BaliTrekk Boutique Hotel

If you find yourselves in the loud din of Kuta or the traffic jams of Denpasar or at the tour bus delivered crowds at various sites near Ubud, you might wonder whether Lonely Planet's summarization of Bali as "achingly beautiful scenery" is an outdated description from a bygone era. It's not. You just have to head out a bit further to find it. BaliTrekk is that place. Let me be clear. It's not near to anything of touristic value. But that's precisely what makes it so great. Here you experience the real Bali, where the culture, traditions, natural beauty, and the friendliness of its people comes alive. BaliTrekk is located in the typical village of Auman in the central mountains. At an elevation of 900 m above sea level, the weather is cool and pleasant. This part of Bali is made up of ridges separated by deep valleys. The roads and towns are usually on the ridges and the valleys and slopes are made up of rice paddies, terraced fields, vegetable gardens, and more. BaliTrekk's property drops down to the valley floor and here they grow their own vegetables that end up in the delicious meals that you eat there. From their porch, on a clear day, you have a view of the imposing Mount Agung in the distance. The owners John and Utami are lovely people. They go out of their way to tailor your trip to your needs. John can take you on guided treks through the forests and cut through the valleys to quickly take you to various places of interest, like the Bedugul Lake. But we decided to rent a scooter from them and explore Bali on our own. They rent out Utami's personal scooter, the ultra-comfortable Yamaha N-Max. And since it's her personal scooter, it's in great condition. Once you get past the early jitters of navigating the scooter on central Bali's twisty and narrow mountain roads, you'll really have fun as you see that Lonely Planet summarization of "achingly beautiful scenery" come alive all around you. John and Utami will also lend you their personal motorcycle gear (armored jackets, helmets) at no extra cost. What I found really touching was that on the second day, a more comfortable helmet was available (which John's son was using the previous day) and John gave me the more comfortable helmet even though I didn't ask for it. They really do go out of their way to make sure that you are comfortable and happy. At the property itself, Utami cooks up some amazing food. Ask her for the Indonesian vegetarian platter. It will be among the best Indonesian food that you will eat on your trip. The western food is good too, but we just couldn't have enough of the Indonesian vegetarian meals. John is a very chatty and friendly guy who will talk to you about your trip, tell you about his experiences and talk about Bali and Indonesia. There's a DVD player in the room and John has a selection of movies that you can borrow to watch after dinner. The bed is comfortable, the room is spacious, and there's plenty of hot water available to shower. Internet may be hard to get here. You can occasionally get Telkomsel 3G coverage, and the WiFi sometimes works, but plan to come here and enjoy the scenery and the tranquility. The connected world will always be there when you get back to the rat race. All in all, if you want to experience traditional Bali with very friendly hosts, definitely stay a few nights at BaliTrekk.