When i read Liz Gilbert's "Eat Pray Love", i thought some parts about her experiences in Bali could have been a little exaggerated just to make the memoir sound more intense or effective...BUT how wrong was i!! Now that i have visited Bali myself i feel that her book didnt say enough of Bali!! or probably it is because its pretty impossible to put it in words (no matter how creative you are!) Coz, i guess somethings are simply meant to be experienced and not talked about...
Strangely...we (hubby and i) had absolutely no intention to go to Bali early this year...the plan was to go to India to visit my parent's villages and also on a pilgrimage and i was quite keen to visit the Sriranggam temple in Tiruchi as i have not been to this temple which is one of the main ones among the Vishnu temples and the one with a super huge reclining form of the deity. I kept telling my hubby...i must see my Krishna this time as i missed Him during the pass two trips to Thiruchi...so that was the plan! but how did we end up in Bali instead was just so strange!! Though, some of our friends and family had visited Bali last year and shared quite interesting stories about the place, we still did not intend to go there yet as we were both looking forward to the trip to India!
5 days before the Bali trip happened, we were chatting about somethings at home, when Nantha suggested we go to Bali instead of India and i too strangely felt the urge to go there too! so we both decided just like that to postpone the trip to India...i told him, i think Krishna has made other plans for me....so yes...lets go Bali first! And we immediately started googling for flight prices and hotels...we decided this on a Sunday evening and was done booking everything by Monday night and was all set to go. We had just 5 days to get things sorted for the trip...and we were both super excited about it!
And how we decided which parts in Bali to visit was of course based on the hiking and waterfall trails mainly!! Thats what i wanted most! As i was looking for hiking trails, i came across the name of this place called Munduk and it had pictures of breathtaking waterfalls and trails...when i checked the distance, it said one and a half hours up north from the airport in Denpasar. So i told Nantha why not we start off from there! He was ok with it as it was only an hour and half drive ...not too bad we thought!
At the airport, the very first amazing experience was, at the immigration when the officer who checked my passport did not even look at my face to check if i was the same person as in the picture...he just opened the book...looked at it for hardly 3 seconds, stamped and gave it back to me and looked out to the next person in line...and i was like...HUH? What? i am a foreigner entering your country! Arent you in the least concerned about who i might be! No??..so i smiled and said "Terima Kasih" ..and walked pass the counter where Nantha was already waiting for me, i asked him...THATS ALL?? that easy to get into another country?? Even in India (despite me being Malaysian Indian) we are checked before they let us go! I was already in LOVE with the country for that one reason...coz it felt almost like there was no boundaries to cross over...human beings meeting human beings....such places still exists?? For real? Then, we were greeted by our most amazing tour guide and driver, Mapan whom we had arranged to pick us up. Got some drinks and snacks from a nearby supermarket for the journey to MUNDUK and off we went!
It was drizzling, and the traffic was a little heavy but then...it was Bali...who cares!!! :D
We went pass a few busy areas like Kuta, Desa Sembung passing by Monkey Forest, before coming to quieter roads. Nantha was busy chatting away with the driver and the advantage of knowing how to speak Bahasa Malaysia made it easier to communicate with him in a friendly manner. Thats when Nantha checked with our driver..."Bapak (thats how the Balinese people address all men with respect and Ibu for the ladies, meaning Father and Mother and in just about half an hour Nantha had gotten used to addressing the driver the same way :) dari sini ke Munduk berapa jauh?" (how long does it take from here to Munduk?" Since we had been in the car for about half an hour now...we both expected him to say about an hour more of course. But then he coolly said..."ohh dalam 3 hingga 4 jam" (3 to 4 hours!) Nantha checked again....4 JAM??? betul ke Bapak?? (Are you sure !?) Of course he was sure! hahahaha...well i wasnt in the least concerned about the hours he mentioned...again WE ARE IN BALI!! who cares! hahahha...in fact i was excited that it only means we are going really far from the commercialized areas and also that we get to see the places through many villages and small towns in between! right?? So i was just smiling, seated at the back seat (thankfully! escaping Nantha's stares as he was seated in front, hehehe)
The time was about 2.30PM and we needed to check in at the resort which i had booked online which did not require any upfront payments...now that was my only little concern as the print out i had of the booking confirmation had a phone which i did not even try calling before leaving...what if they cancelled it if we arrived late and what if no more rooms were available? I was sure there will be some other places to stay but then this place was a room amidst the paddy fields and hills and i didnt want to miss that view and environment! But well...i was too engrossed by the sceneries along the way, the little villages...the paddy fields...temples, Balinese houses and buildings, temples, little shops...temples...and ermm..temples again??...wait there were more temples then houses!! haha..then We got to know from the driver that every house or shop or office will have their own small temple built outside of the building...thats the norm around there...ohhh no wonder! They call it "Pura" but wait! these "Puras" have no deities in it...its just mostly black carved stone structure and theres no main area as in the Hindu temples in India...but it is the energy that is contained in the structure, of Suria, Vishnu, Ram, Ganesha and so on...wait RAM? VISHNU? yay...so i get to meet my Krishna after all! i thought...well now it was about 2 hours into the journey...and Nantha must have at least checked 5 times "Jauh lagi ke Pak" (literally...Are we there yet??) :D hahahhaa...and every now and then...he turns back to say...Anu, what if the hotel cancels our booking..? And i was like...we will see when we get there..heheheh...
Now the roads were leading towards the mountains...and our driver said...can you see the hill over there? (which was in quite a distance from where we were) yeah...? thats where Munduk is. I was even more excited now as i didnt realise that the place was actually situated on a hill! well there was paddy field..who would think it was up the hill...in Malaysia all paddy fields are on flat land! Only tea plantations are on higher lands...
But then...Munduk it is...no turning back. So we went on...and on and on...after another half an hour..the driver said...ok now we are going up the hill...which was pretty relieving to hear...then he continued to say..."once we get up the hill, then we go down to the valley, thats where Munduk is" i thought ...errrmmm okayyyy....i think Nantha is going to cry anytime now! hahahhaa...it was about 5pm plus and still drizzling and the winding roads getting really narrow and pretty quiet as we went right into the heart of the hill! kind of scary it was...so isolated..not many cars (or almost none) just going on and on...and the roads were misty too!..By now Nantha was sure...we were going to be stranded somewhere in the jungle with no place to stay! while i started to silently make a deal with my Krishna to find us a good place to stay in case our hotel had cancelled my booking or worst if the hotel doesnt even exist!!! hehehe...somehow it made me smile..despite the uncertain trip into the hills...! Finally our driver said...ok now we are in Munduk! lets put on waze to find the resort...i was like..Waze? you mean you dont know this place? And he said, he had never heard of this resort i was talking about...it was only up to that point of the town of Munduk he has ever been! Now i almost heard Nantha's mind voice saying "great!why did i even trust you to book the hotels"
Anyway, i got the address from the printout for Nantha to key in to Waze...and thank heavens..the place did exist...and the voice from Waze started guiding us...keep going straight on the road we were on...again...it was going on and on, winding and narrowing even more...by now even the driver was worried!!! hahahhaa...he asked Nantha "Bapak, mana tau ada hotel di sini?" How did you know theres a hotel here? And are you both sure you want to stay here?
I said...we have come THIS far...i am not turning back until i see the place! NO WAY! so yes we went on...and on for bit more...FINALLY the waze announced that we had reached our destination! and all three of us were like "HUH?? like where? i dont even see a building or a gate or whatever that resembles a hotel or resort!
There was this small turning from the main road and the was this signboard written " AMIRTYA PURI GREEN COTTAGES" Gosh what a relieve it was...not that we saw any building yet but at least the name EXISTS!! YAYYY! i am saved (mainly from Nantha! hahahhaha) we drove in..and parked where there was sort of a little wooden (Of course everything is wooden in BALI) hut which was the reception!!! and two boys came walking out greeting us like they've known us forever!
We got down, and Nantha was still not sure whether to take our bags out yet..he wanted to check how this place looked like...so we walked up to the raised platform where the reception was and asked "Sawah padi kat mana??" (wheres the paddy field!!?") The boy said..."ohh di belakang" (right at the back) hmmm now even i was not convinced...i almost thought they must have done some photoshop to promote this place in their website...how can there be a paddy field up here!? Well anyway, we decided to stay as it was almost 6pm and no point driving out anywhere at that hour...
So got our bags and followed these guys who were going to show us the room! Now from here...i will let my photographs tell the story!!! Both Nantha and i almost felt like the kids in Narnia, who just walked out of the wardrobe!! like seriously!! so have a look! The boys took us through a small path leading to our room....then
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| The two boys working at the cottage I GEDE ANGGITA WIROPHA & KOMANG ERMAN WIHARJA |
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The misty roads when almost reaching the resort |
Video below taken from our room when it started raining <3 font="">
Now this is only the beginning of what we discovered in Bali...the following day was the waterfall hike! i cant put it all here or it will be a real long story...so i will save it for my next post!
Till then, read all about Munduk, and stay tuned for more stories from my trip! :)
