A typical guest chalet features glass walls and exposed beams. (Photo by BIBSY M. CARBALLO)

As a high school student, we spent summer vacations with our mom, visiting exotic places in Southeast Asia. We can’t remember most of those trips today. But one of the most vivid memories that remain is a trip to Bali, Indonesia. We had stayed in a Balinese hut that stood by the rice paddies. There we sipped tea on a makeshift porch, musing on the similarities between the Philippine and Indonesian cultures, and watching bare-breasted women with baskets on their heads nonchalantly walking by.

This was the scene we had hoped to return to last month when we again visited Bali. We knew in our heart that it could never be the same, just as the sight of Igorot and Kalinga bare-breasted natives are a thing of the past. The Balinese women, however, although fully clothed, still carry their baskets on their heads.

This time, we stayed at Kamandalu Resort and Spa in Ubud, Bali. We felt this place had been conceived for people like us who insist on reliving memories. It is a luxurious five-star boutique resort of 58 villas built in the traditional style of a Balinese village, amidst rice terraces and forests, atop the swirling Petanu River. A wisp of a girl, who could pass for a teenager, welcomed us. She is Vincentia Tri Astuti, who works in the marketing communications department of the resort. She is a friend of our driver-guide Gembong Nurrasa. Shetold us she had just finished schooling in Amsterdam and has returned home to put to practice what she had learned.

 As the only Hindu enclave in an archipelago of 17,000 islands (at least 10, 000 more than our country’s 7, 100 islands!) largely populated by Muslims, Bali is known as the Island of the Gods Pulau Dewata. Indeed, we couldn’t help notice its similarity to our very own Pulo ng mga Diwata.

Although there must be at least a dozen boutique resorts nestling in the valleys of Ubud with the same attractions of nature and the ever present rice terraces, we must admit to a feeling of warmth as Vincentia proudly shares the fact that Kamandalu is unique in its own manner. These boutique resorts are small (only 50 or so rooms they call villas) and they stress heavily on connecting with nature, one’s inner self, and the environment. They carry names that have to do with the spirit, harmony with nature, the psychic being; and are right on target with the world’s latter day realization of the effects of climate change.

The name Kamandalu, adopted from Sanskrit, refers to “the vessel that holds the Holy Water,” which means one must break away from the outer world to purify his spirit. Everything at Kamandalu demonstrates this search for peace and the elixir of life, in its wooden architecture of large windows and thatched roofing held up by typical Balinese exposed wooden slabs, courtyards with wooden decks, and water everywhere. The village atmosphere is mimicked in modern Balinese clusters of villas that are separated for privacy and contemplation.

The resort, nevertheless, brings its devotion to nature a little further. Balinese farmers are tasked to maintain the authentic rice paddies that surround Kamandalu from planting to harvest time,  utilizing that uniquely Balinese method of irrigation called the Subak-subak. This involves religious rituals performed during the various growing stages of planting rice.

Its tree planting program has attracted the participation of celebrities from various countries and is one of its most successful forms of environmental preservation events. Fruit-bearing trees like the pomelo, mangosteen, water apple, fragrant nutmeg, and the favorite building and furniture material teakwood are among those regularly planted in the resort’s gardens. For its meals, the Chef’s Garden grows ginger, tomatoes, garlic, and other organic vegetables.
Guests who happen to be avid birdwatchers will alaso have reason to rejoice.  Every night, Kamandalu brings its guests to the Petulu Village, a kilometer away, to watch hundreds of the famous tropical White Herons (Ardea Alba) return home to their nests when darkness falls.

Kamandalu’s location is less than an hour from Bali’s international airport at Denpasar, and eight minutes or so from downtown Ubud.    Of the 58 villas of Kamandalu, eight are two-person chalets, the cheapest of the lot at US$400 and even for Pinoys, quite affordable, especially when you consider the exemplary services rendered. The rest are duplex villas with combination upper and lower bedrooms for large families traveling together, and pool villas that provide a personal pool for those truly in search of privacy. Spa services are to die for, and all First World amenities are available.   

The resort is perfect for couples on a honeymoon. We can’t think of a more romantic and beautiful place on earth to cap a wedding than Ubud in Bali. We swear, not even Paris comes close!