2024 was filled with random and spontaneous plans, including how it ended. It started with just a thought of wanting to spend the very first day of 2025 somewhere quiet, without the continuous annoying sounds of fireworks. I opened the Tiket.com app and stumbled upon this cute glamping site in Kintamani. It's called Cloud Hills Glamping, and the price was quite reasonable. Without any hesitation, I booked it.
I was perfectly fine being alone and enjoying my me time, but then I was talking to a freediving friend, and apparently, they also have no plans for New Year's. Well, long story short, they agreed to tag along, and that was quite random too.
Here we are, ready to depart from Amed, and it will take us around 2 hours to get there with our scooter. Since it is still the rainy season in Bali, it started to rain midway. A little tip when you ride a scooter in Bali, especially when you're going somewhere remote: set your Google Maps navigation on car driving mode. Trust me, you don't want to end up off-roading with your Scoopy like I did. Last time I went back to Amed from Kintamani, Google Maps led me to a road perfect for trail biking. I almost cried and kissed the ground when I was back on the asphalt main road.
Getting hungry, we decided to stop by Akasa, a cozy cafe with a stunning view overlooking Mount and Lake Batur. It was quite foggy as well, and at some point, it all turned white. The food and coffee was quite good, so two thumbs up.
Maybe this is just me getting older, but you can't have deep and flowing conversations with everyone. It's really rare for me to talk with someone without draining my social battery, so I'm glad this friend decided to come and join my random glamping New Year adventure :)
After lunch, we went out to our glamping place, and it was quite secluded with a short off-road biking experience, but it wasn't as bad as my previous adventure. The igloo-shaped tent looked so cool, with its own private outdoor bathroom. I had never tried glamping before, so I was pretty excited.
The bathroom is a circular space with woven bamboo wall. You can actually see through the wall and it wasn't very tall. I'm 171 cm and I can still peek from the inside and see the tent, but who wants to peek anyway? I was worried if there's hot water for the shower and the staff said there is, so hallelujah for now.
There were some camping chairs as well, so we sat in front of the tent and started to talk again. The rain couldn't even stop us from talking, as we each brought our own umbrella, and we just sat there and talked. I wonder if we will run out of topics? We still have 6 hours to find out before the New Year.
As the night fell, the staff started the bonfire, and we ordered some fries to get through the night. We were too lazy and too cozy to go out again and find dinner. Luckily, we brought the drinks ourselves: me with my yogurt soju and their Bintang Crystal. It was a nice evening, and time flew by so fast. The fireworks started, and it was so nice to see them from afar. It wasn't as crazy as Jakarta, which usually lasts for an hour. So after 10 minutes, it was quiet again.
Bad news, I tried to shower before hitting the bed, and there was no hot water. I braced myself for the icy cold shower, and I was shivering when I got into bed. In the tent, it was quite warm and cozy, with the sounds of rain pouring on the tent.
I woke up feeling refreshed, even though I wanted to see the first sunrise of 2025. However, seeing the weather, I might as well just skip it and continue my beauty slumber. I asked the staff about the hot shower, and he said we need to wait for 10 minutes for the water to heat up. So there I was, testing the running shower while I pooped; that's the highlight of our glamping trip.
After 10 long minutes (I finished pooping, of course), I could finally feel the hot water, and I rejoiced... for 3 minutes only. I even tried to save it for my friend, but well, sorry. After the refreshing cold shower, I went out and made myself a cup of coffee with the whole set of equipment I brought from home. My friend was impressed. Nothing beats a cup of hot coffee in the morning with a stunning foggy view of Mount and Lake Batur.
That's pretty much it! It was a nice and peaceful experience, a far cry from having a New Year in a war zone like Jakarta or other big cities. Cheers to a good year ahead, and I can't wait for many more random adventures like this :)
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