When we first saw the pictures of the Bali Hideaway house on the internet, we thought it looked to good to be true. It was hard to believe that those same pictures could not quite capture how breathtaking it is in real life. We were fascinated and delighted from the first tentative steps through the rice fields, to the spectacular views, magnificent accommodations, sights and sounds of the insects and wildlife and lush gardens.

It feels as though we got to experience the real Bali in Ubud and its surrounds and staying at Vana Prasha was a highlight of the trip. As we soak up the atmosphere for the last time, I hope we can take the feeling of tranquillity, relaxation and peacefulness home with us. We feel privileged to have been able to stay here and thank the staff for making us feel like it was our special home for these precious days. The lunch cooked for us was one of the best meals we had during our entire stay.

Janet, David, Zach and Ned Schloeffel, Melbourne, Australia, 23 December 2011

Coming from a hot and dry Semingak, we were nicely surprised by the less hot (but more wet) lovely place Vana Prasha in Ubud. We have had a wonderful experience here and thank the staff for their service and especially the care for our baby daughter.

Frank, Vivienne, Bram and Celine van Asten, 17 December 2011

After coming to Bali five times in the last three years this place is certainly the best. Just loved the fact that there are no motor bikes and business around us here ......
Especially like the frogs and geckos and the openness to nature that is involved in living here and walking out through the rice paddies. The garden is beautiful - the flowering gingers, heliconias, the orchid flowering over the lily pond which I only noticed as I settled in and started looking at the beauty here.

Looking forward to returning for my 60th in 2012!

Kathlyn Wood, Bellingen, NSW, Australia, 28 October 2011

Thank you for a wonderful and relaxing stay in such a beautiful location. We have stayed in many different villas in Bali on our nine trips here, and have found this to be the most welcoming and calming experience. All of the staff have been so attentive and helpful, and Maria's lunches put most of the restaurants to shame. We hope to return and will recommend this to all our friends.
Thank you so much.

Ric and Donna, September 2011

This is the second time we spent some time in this wonderful place, and it felt a little bit like coming home.

Natalie, Peter, Maud & Tim, August 13, 2011

How wonderful it has been to be surrounded by the lush rice fields, to be awoken by the gorgeous geckos and ducks; to observe the everyday farmers from the plushness of this timeless villa.
We felt safe and calm travelling for the first time abroad with our little family in the calm confines of Vanaprasha shepherded by the caring and wonderful staff here. Thanks you Illuh, Maria, Juda, Wayan and Sanu for your care and generosity.

We will keep a little bit of Bali in our hearts always.
…. And hope one day to return.

Jane Lander, Fiona Van Leeuwen, Vincent and Georgie, Newcastle, Australia, 24 June 2011

How extraordinarily lucky Ramona and I have been to accompany Jane and Fiona and Vincent and Georgie to this amazing paradise. Our first trip to Bali therefore even more special to be staying at Vana Prasha. At every corner there is a treasure for the eyes which is complimented by the calm and kind staff. We have been extremely well looked after, having every possible need catered for with seemingly invisible swiftness.

Karen and Ramona Blake, Newcastle, Australia, 23 June 2011

Sitting in the balé, looking out over the river valley, on our last day at Vanaprasha, I am at a loss to find words to describe how amazing this place is …. but if you are lucky enough to be here, you won't be needing a description right about now!!

But I do want to give a huge THANKS to the gorgeous staff - Sanu, Illuh, Maria, Juda and Wayan - who have all worked so hard to give us a truly relaxing and rejuvenating break.

Ross and Margot Morcombe (the grandparents)
Matt Morcombe and Donna Cameron (the parents)
Noah (8) and Bastian (6) (the kids)
May 21 - June 3, 2011

This was our first time to this amazing place (as opposed to the many repeat visitors) but it won't be our last! We loved every minute of our stay and cannot believe how lucky we are to have had such a lovely experience.

Sam and Andy, Canberra, Australia, May 20-25 2011

This is the second time that we stayed at this out-of-the-world spot. Our previous visit was four years ago at around the same time of the year.........
We were immensely intrigued by the name of our beautiful lodgings, Vana Prasha. But nobody could help us. Could it be that the name is misspelled and that it should read Vanaprastha, derived from the Sanskit word 'Vana' meaning 'Forest' and 'Prastha' meaning 'Go to'?

Vanaprastha is the fourth stage in a man's (never a woman's!) life, roughly between the age of 50 and 70 years, when one's skin becomes wrinkled, one's hair is greying and a man has sired grandchildren. When this happens, a man should retire from the real world and move from a material to a spiritual lifestyle.

The true vanaprastha lives an existence of austerity, does not groom his hair or nails, does not brush his teeth, bathes three times a day, does not pass stool (Bali-belly not excepted) or urine at irregular times, and abstains from sexual relations. The true vanaprastha ought to exercise penance by sitting close to a fire under the blazing sun and, if it rains, ought to submerge himself. Water up to his neck (swimming pools are out!)

Needless to say that we have gravely sinned on all counts.

Instead, we partook in the delights that Bali has to offer: its gentle people, the countless ceremonies, the age-old traditions, the beautiful landscape and - not to forget - the Balinese cuisine and frotty Bintang beer. We feel privileged to have been made welcome here again.

Bert & Josephine Bakker, Nelspruit (South Africa) / Ubud, 12 May 2011
P.S. I turned seventy while here, I found nirwana prematurely.

Onderweg hierheen ben ik telkens van de ene verbazing in de andere gevallen. Van Singapore door Java naar dat mooi Bali, maar vooral: door dat pad dwars door de rijstvelden naar dit lieve huis, zijn plekjes en vergezichten, de verrassingen!

Zo fantastisch om hier aan te komen en kennis te maken met alles en iedereen!
De ontbijttafel met al dat heerlijke fruit, een vers kopje thee, vrolijke gezichten, genoten van elk moment. Wat kregen we zalig tee ten uit die grote pannen kip met papaya, kouseband, cocos en sambal zelfgemaakt en voor ons klaar gemaakt. Hemelse hoogtepunten in de vroege morgen met koffie in't prieel kijken hoe de eekhoorntjes door de boom tuimelen!

Vaak zal ik er nog aan denken thuis, aan die onvermoed sterke meisjes die ons kwamen masseren buiten in die prachtige tuin. De heerlijke schaduw bij het fijne zwembad altijd gastvrij bereid je spanning weg te spoelen. Terug verlangen ook naar die gestreken stapeltjes waar zelfs een vermoeide onderbroek nog nieuw élan vertoonde.

Lief huis, lieve reisgenoten, coulant, tolerant, charmant bij tijd en wijle geweldig bedankt.

Bert en Phine, Henk en Hennie, Kees en Ria, Gerrit en Astrid, April - May 2011

This is our second stay at Vana Prasha and our memories of last time did not deceive us. It was, again, a perfect hideaway for our crazy lives........
We will have to take some of this calm, ordered serenity we feel back with us!
We plan to bring our family here again soon. It was nice to have time with each other, but love sharing this magic place with others. Even Oma and Opa will love this! (My father, Doug, still talks about his time here with us in 2001).

Liz and Richard Grant, Melbourne/Canberra, Australia, 27 April to 4 May 2011

This was our first visit (with Arthur and Kay) and it is easy to see why so many others have come to Vana Prasha, and have continued to come back. It is not possible to add further superlatives to the many already written except to say they are all justified and more. Our third time to Bali but we feel it is the first time we have seen the 'real' Bali. A very special thanks to Sanu, Maria, Illuh and the other staff who make a wonderful house and location into a memorable experience one that we hope to enjoy again another day.

Trevor and Elfi, Australia, April 2011

When we all arrived…. we all had the 'giggles' on our walk from Waka Namya to Vana Prasha. An unexpected but truly amazing walk to what was to be our beautiful Bali Hideaway for the next week!!

Thank you all so very much for making our time here so special. We came to Bali to celebrate a great occasion and you were all so lovely to us and made our stay perfect.

Brian, Trishie, Karen, Kirsty, Nicko and Seamee, 14 April 2011

Na het lezen van de twee aanwezige gastenboeken wordt het moeilijk iets nieuws te schrijven. Alles wat er geschreven is waar! Na afloop van een week verblijf in dit huis, kunnen wij alleen maar zeggen, het was op alle mogelijke manieren prettig. Na een week aan de kust in Sanur, was de rust tussen de rijstvelden heerlijk. Uit de boekenkast heel wat over Bali te weten gekomen, kennis over een mooi eiland, welke overgedragen kan worden. Graag komen wij nog een keer terug in dit prachtige huis met zijn vriendelijke bedienden!

Petra en Valentein Bloemendaal, (gasten van Jan en Eloise Kooijman)

Een paar dagen geleden spraken we op een Balinese huwelijksceremonie (waar we door Sanu uitgenodigd waren) een vriendelijke heer die ons de betekenis van de naam Vana Prasha kon uitleggen. Iets met ziel, wedergeboorte, nieuw leven en de oude huid afleggen, dat waren zo ongeveer de kernwaarden. Ze vielen helemaal op hun plek . Het voelt alsof je hier in een ander leven stapt. Door de 'steeg' de nauwe (donkere) geboortegang naar de weidsheid van de sawa's en thuiskomen in de verwelkomende armen van het voorportaal … om tenslotte in het ruime hart van het huis te komen, dat zoveel plekjes heeft dat ieder daar wel zijn eigen sfeer kan vinden.

De woonkamer - met het prachtige uitzicht. Het zwembad - met de gele bloemen (and idem baddoek). Het overdekte plekje tussen de 2 slaapkamers. Het 'daybed', voor meditatie, middagslaapje, massage of intens gesprek. Het balcon van het 'jungle huis' met weer zo'n heel andere bekoring..

We raken niet uitgefotografeerd en de sfeer is heel moeilijk te vangen. Het is zo ongrijpbaar doordat het huis zoveel kwaliteit heeft. De beide tempeltjes b.v. waar elke dag een klein offer wordt gebracht door gracieuse Illuh of Maria in hun bij het huis kleurende sarongs. (We kochten een nieuwe goudgele parasol). Of de lotusvijver waar elke dag wel een of meerdere bloemen bloeien ter ere van de goden. En dan de keuken ….. waar zulke heerlijke ontbijtjes - lunches (salads-sate's) vandaan komen - met zorg bereid door de beide parels Illuh en Maria. (Uit Sanur namen Petra en Valentein 4 kleine tafel BBQ van aardewerk mee!)
Alles ademt rust, ingetogenheid, sereenheid.
Alles lijkt in balans.
De kleuren, de geuren, de geluiden.
Chapeau voor jullie die Vana Prasha hebben gecreeerd.
En heel hartelijk dank dat we hier van mogen meegenieten.

Jan en Eloise Kooijman, 26 February to 4 March 2011

It felt like coming home, our 2nd stay at Vanaprasha....... The best times, as always, were spent doing nothing and just taking the place in. Vanaprasha is a destination in itself, although it's nice to have a couple of outings, one shouldn't go far!

Peter, Tara, children and grandparents, 1-8 February 2011