Taman Harum Cottages, Ubud, Bali

Let me tell you about a tropical paradise my husband found on the Internet: Taman Harum Cottages (Box 3216, Ubud, Bali, INDONESIA; phone [62-361] 975567, fax 975149 or visit www.tamanharumcottages.com). The owner/manager is Ib Hariyana (Hari, for short).

Everyone had their own bungalow with an upstairs patio that overlooked miles of impressive green rice paddies. Our bathroom was like a semi-outdoor grotto, with lush plants and high boulders giving us complete privacy. During our stay in November ’05, the room rate was $45 a day.

The restaurant was charming and the food, surprisingly delicious across the board, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast, included in the cost of the room, could be Continental, Western (eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes and toast) or Indonesian (rice and vegetables), but the piece de resistance for breakfast were the mix-and-match fresh fruit juices. My favorite was pineapple juice with coconut milk.

Dinners, $10-$12, comprised Indonesian fare — wonderful soups, beef dishes, fish, noodles, dipping sauces and large portions. Drinks cost extra.

Spa treatments there started at $10. There are drivers who can pick you up at the airport, take you shopping or take you sightseeing for as long as you wish. All you do is tip them. Also, the hotel offers classes in cooking, woodcarving, weaving and flower arranging at no extra charge, just a tip to the instructor.

We made great friends with the delightful staff, and when we said good-bye it was like leaving family. We can hardly wait to return, which we plan to do in November ’06.

• Here’s one thing we found out the hard way about visiting Bali. At the airport, we were informed that Bali requires a full page in your passport to affix their stamp. If you don’t have one, they said, you can’t enter the country.

We were held in a separate room in the airport for an hour as they went over our passports, with many different officials giving their opinions to one another. Finally, they told us that, for $100 from each of us, they would affix their stamp over another one in the passport; they said the fee was for “information manipulation.”

We were informed that we could not leave Bali, go to another island and return with our passports in their current state.

C. REED

Las Vegas, NV