In Bali's hills, far from the madding crowds, Shandelle Battersby finds a perfectly positioned eco-resort.
One moment we were zipping along the narrow rural roads of central Bali listening to Michael Bolton, the next we were screeching to a stop to let three geese plod across the road in front of us.
They weren't the first locals we'd happened on during our journey - we'dencountered dogs, chooks and, of course, people - but they were the first not to get out of our way.
In this case, it was a good thing that the roads of rural Bali are as rough as guts: though we were moving at a fair clip, we weren't going as fast as we could have been, otherwise we might have been having those geese for dinner.
I'd arrived at Payangang in the middle of the night a few days earlier to experience life in the slow lane at Dara Ayu Villas and Spa, a boutique eco-resort set among working rice paddies about 40 minutes northwest of Ubud.
It was Kuningan, villa manager Adi explained, a Hindu festival which marks the end of Galungan, a 10-day period in which the gods come down to Earth to celebrate the death of a tyrant. Most people were at temples farewelling the gods, so were off the roads and out of our way. Still, my heart stopped a few times as headlights made straight for us, only to calmly veer off at the last moment. No worries, mate.
Signage at the resort. Photo / Supplied
Dara Ayu was opened in 2010 by New Zealander Dave Ingle and his rugby-loving Indonesian wife Klara, and offers a taste of rural Bali in comfort. It got its name from the architect, who looked at the site, high over a lush green valley topped by mountains, and described it as a beautiful lady, "dara ayu" in Indonesian.
The resort's villas sleep up to 16 people. Each is named after a figure from Hindu folklore and the namesake of mine, Dewi Laksmi, is said to be the wisest and prettiest of the lot.
Balinese art is scattered throughout the property: statues, natural wood elements (the imposing entrance gate is made of old Java railway sleepers), fresh flowers and plenty of reminders that you're in Hindu territory here - there are offerings to the gods in little coconut-leaf boxes packed with petals and incense and plonked in random places, and a couple of shrines.
My villa has fast wifi but no telly, though if you're desperate for the box the main villa has a high-tech media room with comfy couches and loads of DVDs.
Best of all is my outdoor bathroom, complete with rain shower, concrete tub, twin vanity and small pool, all completely private.
Several of the villas have private pools. Photo / Supplied
Dara Ayu keeps it simple: toiletries are in earthenware jars and, as it's an eco-resort, you're encouraged not to waste water - which comes from a spring - or electricity.
The area is cooler than you'd expect, especially at night, and though I saw nothing scarier than a cute frog, a villa in the middle of the jungle is not for you if you're afraid of the odd creepy crawly.
With several steep paved climbs and a few stepping-stones-over-water areas, it's also not the place for you if you have mobility issues.
The restaurant and bar overlook the main infinity pool and the valley, though if you feel like privacy, you can have meals in your room. Otherwise, dine as the sun goes down, with the jungle symphony (and a rather good mix of music piped through Bose speakers) as your soundtrack.
It's not until darkness falls that you appreciate just how alive this part of Bali really is. Tucked under the vast mosquito net that covers my huge bed, I can hear frogs croaking, crickets whirring, dogs yapping, cows lowing and birds shrieking, all at full throttle.
Local women transport heavy loads. Photo / Supplied
Adi can organise tours and drivers if you want to get out and about, or if you want to completely retreat there is a meditation bale and open-walled spa (go for the 90-minute deep tissue Balinese massage by a steely handed masseur, using fragrant champaca oil).
The resort only employs local people and is community minded. Adi takes me on a jungle trek through the rice paddies, across the river and via his own home where I meet his family.
Along the way he proudly points out crops: peanuts, lemongrass, pineapples, bananas, cocoa, red beans, snake beans, chillis, cassava, jackfruit. Many of the women we pass have huge loads balanced carefully on their heads, and we pass cattle tied to ramshackle shelters, rogue dogs and wild chooks.
For the Hindu festival the streets of every village are decorated with penjor - tall and intricate coconut leaf decorations said to bring good luck.
Local people buy everything they need for Galungan and Kuningan, as well as for everyday life, at the Payangang town markets, which we visit early on a Monday morning with Dara Ayu's head cook, Wayan.
Head cook Wayan fires up the oven for our cooking lesson. Photo / Shandelle Battersby
We wander past stall after stall of produce, and Wayan finds everything he needs for our traditional cooking lesson later that afternoon.
At 1pm, I join the Pestingers, a German family from Singapore, for our cooking lesson at the resort's outdoor kitchen. We make a huge amount of food, from smoky steamed chicken stuffed with lemongrass and cassava leaves, sambal snake beans and chicken satay sticks cooked on the tiniest of grills, to little steamed banana leaf packages of sweet sticky rice, with jackfruit and banana for dessert.
After at least a few hours of chopping, mashing and grating, we sat down to gorge ourselves on our labours. As we ate I thought of those geese and hoped they escaped the pot for another day.
Getting there: Air New Zealand flies direct from Auckland to Denpasar Airport, Bali, until October 10. Allow two hours' travel time from Denpasar Airport and one hour from Ubud.
Details:Dara Ayu Villas and Spa is at Jalan Raya Buahan No88X, Payangan. Rooms start at US$215 a night.
The writer travelled to Bali courtesy of Dara Ayu Villas and Spa and Air New Zealand.
