Cempaka Belimbing Villas

Realm of the Big Trees: Pupuan

Cempaka Belimbing Pool

Deep in the mountains of west Bali’s Tabanan Regency is the faraway district of Papuan, a coffee, clove and rice growing region of towering trees and twisting mountain roads. This unspoiled area on the slopes of Mt. Batukaru has some of the most magnificent rice field scenery on the island, the bounty of its harvest renowned for its robust flavor. The area also supplies fruit, cacao, vanilla and herbs for the domestic and export markets. Exotic trees such as durian, mangosteen, rambutan, duku and white mango grace the countryside.

To reach the place of the big trees we first had to take the road of the big trucks two hours out of Denpasar west along the coastal highway to Antosari, then head directly north in the direction of Seririt. The district is also reachable by driving one hour south from Bali’s north coast. There are a limited number of hotels and restaurants along this entire stretch of road. One of the area’s most unique is the Cempaka Belimbing Guest Villas in the mountain village of Suradadi. Cempaka Belimbing has received prestigious awards for its environment and social policies which strive to maintain a harmonious balance between man, nature and the surrounding communities. The hotel is held out as a model for other small resorts in Bali to aspire to.

As we turned in from the highway, a long wide paved street ascended uphill to a forested area at the top. The resort, consisting of 16 spacious villas built out of local materials, sprawled under trees to both the north and south sides of the road. It was late afternoon and raining and overcast. The hotel manager, a kind and attentive host from Amlapura by the name of Made Sepel told me, “It rains a lot here”. The resort can accommodate groups of up to 48 people, occupying both lower half-hectare section and the upper section of one whole hectare. Especially popular with Europeans because of its quiet and perpetually green landscapes, Pupuan’s elevation of 500-800 meters assure cool temperatures year around, the perfect antidote to the stressed mental state brought about by Bali’s hot and frenetic coasts. The climate is so bracing that the hotel literature cautions guests to test the water first before jumping into the swimming pool.

The Effervescent French

I have a bias for hotels that have not yet been written up by scores of travelers in Trip Advisor, the online travel website. This resort had only three evaluations, only one them in English. The paucity of reviews does not reflect upon the quality of the accommodations but upon its remoteness. At night the predominant sound are crickets and in the mornings birds and distant crowing roosters. I and my two daughters were given a bungalow in the upper section at some distance from the bulk of the guests, a group of 41 French tourists who – we were told - indulge in their voluptuous love of food and drink late until into the night. Our bungalow, named after the salak snakeskin fruit, sat at the top of a steep grassy palm-studded slope dotted with colorful shrubbery with a narrow stream at the bottom. The misty slopes of Mount Batukaru rose up behind.

The Indovision cable TV service could get only two Western channels (CNN and HBO) and the only access to the internet was in the office. Just as well. We didn’t come all the way up here to stay plugged into the grid. Moreover, Cempaka Belimbing’s policy is to get the guests out of their rooms. It’s the only resort I’ve ever stayed in where a guided trek is included in the room tariff, making exploring the area irresistible if not obligatory. That evening we attended a five-part dance performance put on by the village children: a welcoming dance (pendet), warrior dance (baris), masked dance (tari jauk), and the famous flirting dance (tari joged bumbung) in which the French, by this time in their cups, hilariously took part. Who but the French are served wine and hors d’ oeuvres during a village dance performance?

Bali By Bike

Ever since the Dutch painter W.O.J. Nieuwenkamp was the first to tour the island by bicycle in 1906, cycling has been a popular outdoor recreation for tourists on Bali. The activity has been made even more popular by the iconic image of Julia Roberts cycling down a Bali country road in the movie Eat, Pray, Love. Like Julia, the trick is finding the untrafficked roads.

The next morning at 8:30 am, Wayan - helmeted and suited up with spandex like a long-distance racer – was waiting in the street outside. One of the three gardeners working at the resort, he was taking time out from harvesting rice and will go right back to that task when he finishes leading the tourists. Mounting brand new mountain bikes, we cruised just 300 meters down the road for the start of our roller coaster journey through the pastoral world of Bali. The day before I had seen some determined looking cyclists gathering outside the community hall near the start of this popular cross country downhill ride down to the sea.

We set off at 9 am on the 15-km-long-route. After a few dips, the ride began in earnest over a ribbon-candy road until we hit a bigger road south. We stayed on this road more or less straight all the way down to the coast. At first it was difficult trying to figure out the right combination of gears for climbing and cruising until Made told us to just keep the right shifter in first. This simplified matters as this gear could be used for both up and downhill. A few descents were so severe that 18-year-old Muji, normally fearless, had to pause to build up her confidence. Some hills were so steep that after pedaling furiously uphill it was easier just to get off and push. Though it was a Saturday, few vehicles traveled these quiet back roads, only an occasional jeep, lumbering truck, Jimny or motorbike. About one-half of the way was hard topped, the other half rubbly and potholed but no problem for our highly agile mountain bikes.

We passed vignettes that can only be seen by penetrating into the far hinterlands of Bali – endless verdant rice terraces, small temple complexes under waringan trees, goat corrals, mustachioed men stroking their fighting cocks, vistas of dark gray mountains, empty farmhouses, orchards of chocolate trees. Wayan pointed to some blackened pods. For the past 10 years a mysterious disease has infected the cacao, one of the main agricultural products of the area. “They can’t find a cure,” he explained. “It could be flies, it could be the fertilizer. No one knows”. As our bright red bikes and equally strange iridescent helmets passed by, babies wailed, children scampered, country dogs angrily defended their territory, ducks scurried away, cows bolted off into paddocks and whole schoolyards full of cheering kids erupted in glee. Beyond the village of Angka, we stopped at a cremation grounds backed by thick forest where women were preparing offerings on a bamboo platform. Wayan and the women went through the usual exchange - what village are you from, what’s your family name - until inevitably one of the women recalled one of Wayan’s cousins.

At 11:30 am we arrived at the main highway connecting Denpasar and Gilimanuk and waited for an opening in the heavy traffic. The Srijong sea temple lay 300 meters down the road opposite. After touring the grounds and the bat caves on the beach below, the driver and Wayan took the wheels off several of the bikes to fit them all into the back of the hotel car. We drove past Soka Beach for 3 km to the intersection at Antosari again, then started back up the mountain, all of us feeling quite smug about our accomplishment.

Pondok Baca Reading Room

Earlier that afternoon kids had started to gather in the library of the local community center, just 500 meters down the road from the Cempaka Belimbing Villas. A reading program, Pondok Baca, established by the Rotary Club of Kuta with the help of other Rotary clubs around the world, had donated over 6000 books to the library. The impressive paperback and hardback collection was housed in beautiful hand built wooden cabinets. About 200 books are added yearly.

Open from 9 am to 5 pm, the library lends books out for a week at no charge to 200 registered pupils from Grades 2 to 6 who live in the surrounding banjars. After school each day, groups of children can be seen with friends or parents heading down the district’s country roads to the library. Transportation is even provided by the hotel for children who live far away. Forty or so children were reading on the floor in front of Pak Made. What kinds of books do they like to read? The boys liked books about football and the girls books about Barbie dolls and geography. “How many want to be a teacher?” Three kids raised their hands. “How many want to be a doctor?” Twelve hands shot up. A girl then stood up and read aloud a fairytale about a princess. She was shy at first, but soon warmed proudly to the task. A computer sat neglected on a table in the corner.

The Karyasari Hike

The hotel car was ready the next morning to take us to the village of Karyasari (north of Suradadi) which retains the same atmosphere that existed in rural Bali decades ago. Practicing the traditional an age-old subak irrigation system, this area is so scenic that the Cempaka Belimbing gives free guided walks there. We drove north for three kilometers, taking a right next to the police post onto a country road to Wanagiri. We descended into a river valley, drove over a bridge, then further on parked at a T-junction. The one-hour climb straight uphill passed unbroken rice fields to either side. We cut through a forest bisected by a small stream, then scrambled up a muddy kampung trail to a main road. Dogs, unfamiliar with the sight and smell of tourists, hounded us all the way. On our last night, finding ourselves occupying Cempaka Belimbing in between two Smailing tour groups, we had the whole place to ourselves and were serenaded by a women’s gamelan group until well into the evening when suddenly the clanging bronze keys stopped and the deep stillness of the night enveloped us as we walked back to our bungalow through the quiet resort.

Practicalities

Cempaka Belimbing Guest Villas, Br. Suradadi, Belimbing, Pupuan, Tabanan, tel. +62.361.7451179, fax. +62.361.752777, website: www.cempakabelimbing.com For take public transport, first get a bus to Antosari, then take anggota umum (two stops) up to the Cempaka Belimbing.

Rates: US$80 single or double including breakfast. Valley View $100, Deluxe $120; lunch $10, dinner $15. KITAS holders: Valley View Rp550.000, Deluxe Rp650,000. All prices subject to 15% tax and service. Satellite TV, fridge, large verandah. Swimming pool and jacuzzi overlook rice paddies and gardens. The guided cycling trip down to Srijong Temple on the beach is USD$25 per person; ask for a map of the route. Reserve four hours in advance. Massages Rp180,000 per hour.

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Copyright © 2011 Al Hickey

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