We fell in love with the land and the place and built a house at the
edge of a village surrounded by rice fields and with a breathtaking
view of the sea. We realized our dream: to live within walking distance
of the ocean, to experience the growth and wealth of the tropical
nature, to be part of a peaceful community. We want to share the dream.
On Bali people live outdoors. There are no doors. The garden is
part of the living room. The wind from sea blows gently along the
dinner table, the kitchen and the couch to the lotus pond, the terrace,
and the swimming pool and to the palms near the temple against the
back wall of the garden.
The bedrooms all have air conditioning to keep the sleep cool,
but during day time the windows can be opened to let in the sea
breeze. On the balcony of the bedroom you have your breakfast in
the morning and at sunset a beer, the sea aquamarine, tangerine
or almost black. The sky is aflame. Sometimes a tropical shower
pours down.
On Bali people live outdoors. There are no doors. The garden is
part of the living room
The feeling that you had as a child when you crawled away in a
tent or a tree-hut will return when you sit in the baleh bengong.
To read, dream, sleep, eat a pisang, have a fruit punch. It is next
to the swimming pool. If it gets to hot, you dive in.
The gods have their own home within our home. Two temples dedicated
to the Balinese gods keep peace and happiness in and demons out.
Daily the servant brings offerings to the gods: little baskets with
flowers and fruit.
As soon as the world wakes up, the birds start singing and the
earth blushes like a bride, nothing is more wonderful than to walk
to the sea, look at the foaming waves of the ocean and the beautiful
shells whipped ashore. You are alone except for a fisherman who
throws his nets in the sea and draws his catch in.
Your evening stroll takes you to the village. Now and then you
see a large mat partly on the road with rice drying on it. At the
warung a man squats down to grill sateh. He laughs and raises his
hand in greeting. Boys drive their scooters over the road as in
the past they drove their small horses through the fields. A woman
carries a big basket on her head. She has done her laundry in the
kali. A man on his bicycle passes with an enormous bunch of bamboo
on the carrier. You smell nasi goreng en kretek-cigarettes. Also
the flowers: frangipani, melati, jasmine.
