Resorting to a new type of Bali escape, in the arms of nature

From my terrace at dawn, I can see over the forest and beyond theBali Sea to the mountains of eastern Java.

The perfectly clear morning, awash with traces of pink, is complete when a choir of bird tweets decides to chime in.

But there’s a movement in the bushes below me. Something quite sizeable is rustling through the undergrowth. I’m sure it will poke its head out or show itself – but no.

I assume it’s a luwak – an Asian palm civet – as I’m staying in a resort embedded in a coffee plantation. Luwaks are picky eaters, partial to the very best coffee cherries.

Set on one of the highest points in northern Bali, Munduk Moding Plantation Nature Resort, or MMP, is as far away as imaginable from the ‘members-only’ beach clubs of Canggu and the raucous pubs of Kuta.

As I explore the resort’s hilly terrain by foot and hotel buggy, there are hints of the luwak everywhere: a cheeky face on coffee packages in the shop and a twig sculpture sitting on the coffee-tasting hut.

But the elusive creature is just a bit player in the Munduk Moding story.

When the resort opened with a handful of villas in 2009, the Dutch owners also set about rehabilitating an abandoned coffee plantation they’d inherited with the property.

They involved local villagers, as coffee had once been a mainstay of this region of Bali, 80km north of Denpasar, until farmers realised that cloves and vegetables were more profitable.

Today, farmers from nearby Gobleg village work alongside staff tending the plantation’s 8000 Arabica trees – planting, irrigating and harvesting the cherries. They’re paid in salary and in kind, and also for collecting the wild luwak droppings from the forest floor which produces the most expensive processed coffee in the world.

My coffee tasting at MMP is a far cry from my luwak encounter 10 years earlier when, on a trip to the lakes at Bedugul, my driver asked if I wanted to visit a plantation.

There, I sampled several varieties and, on the owner’s suggestion, I tried kopi luwak, sharing a big cup with the driver. He was shocked at the price: 10-times more than the brew the locals drink.

On the way out, I spied a caged cat-like creature, and later learnt some farmers force-feed those forest dwellers for profit.

No such thing happens at MMP. In fact, the resort is unintrusive. It embraces nature and works hand in hand with local people to improve their lives.

Visually, MMP’s location is dramatic, set among misty hills, surrounded by a tangle of jungle and with an infinity pool that seems suspended over the forest against a backdrop of fluffy clouds.

Guests are awed by the pools – not one, but two – and I am just as guilty, snapping off a dozen photos on my first sighting. But I’m unwilling to pose perilously at the pool’s edge, swimsuit-clad and trailing a diaphanous scarf behind me. I hang onto my beach towel and my dignity.

After a couple of days, I discover the resort’s heart, beyond the brochure and the seductive charms of four-poster beds and private jacuzzis on villa terraces.

One morning, I take a tour with Elman to the Ecological Wastewater Treatment facility, which is far from sexy in anyone’s book, let alone that of an influencer. But it’s an important cog in the resort’s sustainability wheel, keeping it all moving and in sync with the environment.

He points out some of the tanks where wastewater is collected, aerated and filtered to irrigate the plantation and gardens during the dry season, and tells me rain and groundwater are used in the guests’ bathrooms. As we head to the EcoLab plastic recycling plant, Elman shows me the solar panels fitted atop the horse stables (yes, there are five ponies to ride), which provide 20 per cent of the resort’s electricity.

The lab is a place of manufacturing and learning: a huge thatched workspace whose walls are lined with eco-bricks: plastic bottles filled with plastic bags, which have been collected from the resort and neighbouring villages.

I meet four schoolgirls on an excursion to learn about plastic pollution and how recycled plastic can be turned into usable goods.

The teenagers are keenly photographing the workers as they demonstrate how bottletops and hard plastics are shredded, melted down into a liquid, remodelled as sheets and cut into shapes to make new items, including coat hangers, trays and tissue boxes.

Students and local children are encouraged to bring plastics from home. In return, they receive free English lessons, delivered by MMP staffer Elita, and dance and martial arts classes, taught by cultural advocates Kadek Darmayeni and Ketut Nama, from Gobleg village.

There’s plenty to do and learn at Munduk Moding, with activities ranging from cooking classes to yoga, early-morning birdwatching, pony riding and even making soap and candles from used cooking oils.

When it’s time to unwind, there’s that inviting pool, jacuzzis perched above the forest canopy, a siesta in my muslin-swathed, bamboo-framed bed and happy-hour cocktails as the sun sets.

I end my stay on a caffeinated note. Following a plantation tour with Giri, I head to the coffee hut to taste the brews lined up in readiness for my somewhat finicky tastebuds.

The Balinese take their coffee black, no sugar. So, in keeping with custom, I do likewise. I sip a range of styles, including Natural, Fully Washed, Honey, Wild Luwak and Munduk Espresso. It’s akin to wine tasting, but I’m wired up, not mellowed out.

I like the Honey and Wild Luwak best and when I buy a package of each, I can’t help but notice the big price discrepancy.

As I leave the hut and say my goodbyes, I sense that twig-and-bamboo luwak sculpture watching me.

I never actually see a real one, but I have a rather earthy souvenir to take home and look forward to a cup or two.

GOOD TO KNOW

Munduk Moding Plantation Nature Resort is a three-hour drive north from I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport at Denpasar.

The resort has 40 villas. Rates include breakfast and afternoon tea, as well as many activities.

 Learn more at  mundukmodingplantation.com