Posted by lauren on Friday, 9. October 1998 at 06:34 Bali Time:
In Reply to: More tips after my month in Bali posted by Milt on Friday, 9. October 1998 at 03:53 Bali Time:
We too stayed at Puri Lumbung Cottages, and it was one of the highlights of our trip. We only stayed 1 night, and I wish we had been able to stay longer. The area is beautiful, and there is a lot to do. It rained while we were there, so we couldn't do much hiking, but they have a lot of really interesting sounding hiking itineraries -- they have trails that follow the routes of people fleeing the Dutch, they have routes which take you along the irrigation system (Bali has a very impressive irrigation system that's worth learning about), they have trips to waterfalls, temples, etc.
The people who work there are wonderful. I took a cooking class (demonstration, really). A woman from the village came to give me the class, and a guy from the hotel translated for me. The class was 3 hours long and the food was enough to feed 3 or 4 people. It was BY FAR the best meal I had in Bali. The guy from the hotel told me a lot about Bali and the Munduk region and was happy to teach me about their culture.
They also took people to a wedding in the town. We decided not to go since our guide in Ubud (American who is married to a Balinese and has lived in Bali for 25 years) said that while tourists are tolerated at weddings, they are not really welcome -- it would be akin to a tourist crashing one of our weddings. However the co-op with the town of Munduk is so good that this is not the case here -- the townspeople truly welcome the guests. If I had this opportunity again, I would go.
They work to bring tourists and the town together. They prepare presents for you to bring to the wedding, and offerings for you to give if you go on any of the temple walks.
But I rave on too long.