indicates "a big party" as Koko put it. I didn't mention it but yesterday we did drive through a village at one point and saw a funeral procession where all of the village had come out. Everyone was wearing dark and somber sarongs and walking along the street.
It was actually in sharp contrast to the brightly coloured shrine for the cremation ceremony that we also saw earlier yesterday.
Koko took a "shortcut" because "we no see traffic and you see rice fields". Awww thanks Koko. The Villa Sarna is a relatively new hotel of just about 8 months so Koko had to ask directions to get us there. It is a little outside of Ubud (the hotel has a shuttle service) but I got a great preview of all of the shops that make up this small town. There are not enough suitcases on this planet to bring back all of these beautiful things! The hotel is owned by an American couple who actually used this as a private residence ... oh what a life they must lead!
We made it safely to Villa Sarna and it was truly like stepping into paradise. When you see the pictures you should understand why! I had wanted to spend a day at the spa so why not just spend the day luxuriating around the pool, hanging out on my day bed reading a book and exploring these beautiful grounds taking photos. So that's what I have done
... hence only photos of the hotel. I have just ordered room service which always astounds me how cheap it is here in South East Asia. So now I await the arrival of my Lulur Sapi Bumbu Manis (oh yeah I totally butchered that on the phone!!) and my Pisang Goreng. Or in other words, a grilled beef with a spicy sweet ginger sauce and a banana fritter for dessert! And I won't be dining alone ... I have a couple of frogs that are keeping me company on the foot of my day bed. There's a fountain and pond close by ... the crickets and cacaw sounds of unknown origins have also started now that the sun is setting!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.05s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 11; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0254s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Francine
non-member comment
Beautiful! Paradise on Earth...pure and simple!