100 Days of Happiness – Day 18

I was awake again at 4.00am after yet another restless night with Samudra and as I couldn’t get back to sleep, we decided to have an adventure and join Putra’s family going to their villa in Bogor for the day. We were all off on the road at 6.30am with Samudra jumping up and down on my lap. We have a baby car seat but Samudra used to scream in it all the time making it incredibly stressful to go anywhere that took longer than a few minutes, so eventually we took it out of the car and decided to drive around Indonesian style, with him tightly in my arms in the back seat. I would never even have considered this as an option back in Melbourne, but here, I figured there is so much traffic that cars cannot pick up any speed so we should be ok. I instantly regretted taking it out of the car as soon as we made it onto the Tollway and we could actually drive at a normal speed. Samudra is getting so active so it’s impossible to keep him still no matter how many toys I give him to play with on my lap. I vow to never go a long distance with him on my knees again, for both safety reasons and peace of mind.

It took around 45 minutes to get to Bogor leaving at that time of the morning, and we stopped in at the Farmers Market supermarket and stocked up on food for the day before heading up the winding mountain roads to the villa. It felt so good to be out in nature again!

We arrived at the entrance and drove down the driveway surrounded by trees and flowers and then I spied the amazing traditional wooden houses, what a great place to escape the craziness of Jakarta and breathe in fresh, cool air.

There are two large main traditional houses on the land, one is from the 1940’s which used to house cattle and was owned by a very elderly old couple and it was too big for the two of them, so Putra’s parents bought it and had it moved to Bogor. It has an incredibly high ceiling, beautifully carved wooden doors that all open up at the entrance side of the building, a stunning freestanding door way in the middle of the building to divide the house into separate sections for sleeping and relaxing. The back area is filled with light and has a bathroom off to the side.

The second house is also large and is from the 1980’s, again with beautifully carved doors, a separate bedroom and bathroom off to the side, with a fish pond stretching along the front and both sides of the house and it’s so relaxing to sit outside beside it and listen to the sounds of nature.

We took a rest once arriving, in the newest additional house which is a smaller 1 room wooden building that was recently purchased in Jogja and has a bathroom adjoining it. It was so simple with just a mattress on the floor and a cabinet in the corner but it was so peaceful lying in there. I was told that some guests would be arriving to stay the night at the villa, and was laughing from shock, to wake up to a sound check on a microphone and hearing loads of laughter outside. I waited until Samudra woke up and we walked outside to see a party going on amongst the trees, with a band playing music, the guests playing karaoke and food on a big table. Indonesians know how to party and alcohol free too!

I had a dodgy belly and wasn’t feeling 100%, but loved being there, and still managed to eat some delicious tofu, tempe and rice, all cooked on site by the staff. Putra and I took a walk down the side of the mountain into the little valley of rice fields below, with a river running through it and little waterfalls here and there. It was so amazing to be outdoors, to not be sweating, to be able to hear the running water below and the distant sounds of the party happening above, and we must remember to make the time to get back there again and actually spend the night away from the city.

I hope you all had a beautiful day wherever in the world you are.