We have moved – to Permuteran village on the North Western tip of Bali, which is one of the quietest and unspoilt places in Bali. It is common practice here for your accommodation to take care of travel arrangements, so we arranged for a car and driver through Echo Beach Villas and made the three hour trip across the mountains to Permuteran. For the next week, home is a simple homestay called ‘Pondok Rayhu’. The family we are staying with really take care of their guests. The rooms look out over a  lovingly tended garden.

Permuteran is a seaside town with a very pretty beach. It is best known as a diving hot spot because of its proximity to Mengangan Island. However, since it is the rainy season, there are few divers around. The whole place has an ‘off season’ feel, but as long as you don’t mind having entire restaurants to yourself, it is all the more beautiful for it.

The village is surrounded by lush green hills. Our first day was cloudy so we decided to skip the beach and go for a walk. Our landlady recommended we walk up to a temple called Bukit Kursi which is situated directly behind the village.

After walking about a mile along the the main street, which is lined with guest houses and restaurants, we turned right and headed inland. Another half a mile and we arrived at a car park where we were invited to make a small donation to the upkeep of the temple. Then we set off for the temple. This involved climbing hundreds of steps.

It was very hot and I had to keep stopping to knock back water and moan to Dave about how hot I was! After twenty minutes of stop-start climbing, we arrived at our destination. The temple itself was small and simple – it was all about the location.  The views were spectacular! The colour of the hills impossibly green!

Next, we walked down a secondary path to a ridge. There were a couple of swings which swung out over the bay. After taking some time to admire the view, we set off back down the path. As soon as my foot touched the final step, the heavens opened. Neither of us had brought a coat! We splashed our way back down the road until we spotted a café. We ducked in and ordered a couple of juices, which we sipped very slowly as we waited for the rain to stop.