Summer vacations on Bali

Summer vacations are approaching and many people begin to wonder where to spend their free time. How about a trip to the island of Bali ?

How about a stay at Jiwa Damai Retreat Center ?

We offer six spacious guest rooms with view into the gardens with their lush tropical vegetation. The rooms are beautifully decorated in a minimalist modern style and elegantly understated color schemes. Hand colored batiks, stone carvings and furniture reflect the wealth of the local arts and crafts.

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For nature lovers we offer accommodation in one of our three Balinese Lumbungs. These are traditional Balinese houses made of wood and bamboo. They offer rural comfort and are equipped with a private bathroom.

accommodation_lumbung1

accommodation_bathroom

Filled with natural spring water, our pool offers a refreshing swimming experience. Relax in the sun and cool down in the pool while you listen to the sounds of the teeming wildlife.

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For more information regarding packages and prices please visit our website:www.jiwadamai.net

Balinese Passion Fruit

This is one of our lumbungs, located in the middle of our permaculture garden, surrounded by fields with organic veggies and fruit. A passion fruit plant has grown over the roof of our garden Lumbung and by now it  covers the whole straw roof.

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The plant carries plentiful fruit, but they are not ready to harvest yet. The fruit needs to get more yellow.

passion fruit

The ripe passion fruit, after cutting it open, contains juicy brown seeds with a sweet-sour taste. Very refreshing!

Farm work at Jiwa Damai

Field work

Our team and one of our volunteers, lovely Susann from Germany,  working in the permaculture gardens, and bringing bamboo leaves to the compost.

Volunteer work

After the work is done, we are all eating together with our team. The food was prepared by the wife of Wira on occasion of her sons coming of of age at 12 years ceremony.

Food

Two of our three Balinese dogs, Angrek and Blackie,  are looking on.

Lumbung and dogs

Awakening to the sounds of Nature

Awakening to the sounds of nature

After spending my time in Bali's tourist centre of Ubud it was a relief to arrive at Jiwa Damai. Upon descending the stairs into Jiwa's dining area I was immediately overcome by the tranquil surroundings. Smells of frangipani and other flowers abound as do the vibrant colours that go with them; greens, yellows and pinks that one rarely finds outside of the tropics. Terry, one of the resident Woofers, showed me the expansive gardens and led me to a Lumbung situated in the heart of the organic garden.

Awakening to the sounds of nature (1)

As you can see by the photo a Lumbung is essentially a bamboo hut with no walls. Instead of walls a mosquito net hangs to offer some protection from those irritating, and often sleep-depriving, insects. It was so exciting to get to bunk out in nature, protected from the rain and insects but still able to feel the gentle and often cooling mountain breeze.

Awakening to the sounds of nature (3)

I awoke the next morning early to the sounds of roosters off in the distance, running water from the river nearby and various birds up in the treetops. It was magical. Another of Jiwa's local residents, Orchid, the cat, had snuck into the Lumbung the night before and was sleeping near my feet. Needless to say I welcomed my new friend.

Awakening to the sounds of nature (2)

Lying there I felt a deep sense of calm and an appreciation for the serenity that is Jiwa Damai. Of course, there was much work to be done, but it was nice to really take in the environment before starting the day!

Berish Bilander

New rooms at Jiwa Damai

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These are the new rooms, that we recently built here at Jiwa Damai.

The rooms are quite basic, with a beautiful stone floor and lots of light.

New logs_room

Come by yourself and check it out !

Bio Tank for our Balinese Lumbungs

Working on the Lumbungs

Here at Jiwa Damai, we are currently in the process of adding to the retreat center with the construction of two Balinese lumbungs. A type of traditional Balinese housing, lumbungs are small, two-story bamboo huts that are open to nature. Ours sit on the hillside and have a scenic overlook to the jungle and swimming pool.

The first floor has of the lumbung will feature a couch, living area and patio with large hammock. The second story is a bedroom. The lumbungs are for guests who want to be closer to nature. Here, you will be sleeping open to hum of cicadas, singing of frogs and croak of the gecko. The patio provides a perfect place for meditation and yoga.

In our efforts to be the forerunners in environmental friendliness and to pioneer energy efficiency in Bali, we have installed a BioPro, bio septic tank for the lumbungs. We considered a solar water heater but ultimately decided that it was not worthwhile - too many rainy days here! Our bio tank is one of only two pieces available on the island.

Bio tank

The pipe runs, as pictured, from the lumbung bathroom into the bio tank. From there it goes through a treatment process. Clean, recyled water flows out at the other side.

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The outflow of the tank will be used to water the upper garden. This will be particularly useful during the dry season, when every drop of water counts.

Living in nature, in the Balinese Lumbung

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nature Lumbung3

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Building a Water Tower for the Lumbungs

Building the water tower

We are also hard at work building a water tower for the lumbungs. The water tower will stand about 7 meters high. The purpose of the tower is to provide water for the bathrooms, taken from a well about 30 meters below. Water travels from the tower, down into the pipe and up into the showerhead. The tower’s height is necessary to give water pressure for showering.

Inside the tower we install a floating device; if the water goes below a certain level the pump starts. The water tower ensures that in the event we lose electricity, there will be enough water for the lumbungs’ bathrooms. The tower will hold 1,000 liters, or about 400 gallons. This would provide a sufficient amount of water for two or three days.

As pictured, these incredibly strong little women transfer cement bricks for the water tower from where they are stacked outside to inside the compound.

Water tower_Transporting stones

One man slowly and painstakingly straightens each piece of iron for the tower. Lots of time and great care go into the marvelous quality of work done here. We are very excited about the pending completion of the lumbungs.

Water tower_Bending the wires

Bamboo, known for its strength and durability, forms the frame for the water tower and is often used for scaffolding in Bali. This worker diligently separates strands of bamboo.

Water tower_Bamboo scaffolding

Water conservation plays an important role at Jiwa Damai. A large pond surrounds the main buildings and guest rooms. The pond is home to many different fish, microorganisms, and splendid white and purple lilies. Three different pipes drain excess water to separate ponds. Another drains water to our extensive permaculture garden. Our beautiful swimming pool is fed from a spring located underneath the pool.

We employ lots of structural thinking. Every drop of water gets reused!

Lumbung construction in Bali

The construction work at our two new Lumbungs is advancing rapidly. Within a matter of 3 weeks a huge progress can be seen!

Lumbung

These new Balinese houses will turn out beautifully.

A wooden staircase is leading to the 'top floor' where our guests will sleep. The 'ground floor' will be the living area, a private bathroom is attached to the back of the house.

Lumbung inside

We only use natural materials to construct the Lumbungs - wood and bamboo. The walls are made out of  braided stripes of bamboo.

Lumbung wall

Our guests will enjoy an authentic sleeping experience in the middle of nature.  You will fall asleep to the sounds of quacking frogs and geckos - a truly calming sound and a deeply relaxing environment.

One Balinese Lumbung will accommodate 2-3 persons.

New Lumbungs at Jiwa Damai

We are currently constructing two new Lumbungs in our organic garden. A Lumbung is a traditional Balinese house, made out of bamboo and wood. We build them in an elevated part of our garden, overlooking the pool, right next to the ceremonial garden.

View pool

We  offer these Balinese houses to guests, wanting to experience nature closely. These Lumbungs will  offer rural comfort and can accommodate two or threee people each. They are covered with mosquito nets and will have their own private bathroom.

This is our Lumbung Kunang-Kunang. Isn't that nice?

The two new Lumbungs will look similar to this one......

Lumbung

The construction started - phase one ......

Lumbung construction

Lumbung construction

We will keep you updated on the construction process !