Tr a v e l
Top: Treatments ready for a spa session.
Top Row L to R: Dining room. One of 6 bedrooms.
Bottom Row L to R: Goa Gong Temple ceremony.
Resident Chef. Linda Nederkoorn (middle) and
friends. The Jaccuzzi at Longhouse.
the temple at Goa Gong?”, I asked Heppy, one of our staff in the house gym (to try and cancel out the fabulous food
members who is married to a man from the nearby village. we were enjoying!), walked in the garden, and pampered
She came back with the reply the following evening. We ourselves in the spa room with fabulous massages and
could go to see the temple, but they needed at least three facials.
days notice. She continued shyly, “Would it be possible Our Longhouse chef, Ngurah, organized a market tour
for some of the staff to accompany you?” I was delighted. and cooking class for the ladies. The days fl ew by so quickly
“Of course”, I said. She spoke slowly and her eyes sparkled. that we didn’t even fi nd time to do the fi ghting kites,
“The staff would like to have a special ceremony for the Balinese fl ower arranging or even the Balinese dance lessons
Longhouse at the temple at Goa Gong on Sunday.” that I had asked our staff to prepare for our visitors!
The timing was perfect. My husband would be arriving The night before the ceremony, I asked a good
from Singapore on Saturday and the two friends, Mahand friend, Toni Tack, a prominent Southeast Asian historian
and Lucy, who had been staying at the Longhouse with me, and archaeologist, to come and give us a lecture in the
would still be here. The staff would prepare the off erings. Longhouse Home Theatre. Toni gave a wonderfully
In the meantime, I would ensure that everyone was illustrated talk on the islands East of Bali. But…by a stroke
properly attired to enter the temple. It would be necessary of luck, she had recently been researching the geology and
to wear a sarong, a blouse covering the shoulders and most history about Jimbaran and Uluwatu, the area where we are
ALI
importantly a sash to be tied around the waist located, and was able to share some fascinating facts with
Since we had spent several days touring the island, us. The temple at Goa Gong was a very old one indeed and
ONGHOUSE B
Mahand, Lucy and I already decided to spend the next had been a sacred site long before the Majapahits swept
THE L
two days enjoying the Longhouse. We swam and exercised through Bali around the 14th century leaving it the Hindu
ex p a T r i a T e 25
Bali.indd 25 09/06/2009 11:51:01
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