The resort pool is just a few feet from the sacred Ayung River and even the sun deck follows its contours.

	The design of the pool itself follows the freeform shapes of the paddy fields you'll find throughout the resort grounds. Just up from the pool is the thatch-covered Poolside Restaurant. With the pool and the river at your feet, plus wonderful pizzas from the wood-burning oven and delicious tropical drinks to keep up your spirits, there's every reason to spend the afternoon and evening right here reveling in your good fortune.
Of course, if that's not enough, you can always pick up your camera and indulge yourself in arty shots that appeal to you, even if others find them, well, unusual. Better yet, if you have a website, you can post them. If not, maybe just blow them up and frame them for your bathroom back home.
	When you leave the pool and look to the left, you're sure to spot these stairs in the distance. And with the help (and warnings) of the staff, you can even find the path that will lead you to these stairs.    Let me add a few warnings of my own: finding the path, even with directions, is a nuisance. Staying on the path and not falling into the river is a greater nuisance. Crossing marshy ground that threatens to suck your shoes off at every step and then getting somewhere under the stairs and realizing that you can only see them from a distance and not up close is beyond being a nuisance. And then clawing your way over chest-high dikes in a final desparate move that may or may not get you to the foot of these stairs is the final aggravation.    If you do manage to find the stairs after all this, you'll also find that they were new about 50 years ago and are now crumbling concrete. At this point, of course, your only direction is upward and on the way you'll marvel at the desire of the original builder to want a staircase down to the paddy fields and appreciate his artistry in creating planters at every level to make your walk even more enjoyable.    One last thought... if you like the shots of the resort on the first two pages of this tour, this is where you'll have to come to take your own. Good luck.    Oh, and if you find a brown loafer, I'd like it back.
This is the river you're not supposed to fall into.
	And this is your view through a normal eyeball. The close-up pictures were taken with an 80-200mm lens, probably closer to the 200 end.
From this same staircase, you'll see this Balinese temple that's twice as high as it appears here because the base extends far below the foliage.
	All the natural features of the original resort site were retained and here you can see two of the villas in relation to the temple. Our own villa is at the other end of the resort and I suggest we all walk back using the road this time and drop by our villa for a drink by the plunge pool...

     
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