Flying over the beautiful green Indonesian islands, sleep
deprived and anxious - we safely arrived at the Denpasar airport on the island of Bali. We paid $25 for our fancy 30 day
visas and cleared customs without unzipping our bags. My dear friend Bea (from college) waited
outside in the balmy heat - ready with private car and driver. Bea has
been living with an Australian family on Bali
for the past few months, working as a tutor for their daughters. The family was
back in Australia
for the holidays, leaving Bea available to share their Mountain Retreat with
us.
We drove along the traffic congested Southern
Bali beach streets of Kuta to fetch Randy from his bungalow (where
he had arrived a few days prior). Packed tight in a full car of luggage,
college friends, boyfriends and silly sisters; the driver kindly drove us from
the bank to lunch to a fantastic Balinese massage to a huge grocery market and
finally up to the much anticipated Batukaru Mountain Retreat.
The drive up to Batukaru was filled with breath taking rice
paddies, aged temples, palm trees and colorfully dressed locals ready for
ceremony. My eyes finally met the
visions of South East Asia that my heart had long
desired.
The Batukaru Mountain Retreat is currently under
construction and scheduled to open this spring for yoga and belly dancing
workshops. Bea’s home away from home was
set on gorgeous landscaped property with traditional Balinese style buildings
filled with natural light. The grounds
included a small fish pond, a new batch of puppies, several cats, guinea pigs,
a construction crew and two cooks – preparing us three meals a day. I immediately knew this would be one of the
nicest places of my trip so we settled in and made it our home for the next
week.
We played games at night, watched movies, took cat naps, read
books, explored the local village, played with the newly born puppies, spent a rainy
day trip in Ubud and shared stories of our Asian travels. It was easy to slip into the comforts of home
with my sister at an arm’s reach, catered meals and mellow nights surrounded by
close friends.
