Sixteen carefully arranged days — each composed in conversation with the concierge, the gardener, and the tide.
There is no activity board at Samudra and no schedule pinned to the wall. Instead, on the morning of arrival, you meet the concierge for a coffee. She asks what you have read in the last year, what you cook at home, and when you last walked for an hour without anyone speaking. From this, the days are composed.
What follows is a partial list — sixteen of the things people have asked for, that we have learnt to do well.
A guest, on her third visit. A morning that became a day.
The morning light comes from the east, behind the resort. The sea below is still in shadow. Coffee is brought without being asked.
Forty minutes with Pak Wira. Silent until the seventh minute, then a slow conversation about the Bhagavad Gita that lasts the rest of the class.
An hour walking the three-acre garden with Ibu Made, who explains what is being harvested for the chef's table that night.
Two hours. The tea afterwards is from leaves grown in the south corner of the garden.
Five plates from the garden. Sambal matah, grilled corn, jicama, charred eggplant, and a bowl of green rice she will be looking for the recipe to for a year.
By private arrangement. A short, slow conversation in the inner courtyard. A photograph would be inappropriate.
The second seat from the end. A whisky from Speyside that arrived three weeks ago in a single bottle.
The seat directly in front of the fire. Eight courses, no choices. Chef Surya makes no conversation.
The resort's twenty-eight metre phinisi sails from Benoa at first light. A six-hour cruise around the south of the Bukit, with breakfast prepared by Saka served on board, and a return by 11. Captained by Pak Ketut, who built the boat himself in Sulawesi over seventeen months.
A pre-arranged private climb of Bali's sacred peak, with a guide who has summited 412 times and a Hindu priest who blesses the climb at the temple of Pura Pasar Agung before the start. Returns by midday for lunch in the garden.
A short, private meeting with Ida Pedanda Made, the priest of the cliff-edge temple. Strictly limited; suitable attire required; brief notice in advance.
A long table set for two or twenty on the beach below the cliff. The descent is by a private staircase cut into the rock. Lanterns, a coal fire, and a menu of your choosing.
The first thing chef Surya does each morning is walk the garden. You are invited. A coffee at the start, a cooking session at the end, and lunch at the long table.
A tasting of seven wines from the resort's library — chosen and poured by Daniel Wirja, our sommelier.
A day at the manta cleaning station, with a private dive boat and a master instructor.
A day in the rice-terrace country, with a long lunch at the home of the weaver Pak Made.
The village ensemble of Pecatu, played for you alone in the lower garden after dusk.
An hour's flight north-east. Lunch on the beach of an island accessible only by sea or air. Returns by five, in time for a long bath.
EnquireThere is no children's club at Samudra. Children are welcome at all the restaurants, on all the experiences, and at every breakfast in the garden. The following are arranged on request, often by the children themselves.
A two-hour walk at low tide with the marine biologist who lives on the property. Crabs and small fish are returned afterwards.
Children eight and older make sambal matah and grilled corn with chef Wayan. They keep what they make for lunch.
A traditional Balinese kite, built with a master kite-maker from Pelaga and flown at the cliff in the late afternoon.
One of the resident storytellers comes to your villa at the hour of your choosing, with a candle and a single book.
Almost everything that has been requested at Samudra has been done at least once, and a good number of them have entered the partial list above.