Surprises in Store at the Komaneka Bisma in Ubud

May 25, 2009

In Ubud. It took about 1 hour to get from Denpasar airport to the town of Ubud. I was immediately struck by the difference in appearance between Bali and Java for two reasons: one, Bali is much more oriented toward tourism than Java and two, the difference between the Hindu religion (Bali) and the Muslim religion (in Java). In Bali there are shrines at the entrance to every building, no matter what kind. Often there is some sort of religious statuary “dressed” in black and white cloth. In Java you see nothing of the kind. Just women in headscarves on scooters, whereas in Bali you see almost no headscarves. Java is much more humble and quite; Bali is flashy, relatively speaking, like a tropical version of Miami Beach, but prettier.

Our sense of things changed a bit when we got to Ubud. This area I’d call Canyon Road with rice paddies. I’ve never seen so many shops and galleries on streets that wind up and down hills. At some point we turned right and drove along a flooded road (between rice fields) and then turned right again and headed down a very steep hill. Our hotel, the Komaneka Bisma, was at the bottom.

We were astonished by the beauty of this hotel and its location, as the building slops down the terraced hillside. The lobby has enormous tables made from one piece of wood. The lobby is located on the fourth floor (the top floor) and you take the elevator down to the second floor to get to our room. We have a large sitting area and flat screen TV; a huge king size bed covered with rose petals, a bedroom sized room just for our luggage, etc etc. Oh yes – and our terrace looks down at cascading rice terraces and an infinity pool!

Went to dinner in town to celebrate Jill’s birthday and returned to the hotel for (you guessed it) a massage! A person comes to your room to pick you up and guide you to the spa which is located way down the hillside, past the infinity pool. In the spa room – there are only three walls. One of the walls is a WATERFALL that creates a beautiful soothing sound throughout. There is water everywhere – flower petals everywhere. Glorious. I will take pictures today to post.