Ubud, Bali – a couple of years ago

Ahhhh … the serenity! The peace is amazing. A kitten who wandered onto my deck to greet me is now meowing in the garden. Cicadas (or their Indonesian cousins) and frogs make their presence known, but it is not intrusive – far from it, it is in fact peaceful. The ceiling fan loops and the only other noise is me breathing.

I can’t believe the sheer size of my home for the next week – my deck has a daybed, low table with cushions covered in traditional Balinese material, a table (good for writing if I can ever move myself from the daybed) and two chairs. The lovely young boy who showed me to my room half an hour ago couldn’t believe all I wanted for breakfast was green tea and pancakes – ‘that’s not enough, you’ll need more – see how you feel in the morning’.

My room has a double height thatched roof, not one but two day beds to choose from, a writing desk and a low table with four cushions. My four poster queen bed has mozzie nets I was going to try to do without, but I fear my A+ blood is too alluring to the small pests. (What a shame Edward Cullen isn’t here!)

My bathroom is two steps down and open to the elements – divine and complete with three geckos on the walls. They scampered at our first meeting. I hope they realise soon enough that I welcome them as my pets for the week.

From my deck there is another smaller room. I thought this was another guest room so was speaking quietly, but the young man who bought me my tea told me I could use that room too if I wanted to … a peek inside shows a king single 4 poster bed with mozzie net, and it’s own outdoor bathroom – I could have had a friend come after all, but then I wouldn’t have focused on why I am really here!