02 May 2024

Bali

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Other Asia Reviews

Why our travels with Banama...

Charmer Nigel Havers had a very personal reason for visiting Bali with his new love. And helped by their mountain and jungle guide, they have come home with a passion for the island.And an addiction to ginger tea.

1 Peaceful inland Bali views 2 Colourful Ubud market 3 Offerings to the gods

I WAS A BOY, I was always intrigued by four strange wooden head carvings stored on top of the wardrobe in my father’s dressing room.

Looking back, I suppose they were rather bizarre things to be staring down at the future Lord Chancellor (as my father was to become) as he got dressed.

In her more theatrical moments, my mother would grab them and burst into a rendition of Bali Hai while swinging her hips as if she were wearing a grass skirt.

It transpired that Dad had been briefly stationed in Bali during the war and had developed an affection for the place, which is why whenever my brother and I asked about the curios, Ma used to tell us with a nudge and a wink to look out for any blonde-haired, blue-eyed Balinese if we ever got to visit Indonesia on holiday.

I’d often fantasise about seeing Bali for myself, but then my acting career got in the way. Recently I finally made the time.

Designed to be shared

I have a new partner and Bali is the kind of romantic island which seems designed to be shared with someone special. And, in the company of our amazing guide, Banana, we were in for a wonderful trip.

Compared to weeks of sea-borne travel my father endured, a flight from Heathrow via Singapore to Bali is simple.

We arrived at night and it was still a balmy 28C – which made the greeting party of air-conditioned Jeep, complete with cold box, icy towels and water, all the more welcome. The airport is on the south-west coast, near the capital of Denpasar, but our journey inland took 90 minutes, through jungle villages offering tantalising glimpses of lush vegetation, alarming new noises and an overwhelming sense of undiscovered other- worldliness.

Eventually we arrived at the Begawan Giri estate – not so much a hotel as a collection of luxury private houses on the outskirts of Ubud, in an area the locals call ‘Wise man Mountain’. There was barely time for a quick hello to our butler (all the guests get one), before a quick cup of ginger tea and bed.

We woke to our vast timber-built suite, hanging off a rainforest-clad mountainside.

In the valley 100 metres below, accompanied by the sound of the fast-flowing Ayung river, families of gibbons threw themselves around.

The Begawan Giri is the stuff of romantic films. Each suite has its own name; ours was ‘Wanakasa’, meaning forest in the mist, and it felt like the most luxurious tree house in the world – beautiful teak floors, stunning decoration and semi-circular infinity pool which mirrored the turn in the river.

Beyond was Bali itself, a Hindu island in the middle of Indonesia. The island is utterly gorgeous, but it is its gentle and very beautiful people who give it its beguiling charm.

The Balinese are incapable of doing anything ungraceful; beauty is everywhere and it starts with the early morning Puja (a floral offering to the gods) that appears by magic outside every building.

The temperature varies little during the year as the island is so close to the equator; 28-32 degrees all year round.

We had perfect blue skies every day and the humidity was slightly lower as it had not rained for three months. It’s also non-malarial, which keeps the anxiety levels down. The sun rises at about 6am and sets at around 6pm.

Mesmerising landscape

We settled into a perfect daily routine, which started with breakfast brought by our butler, a very nice chap called Susan (as I said, everything is different here.) Each morning a tray with almost every kind of tropical fruit would arrive, decorated with scented flowers.

We had decided that ours was to be a holiday mainly devoted to exploring the mesmerising landscape of Indonesia.

Shortly after arriving, we were introduced to Banana. Each day he took us on a different trip; sometimes jungle walking, other times through the rice paddies carved into the hillsides like giant steps. We even managed a climb up the steamy and sulphurous slopes of Mt Batur, the now dormant volcano. Indonesia is dappled with them, but only Krakatoa, between Sumatra and Java, has seen action in recent times.

Each day we walked for about four hours before returning damp and weary for a late lunch. Happily I have never had such wonderful meals.

Neighbouring Ubud is the gourmet centre of Bali, but we were spoilt for choice at the hotel. All the fruit and vegetables are grown on site. The fish is caught in the hotel’s own pools and the meat sourced locally.

Put that lot together with a chef constantly producing fusion masterpieces and you have an explosive taste sensation daily. Salads of every variety, delicate coconut curries and rice steamed with ginger, and finally, my latest addiction – fresh ginger tea.

Naturally we had a massage or two. The therapists have angels’ hands and the hotel spa, The Source, is consistently voted one of the world’s best.

Bali means different things to different people. For visitors to Kuta, Bali’s largest tourist region, it means pumping music with cheap and cheerful late night bars. For the thousands of Australians devoted to beach culture, it means fantastic surf.

Spiritual cleansing

For me it is simply the most beautiful, peaceful, spirit-cleansing place I’ve ever visited.

Bizarrely, the Balinese have no word for paradise. This worried me for a while until I realised why; they had no need – they’d invented it.

Leaving Bali was a wrench, but we had the lure of the Lombok coastline to look forward to. The flight to Lombok, Bali’s smaller sister, is 20 minutes by small plane. Another air-conditioned Jeep whisked us to the Oberoi, 24 acres of pure luxury on Medana beach in the island’s north east. The colours and scents of Lombok seep into your senses, and the people work their magic.

Unlike Bali, Lombok is Muslim, but to me there seemed to be no difference in culture or behaviour. And my worry about a possible no-alchohol law proved unfounded.

After our jungle exertions, this was beach time. Sun, sea, sand, sundowners. This is a sparsely populated region in the shadow of the towering Gunung Rinjani volcano which boasts some of the most underdeveloped coastline in Indonesia.

The beach is not ideal for swimming –- the coral beds would cut your feet to ribbons. But there are pools everywhere.

One evening we strolled to the local amphitheatre to watch a traditional dance by enchanting children with painted faces and colourful costumes.

But sadly, after what seemed like five minutes and not nearly enough cups of ginger tea, it was time to leave. I have to admit that this was a slightly daunting prospect – on the way home we had seven hours to wait in Singapore.

We shouldn’t have worried. If this happens to you, don’t hesitate to leave the airport and explore the city. It’s a quick shuttle into the centre and Singapore is a marvellous place, clean and easy on the eye.

Back home, I came across those old head carvings again, which I’ve put up on a beam. I look at them with renewed affection and think of mother and father and of Bali Hai.

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