Bali highs in the terraced valleys of Ubud: Just outside Ubud, in the uplands of Bali, a new tented camp has opened. You dip down into a valley to find a world of cistern-shaped pools, spas with trees growing through them and tents that unzip to reveal copper baths and batik-covered walls. For no discernible reason, one of the restaurants is designed to look like a laundry. Staying at the Capella Ubud tented camp comes at eye-watering cost – but you can visit for the 10-course tasting menu at its Api Jiwa restaurant (£65 a head) and be surrounded by washing machines and artful displays of irons and washboards.
At Capella Ubud’s heart is a fire pit where you toast marshmallows while a screen shows vintage film of Bali, including Charlie Chaplin’s 1932 visit to the island, a black-and-white montage of full-on jerky, flickering nostalgia. Chaplin came here to be re-energised after a bruising reception for his 1931 film, City Lights.
In 2006, the island found itself on the culture radar again after Eat Pray Love was published, and Ubud was inundated by Elizabeth Gilbert acolytes in search of enlightenment and hot Brazilian gemstone dealers.
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