Pemuteran Bali, the dream come true
Posted 11-12-2007 at 11:40 AM by markadmin
When I first went to Pemuteran with a very good friend of mine, I had absolutely no idea what to expect. We had just driven round from Medewi Beach Lombok , is very quiet. We eventually arrived at Pemuteran proper at which time there were just three hotels and a luxury villa compound. We were so called walk-in guests, meaning we had no reservations as we wanted to chance it and check out the best hotel and rates before deciding; se we set about looking at all four.
The luxury villas (Puri Ganesha) were really very nice but way to spendy for us and devoid of life besides a few staff. Then came inspections and queries at the three hotels that sit side-by-side onPemutran Beach
Anyway, Pondok Sari was easily the winner of the day, so that is where we went. Immediately I noticed how everyone was walking so slowly at the hotel; as a westerner I thought perhaps they were being lazy, but after a couple of days I found myself walking at the same speed! The bungalow we got was near the beach just behind the restaurant and first two bungalows. The beach is of black sand until you walk a little west around past Puri Ganesha and then suddenly it becomes golden; quite strange, it clearly is where the influence of the volcano which once provided the material for the black sand ended. Pondok Sari has a couple of Banyan Trees on the beach itself which makes a great place to stretch out on a sun lounger and watch the world go by. We both enjoyed the snorkeling off the beach which at the time was good for fish but little else, the coral reef having been decimated by fishermen with arsenic and explosives over the years. But the hotel staff said there were plans to help the coral grow again. Just along the beach past the famous turtle project, where turtles were hatched and then released in to the sea, is the fishing village. The kids from this village dressed only in their underpants would jump off the boats and run up and down along the beach in front of the hotels, whooping and laughing with nothing more to play with then their friends and a piece of Styrofoam packing, while western children on holiday watched on disinterested and blank faced. Sometimes the local kids would shout over to foreign children, I am sure to invite them to join but they never did while I was there then or any time I returned in later years, which kind of saddens me and says much about us, westerners, I feel.
Although we really preferred the hotel grounds at Pondok Sari, we pretty much always at the beachfront restaurant of Taman Sari at night, as it had much better food and the tables were on the beach so you could watch the kerosene lanterns on the fishing boats bobbing around at sea at night, it was really a site and a very romantic place. Pondok Sari’s food was very basic by comparison and the restaurant separated from the beach by fish ponds; also Taman Sari has a much longer beachfront. We would also pop into Taman Silina for lunch as it was owned we were told by a Greek lady and that accounted for the really superb Greek salads they sold. We kind of felt sorry for the restaurant staff at Pondok Sari as we had to walk past them to the beach to get to the other restaurants. But with the wonderful staff and grounds of Pondok Sari, the food of the two hotel restaurants either side, and a beach totally free of the aggressive hawkers found almost everywhere else inBali , we had found paradise for sure. Having stayed at many hotels in other areas of Bali , with the exception of perhaps Amed or for the “need” to go shopping, etc., I truly do not understand why more people do not venture to Pemuteran.
Since my original trip there I have been back several times, once to take my mum and dad so they could experience it for themselves before it became too late. They found the outdoor bathrooms and sun heated water bamboo pipe showers a bit of a challenge, especially if they wanted a shower first thing as the water came from a tank on a tower with only the sun to heat it. As I explained to them, it was best to have breakfast, sit by the beach and read for a while, maybe go for a dip and then shower around 11am, when the sun had made the shower water lovely; the problem is of course everyone heads for the shower first thing so the cold water that fills the tank as people use it is what they increasingly get first thing. I loved their bathrooms, they were so natural and huge bugs, little birds and bees would come in and out, along with the inevitable gecko of course.
As time has passed I have made many friends actually at Pondok Sari, both Balinese and western tourists there. When I first started a direct reservations site forBali , I would be amazed at how many walk-in guests there had printed pages from my site, clearly my love for the place came across! As I love to snorkel, I used Pemuteran as a base to go to Menjangan Island Jakarta
If anyone reading this has the desire now to go to this great beach resort area, with some refurbishment work done and new “villa” options, I would take Taman Sari any day. Other hotels have moved into Pemuteran but be warned, the one I saw was right smack bank next to a stinky fish farm on the wrong side of the fishing village. Like many things, other businesses try to get in on a good thing even though what they do often never achieves the desired result because dreams are not like that. Please, try Pemuteran and come back to tell me what you think; I really would like to hear and know
The luxury villas (Puri Ganesha) were really very nice but way to spendy for us and devoid of life besides a few staff. Then came inspections and queries at the three hotels that sit side-by-side on
Anyway, Pondok Sari was easily the winner of the day, so that is where we went. Immediately I noticed how everyone was walking so slowly at the hotel; as a westerner I thought perhaps they were being lazy, but after a couple of days I found myself walking at the same speed! The bungalow we got was near the beach just behind the restaurant and first two bungalows. The beach is of black sand until you walk a little west around past Puri Ganesha and then suddenly it becomes golden; quite strange, it clearly is where the influence of the volcano which once provided the material for the black sand ended. Pondok Sari has a couple of Banyan Trees on the beach itself which makes a great place to stretch out on a sun lounger and watch the world go by. We both enjoyed the snorkeling off the beach which at the time was good for fish but little else, the coral reef having been decimated by fishermen with arsenic and explosives over the years. But the hotel staff said there were plans to help the coral grow again. Just along the beach past the famous turtle project, where turtles were hatched and then released in to the sea, is the fishing village. The kids from this village dressed only in their underpants would jump off the boats and run up and down along the beach in front of the hotels, whooping and laughing with nothing more to play with then their friends and a piece of Styrofoam packing, while western children on holiday watched on disinterested and blank faced. Sometimes the local kids would shout over to foreign children, I am sure to invite them to join but they never did while I was there then or any time I returned in later years, which kind of saddens me and says much about us, westerners, I feel.
Although we really preferred the hotel grounds at Pondok Sari, we pretty much always at the beachfront restaurant of Taman Sari at night, as it had much better food and the tables were on the beach so you could watch the kerosene lanterns on the fishing boats bobbing around at sea at night, it was really a site and a very romantic place. Pondok Sari’s food was very basic by comparison and the restaurant separated from the beach by fish ponds; also Taman Sari has a much longer beachfront. We would also pop into Taman Silina for lunch as it was owned we were told by a Greek lady and that accounted for the really superb Greek salads they sold. We kind of felt sorry for the restaurant staff at Pondok Sari as we had to walk past them to the beach to get to the other restaurants. But with the wonderful staff and grounds of Pondok Sari, the food of the two hotel restaurants either side, and a beach totally free of the aggressive hawkers found almost everywhere else in
Since my original trip there I have been back several times, once to take my mum and dad so they could experience it for themselves before it became too late. They found the outdoor bathrooms and sun heated water bamboo pipe showers a bit of a challenge, especially if they wanted a shower first thing as the water came from a tank on a tower with only the sun to heat it. As I explained to them, it was best to have breakfast, sit by the beach and read for a while, maybe go for a dip and then shower around 11am, when the sun had made the shower water lovely; the problem is of course everyone heads for the shower first thing so the cold water that fills the tank as people use it is what they increasingly get first thing. I loved their bathrooms, they were so natural and huge bugs, little birds and bees would come in and out, along with the inevitable gecko of course.
As time has passed I have made many friends actually at Pondok Sari, both Balinese and western tourists there. When I first started a direct reservations site for
If anyone reading this has the desire now to go to this great beach resort area, with some refurbishment work done and new “villa” options, I would take Taman Sari any day. Other hotels have moved into Pemuteran but be warned, the one I saw was right smack bank next to a stinky fish farm on the wrong side of the fishing village. Like many things, other businesses try to get in on a good thing even though what they do often never achieves the desired result because dreams are not like that. Please, try Pemuteran and come back to tell me what you think; I really would like to hear and know
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