I recently posted a photo of our room in Canggu, Bali, and somebody asked me about the netting on our bed - if it was for mosquitos or vibes (thanks, Maria, for inspiring this entry!). Her question made me realize that it might be interesting to learn a bit more about the vernacular architecture and interior design of the places we’ve been staying. Big and small, well-thought-out structures and elements that create a functional and eco-friendly local lifestyle. And what that means for an average traveler.
The ‘Secret Cabana’ in Canggu, Bali
All of the huts and cabins we’ve lived in for the past couple of months in Sri Lanka and Bali have been built mostly from locally-sourced and organic material. Thatched roofing, A-frames, clay, wood, and bamboo are some examples of traditional styles and materials that are commonly found in these regions and cultures. This makes these places sustainable and inexpensive to build.
The same idea is usually true for the food as well. In fact, some of the restaurants we went to in Sri Lanka were run out of people’s homes, using ingredients they had in their own kitchen or backyard. One of our favorite restaurants in Tissamaharama is Flavors. It was right down the road from our cabin, so we walked there. When we showed up, a husband and wife were just going about their business, the front door open. Everyone’s doors are always wide open. They see us and we ask if they’re open and they’re like “yes, yes, of course, please sit down!”
They gesture for us to sit outside on the patio, and immediately all hands on deck. Someone pulls out a standing fan, running the electrical cord through the window. Someone else lights some incense to keep the mosquitoes away. As the wife is settling us in with a warm welcome, the husband gets cooking in the kitchen. Their young daughter peeked her head out from around the side of the house, curious probably to know who we were. She gave us a little grin and then ran away excitedly. A stray dog curled up on their front step, a couple of kittens played in the yard.
They have a menu, although they aren’t able to make everything listed due to a lack of ingredients. It didn’t matter anyway. I told the wife I was a vegetarian and her husband threw together an amazing spread. Each dish was elaborate and delicious, bursting with flavors and spices. Curries, rice, roti, sambal, papadam, etc. They also brought us a fresh wood apple smoothie and ice cream for dessert, complimentary. The wood apple grew on a tree in the backyard, she gave us one to take home as well. The whole meal was less than $10.
Andrew and Harshana Drinking from King Coconuts on the Side of the Road
Typical Sri Lankan Breakfast
As a westerner, it’s so beautiful to immerse yourself in the culture of a country like Sri Lanka or Indonesia. Living and dining are great ways to do this. For us, these things have given us very unique cultural experiences. It’s also so important to us to not contribute to the negative impacts of over-tourism. Being consciously aware of where your dollar is going. Spending money with an intention can help contribute to the pockets of locals vs large corporations.
A big benefit of staying in one of these conscientious homes is knowing with certainty that we’re not disrupting the natural habitat. Leaving no carbon footprint. In our experience, both Sri Lanka and Bali try very hard to keep their land beautiful. Andrew thinks it’s a common mentality adopted from growing up on an island, an appreciation and gratitude for the land and what it provides, knowing that resources are limited. So, the best way we can contribute to the economy without destroying the environment is to use only what we need and nothing more. Being wasteful is frowned upon. You won’t find many single-use plastic items such as straws, cutlery, bags, etc.
The Kip, Ahangama, Sri Lanka
Living in such close proximity to nature, in an open environment, has taken some adjusting and I wouldn’t say I’m comfortable with the little creatures in our living space. Andrew constantly reminds me, ‘they are more afraid of you than you are of them’. I have started verbally communicating with them instead of shrieking, asking them to kindly leave from where they came in. Not sure if I’ve had any success there though, so we’re still going through bottles of organic bug spray and I’m still vigilantly checking my clothes and shoes before throwing anything on blindly. In our current living space, there is a two-inch wide gap running from the bottom to the top of our front door and the bathroom and kitchen are outside.
Andrew using our Outdoor Kitchen in Canggu, Bali
The ‘Secret Cabana’ in Canggu, Bali
All bathrooms have open ventilation windows, without screens. You can imagine what the bathroom light attracts at night time in the middle of the jungle. Each time you enter, you take a proper look around to assess who and what is joining you while you shower or use the toilet. Maybe you give them a cute name to make them seem less threatening, maybe that’s just me. Whatever you need to do to feel comfortable in their space. It is their space after all. In some cases, the bathroom is just better described as an outdoor bathroom completely. Regardless, the door from the bedroom to the bathroom must always be shut tight.
Hideout Cabins in Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka, we had an entire family of lizards living in our air conditioner at the Shine Safari. We found a worm in our bed in the middle of the night at the Hideout Cabins. Andrew thought I peed the bed. Fiddling around with a wet worm in the pitch black is a sensation I’d be happy to never feel again. I slept with a T-shirt wrapped around my head for about a week when we didn’t have mosquito nets. That got hot. In Bali, at the Secret Cabana in Canggu, Andrew stepped on some sort of poop in our room - we think it was rat, but we hope it was lizard. I woke up to a colony of giant black ants yesterday. Oh, and on a very rare chance, I somehow had a piece of our dinner drop into my sneaker the other night when we were eating on the floor of our bedroom. So, when I went to put my shoes on, I found a tiny pea shoot and a bunch of ants feasting inside the sole of my white sneak.
We learned the hard way not to leave things in the bathroom overnight. We washed our water bottles out at the Kip in Sri Lanka and I went in the next morning and blindly (again, never do anything without checking with your eyes first) smelled the inside of the water bottle and THEN opened my eyes to my horror of a giant spider centimeters from my nose, living inside the water bottle. We also woke up one morning in Bali to find a giant snail had made a home inside our toilet paper roll. The entire outside of the roll saturated in slime. So yeah, chalk it up to jungle life. Get over it. Sit back and enjoy the sounds of nature in your backyard.
Hideout Cabins in Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka - on a Tea Farm
- Blair