a room with a view

I’d like to take you on a journey, away from the traffic and street hawkers, to my favorite place to be. Its quite a drive, but well worth it once you get there. As you leave the craziness of Kuta behind, you will feel yourself relax, and start to breath. The air becomes fresher, and the traffic less. Once we turn on to the village road, we are forced to slow right down. The road is just wide enough for one car, and newly paved, its impossible to go faster than 10 km per hour. The villagers are not used to cars, and ours is the only one there, following the path that has been created through the jungle. It follows the natural lie of the land, with scarily steep inclines up and down. Driving through, feels like being on a natural roller-coaster, with a sheer drop on one side, and cliff face on the other. We call out to the people we meet along the way, as they gather grass for their animals, and wood for their fires. The pace of life is so different here, no one is in a hurry, its a world away from where we left just an hour earlier. Its as if time has stood still here. The people are wearing simple sarong clothing, and carrying wood on their heads, to use for cooking.

I would love to stop and chat, to get in to the minds of these people but I want to take you to my special place, which is just a little further now. We wind along the narrow path, through tropical forest, and finally arrive at our destination. We stop on the side of the road, and enter the large gateway. Inside, is an oasis of coconut palms, orange trees, and  flowers of every color you can imagine. We walk through the lush surroundings to a little gazebo, nestled in among the flowers. This simple wooden structure consists of a thatched roof over a wooden frame, inside there is a mattress and pillows, and space for 2 or 3 people. The pillows are wonderfully plump and soft, and as we climb in, we feel ourselves melt in to them.  The inside walls are lined with books that I have collected over the years. This is my reading space, and I love to relax here and enjoy the quiet, with the scent of the flowers in my nose, and the wonderful bird song in my ears. The breeze blows softly, through the bamboo wind-chimes that hang outside, and we are lulled in to a wonderful reverie.

As we relax in this wonderful space,  a villager approaches and offers to pick a coconut for us to drink. He shimmies up the coconut tree with such ease, and brings down a couple of green coconuts for us. He opens the top with a sharp knife, and pours the milk in to a glass. It tastes so refreshing, as it goes down my throat, I can never have enough of it. I could stay here all day, relaxing, reading and enjoying this wonderful Room with a View.