Asian Villas Direct

Bali villas for rent are available all over the island. Originally they were mainly clustered in the south of the island but in recent years, as demand increases, there are Bali villas for rent everywhere. They offer a more luxurious experience of Bali which can be enhanced by talking to local people about their daily lives. One such conversation, many years ago, reveals another side of Bali which one needs to dig to expose.

The conversation was with a village elder, ‘Ka’, who was widely known in the area as a ‘magic man’. He said his age was ‘over a hundred’ and he looked every year of this; his smiling eyes looking out from a leathery face with a huge dreadlock piled up on top of his head. He lived in a little house made predominantly from mud and sticks and although this sounds awful, it was actually very comfortable. His story was told to me via an interpreter as the only language Ka spoke was Old Balinese.

One night, he revealed, he had gone to bed as usual shortly after dark, around 7pm, settling down for a good 8 hours of shut eye. It was not long after he had fallen asleep when he was called out of his home by a wild, angry demon who summoned him as he knew Ka was the magical protector of the village. To enter the dreams of other villagers, the demon would first have to defeat Ka, so he challenged him to a fight.

The conflict was fierce and raged far and wide through the local rainforest. Both opponents flew at immense speeds up and down the valleys; magical fire-balls were thrown and thunderbolts tore the air. Ka’s sleep was very restless and his dream made him cry out in the darkness and woke his wife. The battle raged on, sometimes hand to hand, the combatants were locked in a titanic struggle for supremacy. Finally, Ka gathered all his strength and the strength of his ancestors and flung the demon with incredible force at a huge mango tree. The demon slammed into a branch which snapped with an ear-splitting crack and he fell dead to the ground.

Ka awoke in a cold sweat, jumped out of bed and went to sit on the hillside and smoke a cigarette. Dawn was just breaking and there was no way he could return to sleep. At full light, he made his way into the village and gathered a crowd of young and old men to him and animatedly told his story. The older men nodded appreciatively but the younger ones dismissed it as a bad dream. But the elders wanted to demonstrate the truth of the magical world to their youngsters so an expedition was organized.

It took most of the day for Ka to lead them through the forest and he showed them where he had pursued the demon past Bali villas for rent, down the long valley and back up the next. Much of the path was through dense jungle and the going was tough. Finally, in a part of the forest which had obviously not been visited for a long time, Ka excitedly shouted, ‘Over there, over there’, and pointed to a huge, ancient mango tree. On arriving at the base of its trunk, the old men were satisfied to see that very recently a huge branch had been torn from the trunk and was lying fresh on the ground, the leaves barely wilted. The old men saw this as proof of the reality of Ka’s dream and the young men could only wonder that it had been proven to be real!

Ka died a few years ago but just over the wall of many Bali villas for rent there are many Ka’s with many stories just as interesting and just as mind boggling, for there are many sides to Bali and some are beyond explanation!

Many people travel with computers and it is an essential item for many people to bring with them on holiday. Digital photographs need to be copied from cameras and then sent to friends on Facebook with the inevitable caption, ‘Look at our fabulous Bali villa’. Getting connected is fairly easy and most villas in Bali will come complete with Wi-Fi access as standard. Even if they don’t, it only costs a few tens of dollars to get a USB 3G dongle and be online very quickly. Most computer shops in Bali will be able to supply the dongle and the expertise to set it up. These internet solutions are not as cheap to use as they would be in your own country but they are not outrageous and judicious use of the connection means the cost will not be an issue.

One major issue for computer users in Bali, especially for those who have machines which have been in use for some time, is overheating. Older machines often suffer more seriously from overheating because they are more likely to have their CPU cooling systems clogged with dust and fluff. The first sign that there might be a problem could be the computer running incredibly slow before switching itself off. Virtually all portable computers cool themselves by blowing cool air across a heat-sink which conducts the heat away from the CPU (the computer’s brain) and other high temperature components. In a temperate country, this is a very efficient cooling method, as the difference between the ambient temperature and the safe working temperature of the CPU is likely to be at least 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit). In your Bali villa, with an average environmental temperature of around 30 degrees Celsius, this difference is severely eroded. That means that the amount of cooling available is considerably less. Any blockage of the cooling system can lead to the computer shutting down and, in the worst case, damage to critical (read expensive to fix) components.

So what to do? First is to make sure the coolant path is clear – i.e. there is not an obvious build up of fluff in the fan vents and they are not obscured by objects next to them. Second is always use your laptop on a hard surface – a desk or table or such, and never on a bed or a sofa cushion etc. These can obscure the vents and lead to damage.  If you can, use your machine in an air-conditioned environment and keep the machine as much as possible out of direct sunlight. Finally, a recent cooling solution is the ‘cooling pad’. This is a sloping plastic box with two, three or four fans under the top which blow a large volume of air onto the underside of your computer. These are available in most computer shops for under twenty dollars and get their power from any USB port. Villas in Bali often have a desktop computer for guest use and these are often filled with noisy fans. If in doubt, follow the code above and chatting to friends back home will be a pain-free experience for you and your computer!

Bali villas for rent are a relatively new phenomenon, having only really come to the fore in the past decade and a half. They were born from the expatriate community renting their own houses whilst on holiday, often for extended sojourns back to their home countries. Many people came to Bali in the 80’s and 90’s and found success in the export business, mainly in clothing, jewellery and handicrafts and latterly in furniture. They made new lives in Bali, building wonderful homes which they adapted and extended until many of them were veritable palaces. Many of the people who rented these homes were friends, or friends of friends, and with the help of villa rental companies such as Indovillas, this soon grew into a lucrative business.

With the growth in the tourism sector, people started purpose-building Bali villas for rent. These are generally constructed in neo-tropical style; large open spaces and multiple bedrooms usually with en-suite bathrooms. There is usually a large lounge area with several different seating areas to suit different activities and, these days, a home theatre space with large flat screen TV and a DVD library. Some villas have a library of movies and TV shows on computer which can be played on the main TV or in the bedrooms. Often the kitchen and dining room are in a separate pavilion and are very well equipped. Many villas employ a full or part time cook, trained to satisfy an eclectic range of tastes. It is well worth spending time finding out the capacities of your cook, which will probably range from home-style Indonesian, through Chinese and Indian to Italian and ‘Fast Food’.

Almost all Bali villas will have a very decent swimming pool, often with an adjoining Jacuzzi and almost all with some kind of roofed relaxation platform, commonly known as a Bali Balé. This is a wonderful place to spend much of your vacation and is likely to become a focal point, with drinks and snacks served at all hours of the day and night!

The Bali villa holiday has rapidly become the main choice of the well-informed holidaymaker as it provides a more exclusive holiday experience than the often impersonal hotel room – and even better, with a small group of family or friends, the Bali villa holiday can also be a darn sight cheaper!

During their stay in a Bali villa, most people will want to take a spa treatment. This is the first of a series of reviews of the great range of superb treatments available within minutes of your Bali villa rental which will become one of the enduring memories of your vacation.

Mandara Spa at The Padma in Legian is a delightful venue for an exceptional spa experience. The Mandara group began in Bali over a decade and a half ago and their first spa was in the Bali villa complex of The Chedi in the mountains above Ubud in the centre of the island. Today they have branches from Hollywood to Bollywood and almost all places in between, and when you experience the quality of treatments at the Mandara at The Padma it is very easy to understand their popularity.

The spa lobby is a tranquil oasis, all curving lines, low-lit and calm and the smiling staff at the reception desk in front of you, are very welcoming. You are presented with a cold ginger tea and a towel is close to freezing. After choosing the desired treatment, you are ushered into one of their 8 single or 2 double spa suites and change into a sarong. The reviewer’s choice of treatment was a Warm Stone massage with a Steam Shower and to start, a soothing Aromatherapy Foot Bath and Skin Rub.

The Foot Rub was very pleasant, gently conducted and invigorating with the addition of sea salt and essential oils. The fifteen minute Steam Shower was a whole body cleanse in a purpose-built steam room which left one feeling open and expectant. So far, so good, all very well presented and nothing unexpected; and then to the Warm Stone Massage. The treatment begins with a gentle oil massage and then, a rub with hot, flat stones which gives a greater depth whilst still remaining soft. After each part of the body is massaged the stones are placed under the relevant pressure points, still radiating their healing warmth. The whole body, first the back, then the front, is massaged in this way and the effect is sublime. This is a massage to induce a near coma state of relaxation. It is deeply transcendental; and leaves one desperately wanting another and another; not because they are not satisfying, but because they most eminently are.

My therapist was Eka and she has been working at various Mandara spa’s for fourteen years. She is also a trainer and all the therapists are trained in Bali before beginning work in spas in other parts of the world. Back at my Bali villa rental I am still floating in a cloud of sweet oil aromas and open-pored smooth skin which feels strangely new and fits better around my body. Without hesitation I would give Mandara Spa 10 out of 10 for a supreme experience in a delightful setting. Thank you Mandara Spa!