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TRAVEL
242
April15
The staff here at Villa Pushpapuri are
all stationed at the back of the property
but they are available with the push of
a button, so it’s perfect. There’s a little
pantry where you can make yourself a
cup of tea or grab a Bintang out of the
fridge. Self-sufficiency and solitude is
what I’m after, until the rest of the crew
arrive. The internet is great so I have
caught up on work and now I’m waiting
for a
mee goreng
for lunch – and the
massage lady later on.
Villa Pushpapuri is not that far from
the airport with the new toll road, which
for a dollar more is well worth taking. It
took us only 30 minutes in the evening
and there was no traffic. Very un-Bali-like!
The villa is quite “old school” – lots
of wood and Balinese-style furnishings,
though it does have the luxury of having
no neighbours, plenty of space and
being right on the beach, with an estuary
off to the left. There’s also a “man
cave” downstairs with bar, dartboard
and snooker table, so you can keep
yourselves very occupied. It’s a good
place to go with four couples for a
weekend bash, and the cost averages
out to around $100 a night per person
if there are eight of you – or lower,
depending on the time of year.
My “room” has a patio overlooking
the sea, and that’s where I plonk myself
to do some work. The long lap-pool
is in front of me, and it’s the perfect
temperature (27 degrees), so I’ve been
in several times. There’s also a deck
area in front of the outdoor bar; it’s
almost on the beach, and I managed
to get a little burnt there earlier this
morning. I always forget to pack the
second most important thing after a
passport: sunscreen!
There are plenty of places to eat
and drink in Sanur if you don’t want to
go to the bright lights of Seminyak, so
we will try some of them. And we’ll go
to Seminyak tomorrow instead – for a
clothes-shopping spree!
There are four separate bedrooms
similar to mine, but mine is the master
bedroom; it sits beneath a study and a
den that can also be used for children’s
bedrooms. The main man at Villa
Pushpapuri is Made; this is a very
common name, given to almost all
second-born children in Bali, while most
firstborn children are namedWayan – so
it’s very easy to remember names! Adi
is my “butler”; he makes me breakfast
and he’s lovely. There is something
special about the Balinese people, and
it’s obviously one of the reasons why
so many people make it their home or
second home. Property values have shot
through the roof in the last two years.
I end up going to dinner at a friend’s
house; she has lived in Bali for many
years. Gill Wilson is an interior designer
and has her own business on the island;
she has also built two houses in Sanur
and lives in the smaller of the two. It’s
been an experience, but one she’s not
sure she would repeat. Still, the result
is well worth it and the houses are
beautifully made and decorated. Sanur
is a good residential area for expats –
still fairly green and with a villagey feel to
it, yet with all you need as far as eating
and drinking goes.
We make a full day of our clothes-
shopping trip to Seminyak as it’s quite
a drive. Most of the time is spent
covering a very small area at the top
end, near Grocer & Grind, though we
still manage to make a significant dent
on the credit card! There’s another new
coffee place, Revolver, that’s trending
on all the search engines; we try there
first but it’s heaving, so we stick with the
tried and tested.