Dear Pamela

We have just arrived home today and I wanted to write straight away to thank
you for a fabulous time while it's all still fresh in my mind.

Villa Sungai is a magical place that we feel lucky to have ever had the
chance to visit.

It offers what (in my experience as a travel agent) so many people want on
holiday but few manage to find - a place of absolute luxury with a warm and
genuine feel, yet away from the tourists and surrounded by the local way of
life.

Made and his team at the villa, whom he affectionately calls his friends,
stood by smiling as we took a long time to take in the beauty of the villa
and it's surroundings. It is impossible to adequately describe the jungle
setting - the trees overhanging the river present more shades of green than
we thought existed. The rustling of these oversized leaves and the soft
animal sounds (cows, pigs, roosters, geckos, cicadas, birds and Trisna's
goat!) create a magical ambience. When the evening sunlight filters through
the lush jungle foliage and illuminates the ripples in the pool you just
can't believe how beautiful it is. The hardest decision each night was
whether to leave this perfect scene untouched, or to follow temptation and
dive into the cool water at sunset while Eluh organised a fresh banana
daiquiri.

Made is quite simply amazing. He told us the story of how he started work on
the villa as a labourer and eventually ended up the manager. We could all
see why - he knew our names off by heart from the minute we arrived, he knew
what we needed before we even asked, and he remembered even the smallest
detail. (My friend Amanda loved the fresh local chillies - after she'd asked
once they would always appear in a small side dish for her with every meal).
It's these things that make the villa so special.

And of course the day trips with Made - he showed us some special places on
the island, and always took us to the perfect spots - whether it be to
sample a local Indonesian dish or to buy some handcrafted furniture. As my
friend Ben said, "Made just gets it right every time".

The last night was an experience we'll never forget - when we arranged to
have a local dance and orchestra at the villa we didn't know the whole
village would arrive! Everyone from the priest, who blessed the offerings,
to the smallest child, who peeped through the curtains while the dancers
were performing - they were all there just for us. We felt so privileged to
be shown the local music and dance, but most especially to witness the great
community spirit in Cepaka. How kind of the village to make us feel an
important part of that.

And how refreshing to see that the drink prices were very reasonable and the
local food ingredients were wonderfully cheap. The food was so fresh and
aromatic and tasty at every meal - at the end of the week we had to ask shy
Wuyan to venture out of the kitchen so we could give him a standing ovation!

I hope Eluh and Trisna realised how much we appreciated their exemplary
service - they were incredibly gracious and always smiled at us in that warm
Balinese way which made such a difference. Thank you too to Nyoman, Made and
Katut who treated us to incredible relaxing massages nearly every day under
the shade of the umbrella (what an indulgence!) And Bumi probably didn't
realise that his wonderful soft singing was a pleasure to listen to as he
tended to the garden each morning!

I have been to Bali before but this was so different. This experience was
unbeatable and I can't imagine staying anywhere else in Bali again - no
doubt we're not the first guests to leave with tears in our eyes. Made told
us one family came for a week and then booked to come back a few months
later for a 20-day stay. No wonder.

Thank you so very much Pamela,

Anna

Sydney