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Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Pemuteran



We have wanted to go to the north west of Bali for many years but just never made the effort, until this trip Singaraja was as far west as we had gone.

With five kids in tow it is a very long drive, when they tell you it's a three hour drive from Ubud to Pemeuteran don't believe them!!

We left Ubud at 1pm and when everyone including the staff at Greenfeilds told us it was a three hour drive, I found it very hard to believe. I had allowed four to five hours.

With a quick stop at Lake Bratan and a longer stop for lunch at Munduk waterfall it took us at least 6 hours.

 After weeks of travelling around with just mum and dad, our kids enjoyed the company of others their own age, so they were well occupied for the long drive. Our driver was very sensible and the van was clean and cool.

Everyone was happy to just sit back and enjoy the ride, it was mostly all good.


                                         Lake Bratan was closer to shore than I remembered:)



We hadn't been to Munduk waterfall before and I was surprised at how beautiful it was, we were the only tourist there. You could of walked right up under it, although I don't think you would survive the experience!




The force of the water was amazing and we all ended up wet.
 Riley was trying to see how close he could get. I don't think he'll be putting his head under this waterfall like he did in Cambodia! it would get knocked off!!


The walk down was pretty to the point that it almost felt like we were walking through an amusement park.






Rileys singing in the rain

We ate at the restaurant here, when I find photos I'll attach them, the view over the valley was stunning, food yummy. Very cold up here bring a jacket!!


Villa Semadih


We arrive at the villa at about 7pm, tired and excited after our long drive.
It is even more beautiful than the photos and I feel very pleased with myself for finding it.
My girlfriend Elly does her classic amazed face, walking around with her mouth open, I think I joined her a few times.
I saw Elly today and she said she was looking at her Bali photos, nearly all of them were of the villa.




We are here for four nights so decide to take turns sleeping in the best room.
Elly and I flip a coin to see who gets to sleep in the pavilion suite for the first two nights... she wins:(




A room with a view, laying in bed you look over the Bali sea....

But hey all the rooms are gorgeous, we get it for the last two nights so I can look forward to it :)


This was the girls room


Dressing room

Tree in the girls bathroom


Looking from the beach bale back towards the villa


Looking back from the beach wall



The spa, Elly and Con had a massage on the bale

The pond that surrounds the dinning room


So many fish



The camera works it's magic again


There's a painting in this I'm sure:)

Life's simple when your a kid on holidays in Pemuteran

The villas black sand beach, the big round pebbles give a voice to the small waves as they wash in and out over them.

The sand is soft and more of a dark chocolate brown than black.
I love it

I was in heaven when I found sea glass, every time I went for a walk, I found sea glass.



We walked a lot....

Looking from the water it felt like Tahiti, we're surprised at how huge and green the mountains are.

I still can't believe Con got to surf directly out the front of the villa.
The waves are only small, but he's happy:)


Our turn in the amazing Pavilion room that over looks the Bali sea, see my toes?
That night we listen to the waves and the pebbles.

On the last night there was a huge electrical storm that raged all night long over the sea, I love storms.
 I didn't want to miss any of it, so spent the night drifting in and out of sleep.
I might never again sleep in a bed draped with mosquito curtains, that over looks the Bali sea.
The chances of doing so and seeing such a storm are slim I'm sure.




"Happy  Birthday Tannalee"

We ordered about twelve different dishes and put them in the middle of the table, a Balinese feast. It was fun trying lots of different things.
We had bought chips and lollies up with us so it was a real party. Blowing up the balloons from Hardys however was a joke. After the first eight had holes in them, we gave up and had to use masking tape over the holes so we could have some... LOL


Complementary cheese cake from the villa owner, thank you Jane !


My baby turned 13 years old  




A precious little visitor

This poor old monkey came to visit us twice, he had a huge sore down one shoulder and we all felt so sorry for him.
 It actually took a few minutes before someone realised he only had one arm and one leg, old wounds that were long healed. He could scramble up and down trees, but now and then you could see him trying to figure out how to get where he wanted to go.


He would sit on the wall and look around all calm and wise, every now and then raising his eyebrows as if a funny thought had come to mind, his fur was thick and shiny, his eyes bright.
The most wonderful thing about him was he didn't look like he felt sorry for himself at all, we gave him bananas and wished him well.

I told the kids to learn a lesson, if things get hard in life, stop and remember this little guy then just get on with it. 



Buddy the turtle

Tannalee fell in love with Buddy the turtle at Reef Seen diving, he would come up to be scrubbed by the brush. Tanna said he was more like a dog than a turtle!








The Temple Walk

Elly wanted see a temple that was just up the road, with another only a 20 min walk away, Putra the manager of our villa offered to come along with us. Con stayed behind to watch the girls and we managed to convince Riley that it would be worth the short walk.
Apparently Riley didn't hear the word walk and was quite dismayed that there was no car, I told him not to worry it was only a short walk. Normally he would have some clever come back, but after the last couple of weeks the poor thing just groaned. 'Oh Riley come on it'll be fun, you can have ice cream when we get back"

 After a short walk we arrive at the first temple, a steep set of stairs that lead to a cave in the side of a mountain. There is an old lady and a couple of men sitting in a building at the base of the stairs. The lady gets up as we approach, she speaks to Putra and we are guided towards a small enclosed area beside the road. None of us realised we were about to be blessed!

We followed Putras lead throughout the blessing, kneeling down to pray, each of us being sprinkled with holy water, taking sips of water, well pretending to. Finally pressing the rice onto our foreheads.

We are not religious, but take all things spiritual seriously and have total respect for other religions. In this regard we were very conscious of not belonging. Putra assured us that as long as our intentions were pure it was fine, we could pray to whomever we wanted, he made it seem more about the spirit than the religion? 

 Ross, Elly and myself felt honoured to have this surprise opportunity, unbeknown to us Riley wasn't happy about it. He felt that he had not been given a choice, apparently if you wanted to see the temple you had to be blessed and he wanted to see the temple. He felt like he had lied to them, he said he felt like a fraud.
During our walk I tried very hard to explain it as we saw it.
There was an uneasy silence between Riley and I for a while, something I am completely unaccustomed to with Ry. I felt terrible and surprised that such a moment had upset him so.

I understood what he was saying and hope he learnt a lesson. Because he did have a choice and he did choose.



Little temple near the road with the red flag, is where we were blessed.

Along the way we saw lots of monkeys

some cute piglets

petrol for sale


Still walking....


Lots of grape vineyards


 The area is picturesque and the walk flat, but we have now spent about 40 mins walking in the middle of the day. We are all hot and clammy, both Riley and I have had enough, I can't imagine walking back


Hey Elly "nice cow"

Putra offers to call a friend to pick us up, Riley has put in a mammoth amount of walking this trip so I agree we will go back with him while Ross and Elly look at the Temples.
I get a shock when a  bike turns up.

 Riley has his first motor bike ride in Bali, so do I!




A temple statue



when she was young she was a beautiful Balinese dancer:)





We were walking towards Reef Seen dive centre to look at the turtle hatchery when we were caught in a heavy down pour... to be continued



A sign in the dressing room at the hot springs :)




Buddhist Monastery











also click on 'older post'  below right to see our day snorkeling at Menjangan Island

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