Bambu Indah is a magical place: after our stay, I returned to life somehow changed forever.
We arrive to a warm welcome and a cool drink, and are shown to our dwelling. Descriptions are bound to fall short, as these buildings are truly unique. Piece by hand-hewn-teak piece, they have been carefully transported from their origins as bridal homes in Java over to Ubud, and reassembled. All eleven of them now perch on the edge of a beautiful ravine with the Ayung river flowing below.
Lush gardens, mostly vegetable producing, that feed the restaurant and hotel guests as well as the live-in community, cover the grounds. And all this beside pristine jungle that falls down the sides of the gully to the river below. Beyond the river, which can be heard all over the property, fields of rice and coconut palms dominate the picturesque view.
From our place named Jawa Lama, which was one of the first buildings to be re-erected here, the view is beautiful. Just a few metres around a rustic recycled timber walkway is a fresh water pool filtered only by volcanic rock, special algae and a few small fish. Kids can climb a coconut palm and jump in or swing tarzan-style on a rope and splash in. It’s really refreshing to see such divine natural designs.
By the pool you can gaze one way at the generous valley below, or the other at a Javanese master-built structure made from black bamboo as a space for yoga or quiet contemplation.
Overall, there’s little to say about this place other than, when are you going? I almost want to keep it a secret so that it stays just the way it is, but that’s just not in the warm and sharing spirit of the place. So go and enjoy the beautiful simple food and the panoramic view and all the small unforgettable touches this place has to offer.
Beautiful words of Bambu Indah Boutique Hotel by an even more beautiful Alena Russell. x
