For as far as I can remember, I am not a person who leaves the decision so late on traveling. Having said that, I know Maurilla’s is coming and I had been looking for a place for us to stay. I knew we would be just in time after moving to a new house and this would be a nice surprise to get away from moving.
My search for this place started with a post I saw once on Instagram laying on the net and overlooking a lush rice terrace field. Over the years, there are many villas that provide this view. And finding one of them was rather easy. There are many accounts on Instagram that gather other people’s photos and soon enough I have found the place with the net bed. It is called Veluvana, located in Sidemen. It is on the east of Ubud. The villa is single standing and made entirely of bamboo. The car ride from our home in Nusa Dua is only 1,5 hours. Soon after, I booked the place via Airbnb for one night, the night before her birthday. We were staying only for 1 night because the place is quite expensive (EUR179,-) per night. But it was worth it for such occasions. I remembered booking this place when we were in the Netherlands.
Maurilla had no idea where we were going. I told her that we are going to stay in a tent. So on the day before her birthday, I was packing our tent, sleeping bags, and carriers. Soon thereafter, we started driving to the place. I think Sidemen area is quite similar to Ubud, it is very lush and green. However, I think it is more hilly/mountainy and very much less crowded than Ubud. But that comes with a drawbacks as well, namely very few restaurants nearby.
We arrived there around 3 PM, the villa has its own entrance with a parking space. Few steep stone stairs lead us to the actual villa. We were first greeted with a small but cozy swimming pool. But as soon as we stepped into the Villa, we were greeted by the view of Sidemen’s rice terrace including farmers who were still working their land. The first floor of the villa is an outdoor space, it has a kitchen with full appliances (stove, water heater, fridge, and sink), and also an outdoor shower and toilet. Of course, you can close this with a curtain. The living room was quite generous overlooking the terrace fields with a hanging daybed. The second floor was much more generous, there area a king bed, a massage table, a set of a coffee table, a balcony, and the gem of it all – a net bed overlooking Mt. Agung. Every angle of this place is very picturesque and the level of detail is second to none. The coat hanger is made from bamboo, the clothes hanger, the door hinges, and locks and made from bamboo as well. I also love the stone sink in the bathroom and the cooper’s tap.
And of course, Maurilla was surprised, but she was expecting we were not going to camp and she was prying all the way in the car. So we unpack our belonging, leaving our tent and sleeping bag in the car of course. Alana was immediately busy with a book and Maurilla and I was just enjoying each other company. Soon the sun settling in, we had order dinner in the Villa because we did not feel like exploring. I ordered chicken curry, Maurilla order sate lilit, and we order Tuna steaks for Alana. The meals are prepared in house, there is a kitchen up by the car park. While we wait for the dinner, I and Alana took a shower in the open enjoying the Sidemen fresh air.
Soon after, our dinner arrived. The taste was pretty good, except Alana’s was too salty. We especially requested less salt for her but sadly this was overlooked. We spent some more time downstairs enjoying the fading sun. We went upstairs and closed our beds with a net. There is no AC in this villa, but I assure you we do not need one. Sidemen is quite a high place hence it is nice and chills at night. Once Alana and Maurilla, I went downstairs and took some night shot of the Villa and then went to bed.
Me and Maurilla woke up rather early, we both moved to the net bed and took some photos. After that we lay there and enjoyed the rest of the morning until Alana woke up and joined us. We ordered a nasi goreng for breakfast and Maurilla ordered a bread with jam (American breakfast). Breakfast was really sufficient for us and Alana also enjoyed some parts of it. Soon after, we were joined in the Villa by one of the management of the Villa. He had offered us a tour of Sidemen and a late checkout. He was asking us if we would be interested in investing in Sidemen area by buying a land and so on. He told us that this Villa cost him IDR 500 Million. Something that I would have thought would cost more. Unfortunately, we have to declined him since the day was Monday, and I plan to work in the afternoon. But we exchanged phone number if we would be interested to the tour of Sidemen. In which I actually am. I would be nice to have a small plot of land where we can build a small villa to getaway on weekends. Apart form the wishful thinking, we continued to shower soon after he leaves. We took some more family photos and headed back to Nusa Dua. It was nice to discover other parts of Bali. People perception is normally Ubud or Seminyak in Bali, but there are so much more to this island that we are so eager to discovers!
