Jiwa to Jeda retreat...
... all the info you'll need
Get ready to take it easy for a few days as Jiwa heads to Jeda on retreat!
In the majestic hills of Pemuteran, across 10–13 May and 19–22 September, 2024, we’ll spend time chilling by the pool, eating delicious vegetarian food, and squeezing in morning 60-minute Bikram classes (at 8:00am) and sunset 75-minute yin classes (at 5:30pm) at Jeda Retreats Center. Jeda’s owner practised at Jiwa for many years and still pops in every now and again, so he has given us a wonderful deal. Usually Jeda is booked out with yoga teacher trainings and other retreats.
Here’s some info to help you decide if this little getaway is right for you, and what you’ll need to know if you’re coming. Need to know something else? WA me on +62 812 8500 4579 or email sagabrown@gmail.com.
The Bikram classes will take place in a hot studio (warmed by air-conditioners) on the resort grounds. The doors will be closed, not open like in the picture below. There are mirrors along the front. The yin classes will take place in a new open-air shala that’s fully equipped with all the props we need, also on the grounds, without mirrors.
The resort comprises three individual, airy villas with their own kitchens, living spaces, and pool with deckchairs, fringed by frangipani trees and bougainvillea. There are lots of nooks and crannies in and around the villas to read a book or daydream or pat a dog or have a cup of tea.
The food, served buffet-style and eaten at a communal table, is an absolute highlight here. Fresh, local, and organic where possible, every meal is so colourful and tempting and the kitchen team takes great pride in their work. I spent a week here earlier in 2024, and while breakfast is fairly consistent (and bountiful and fabulous), every other meal was completely different, and traversed the globe. So many options each meal that sometimes two trips were required to try it all. If you are gluen-free or vegan, they will accommodate you with advance notice (let me know ahead of time).
In between classes, the resort can arrange excursions for an additional charge. Diving and snorkelling at Menjangan Island is a popular choice (the boat trip is around 11am-4:30pm, 850,000 rupiah for snorkelling, 1.3m for diving, 2 dives.) Or you can just snorkel off Pemuteran Beach to explore the Biorock project. The resort has a golf buggy and can run you down; the walk to the beach is about 15 minutes but it can get pretty hot. A cup of coffee and a scoop of ice cream at Taman Sari is never a bad idea. The resort can also arrange a temple tour by motorbike or a visit to waterfalls, or just book a massage in one of the new Jeda massage huts.
Pemuteran, if you haven’t already been or checked, is about a 3.5 hour drive from Seminyak. It’s about as far as you can go in Bali without jumping on a ferry to another island. I hesitate to say it’s like Bali 20 years ago, but it’s a little sleepier than the rest of the island. A lot of the families here were originally relocated from the slopes of Agung when it erupted in 1963, so they haven’t always had it easy. If you already live in Bali, the beauty of coming here is that you’ll feel absolutely a world away from the hustle of the south. It feels a little unreal, in fact.
Much of the trip from south Bali is scenic and if you like, I can help arrange a few cars to get us there together, or from the airport, you can do your own thing, of course. I can also recommend where to stop for lunch on the way.
The price is 4.8m rupiah for a twin-share room (we’ll match you up with someone if you’re on your own) or 5.4m for a single. This covers accommodation, 6 classes, and all meals, from dinner on the first day through to breakfast on the last. A 50% deposit is payable to Jiwa’s rupiah account is necessary to secure you spot and the balance is due 7 days before the resort begins. There is no minimum number of people required for this retreat to go ahead, so it’s definitely on.
Check in is from around 3pm, check out around 11am.
The price does not include transport getting here, excursions, or extra snacks/drinks available from Jeda’s honesty fridge.
This is a low-key retreat designed for not doing too much, but the option is always there for a little exploration.
You can do as many classes or as few classes as you like; you can sleep late, you can skip meals, you can have two massages a day if that’s what you need to do.
I’ll teach two of the three Bikram classes and the yin classes; Geoff will teach one and be on hand to entertain us with his dry humour the rest of the time—no pressure buddy. We’ll see how this retreat goes and hopefully we can make this a regular twice-or-three-times-a-year event on the Jiwa calendar.
I’m looking forward to this getaway, and hope you can make it!
Sam X