Kintamani at sunrise
Cold hands around a hot cup, and the volcano at first light. Breakfast on the rim of the caldera.
Experiences
Days out,
and the valley itself
Six things we run ourselves, and the oldest part of Bali, at the gate
Our own days out
Every one of them ours
Not a rack of brochures from an agency down the road. Our drivers, our chefs, our guides. Booked at reception the day before.
Melukat purification
Spring water over your head, and a quieter you walking out. The Balinese cleansing ritual at a waterfall temple, about 40 minutes west.
Mount Batur, on foot
Three hours up a volcano in the dark, for the minute the sun arrives and the whole climb makes sense.
Balinese cooking class
Your own hands, our chef beside you, and a plate you made yourself: a main course and a dessert.
Nusa Penida island escape
A night with the sea instead of the river: the island across the water, with a villa waiting on the other side.
Balinese photoshoot
An afternoon of being looked after: traditional outfits, make-up and a photographer, all arranged by us. You only arrive.
Kintamani at sunrise
The volcano before breakfast
A car, a driver and an early start: about five hours all in, including the drive both ways and breakfast on the caldera rim, where a row of restaurants faces Mount Batur across the lake. Your driver knows which one is good today, but the choice is yours.
Ask at reception a day ahead. Price on request.
Kintamani · Six in the morning
You will be cold, and awake in a way coffee never manages. Below you the cloud lies in the caldera like a second lake, and the volcano stands in it up to its shoulders.
Breakfast on the rim
Tea, a table,
and the whole caldera
The restaurants along the rim open early for exactly this: a pot of tea, the lake somewhere under the cloud, Batur across the water. You sit until the mist lifts, and then the drive home is downhill all the way.
Melukat · Beyond the property
Water, taken in order
Melukat is the Balinese purification ritual: water, offerings and intention, in a sequence that has not changed in centuries. We hold ours at Taman Beji Griya, a waterfall temple about 15 kilometres west of the resort, some 40 minutes away.
Our own driver takes you there, and a guide leads you through every step of the cleansing and takes the photographs, so the water is all you have to think about. Ask at reception a day ahead.
Tirta Empul, the spring temple to the north, is a visit of its own: read about it here.
Taman Beji Griya
Offerings first,
then the water
You come dressed in a sarong and sash, and the prayers and the offerings come first, at the shrine and at the foot of the fall. The water comes last: you stand under it until the guide says you are done. What the water does after that is yours.
Mount Batur
Three hours up, in the dark
A car leaves the resort around 2:30 and meets your guide at the foot of the volcano at 3:30. The climb takes about three hours over loose volcanic scree, timed so that you are standing on the rim when the sun comes up. An hour and a half back down, the car waiting, then breakfast on the caldera rim. You are back at the resort by early afternoon.
- No special skills are needed. A normally active person manages it. Anyone who wants a handrail on our own stairs should not book this one.
- Proper shoes and warm clothing are yours to bring, and it is cold up there before dawn.
- Children come along from the age they can walk it themselves, around seven in our experience, and eleven-year-olds outrun their parents.
- May to October is the dry season and the view is close to guaranteed. From late October to early May, rain is likely and can be heavy.
Ask at reception a day ahead. Price on request.
Mount Batur · The rim at sunrise
Three hours of torchlight and your own breathing, then the sky opens and you understand why you came. Agung on your right, and on a clear morning Rinjani on Lombok, an island away.
The summit
What three hours
in the dark buys you
This is the moment the whole climb is for: the sun clearing the horizon, the cloud lying in the caldera like a floor, Agung standing behind it. Then the warm breakfast, the scree, and the car at the bottom.
Cooking class · In our own kitchen
Cook what you just ate
Our own chefs teach the traditional Indonesian dishes from their menu: a main course and a dessert, made by your hands. An hour to an hour and a half, up to eight guests at the counter, and children are welcome.
IDR 400,000 per adult, 300,000 per child. A scheduled class runs every Monday at 11:30. Just put your name down. A private class gathers at any hour, on any day, for three people or more. Book at reception or by WhatsApp.
Balinese photoshoot · On the property
Bali, worn for an afternoon
Traditional Balinese outfits, professional make-up and a photographer who knows every corner of the property: three and a half hours in the garden, on the terraces and by the pool, with nothing for you to arrange. Each picture is taken as it happens, in the light of the valley.
IDR 4,300,000 per couple, outfits and make-up included. Agree the date and time with reception in advance, so the photographer and the make-up artists can be booked for you. Book at reception or by WhatsApp.
Nusa Penida
The island across the water
Our partners will be glad to host you in a villa on Nusa Penida, for a night or several. The boat, the transfers and the day itself are arranged around you; our front desk works out the details with you directly.
Ask at reception, and allow a little time to plan it properly.
The valley around us
The oldest part of Bali,
at the gate
There were kings, temples and bronze workshops here a thousand years before anyone had heard of Ubud. You can walk to some of it.
Petanu River Walk
Ten minutes down and the resort is gone. Down through the gardens to the water, with the story of the river the Balinese still call cursed.
Tirta Empul
You stand in line with Balinese families, as people have for a thousand years, at the spring temple.
Gunung Kawi
Seven-metre shrines cut into the rock face, and nothing between you and them. Down a staircase through the rice.
The Moon of Pejeng
You look up, and the largest bronze drum in the world looks back from a village pavilion.
Pejeng Kawan is a working village, not a set: offerings on the doorsteps, temple mornings, everyday life at the gate.
All about the valley