Funtastic place " BALI "

Bali as Paradise Island

Bali is an island paradise which has been the favorite destination of a range of discerning travellers. Bali is only Hindu state, and the rich blend of tradition and culture has had an incredible impact.

In Bali, the gods and goddesses called the “Dewa-Dewi” -a god being a “Dewa” and a goddess a “Dewi”. The Balinese religion uses the Indian Hindu pantheon, though having adapted it to their own history, character and unique needs.

This pantheon is a packed pedestal of immortals reflecting Hinduism’s rich vision of spiritual life. But the essential Dewa-Dewi are composed of two balanced trinities, called Tri-Murtis: The male group of Brahma, Wisnu, and Siwa, and their female consort and counterparts, Saraswati, Dewi Sri, and Durga.

These six cover all the basic aspects of existence. As india has the Himalayas, Bali has its own sacred seat of the Dewa-Dewi, Gunung Agung (Great Mountain). The Balinese use it as a “channel” to Suarga, the heavenly realm where the Dewa - Dewi dwell. From there they bless and protect Bali and occasionally pay visits. The core of the complex Balinese religion is “right alignment’ to the Dewa-Dewi via this sacred cannel.

Going sight seeing in Bali
People have come for the culture, for the tropical environment, for the beaches. For the diving, for the food, the surfing, the shopping. People come here to unwind, become inspired, or experience the ultimate adventure. Bali is the island which has it all.

The capital city of Bali, Denpasar has many community temples called “Pura”. One is the museum called Pura Jagatnatha which is dedicated to the Supreme God. Sang Hyang widi Wasa. The statue of a turtle and two dragons (prevalent in all temples) signify the foundation of the world. Sanur offers many good hotels, restaurants, shops and other tourist facilities. Offshore reefs protect the beach againts the waves and make it popular for windsurfing, boarting and other watersports.

Kuta is now a thriving tourist resort, popular mainly among the young. It is a popular beach for surfing although currents mat it ess suitable for swimming and faces toward the west offering beautiful sunsets. Nusa Dua is known for its clean white beaches and clear waters. The surf is gentle along the northen side of the Bukit Peninsula, biggr along the south.

Ubud the centre of Balinese painting, Ubud’s Museum “Puri Lukisa” has a permanent collection f modern works of Balinese art dating from the turn of the century. Goa Lawah or Bat cave, the roof is covered with thousands of bats and its entrance is guared by a temple believed to be founded by a sage nine centurie ago. Besakih known as the “Mother Temple of Bali”, the sanctuary of Besakih on the slopes of Mt. Agung is the biggest and holiest of all Balinese temples.

Over a thousand years old, steps ascend though split gates to the main couryard where the Trinity shrines are wrapped in cloth and decorated with flower offerings. Menjangan Island the little island of Bali’s west coast is known for its beautiful coral reefs nearby and the wealth of tropical fish inhabiting the waters around it. Bedugul the mountain resort of Bedugul, 18 km north of Denpasar, is known for its excellent golf course. A beautiful sight is the “Ulun Danu” temple which seems to rise out of the lake. The area offers good walks. Water skiing, and parasiling is done as well.

Vicinity of Bangli

For starters, try a nice walk through ’sawah’ to the east, bringing you to Pura Dalem Cungkub.

South of Bangli
Pura Dalem Pengungekan, a temple of the dead. The central shrine, completed in 1995, depicts the stories of Ganesha, Siwa, Uma, and Raksasa. Bukit Jati is a scenic hill south of Bangli with 360-degree views; take a ‘bemo’ first to Guliang, then walk 500 meters to the top, the site of several temples.

In Bunutin, red-bricked Pura Langgar is designed along Islamic lines The legend goes that, during the 17th century, a local Hindu prince fell gravely ill. Today, both Muslims and Hindus worship at Pura Langgar and descendants of the prince’s family still abstain from eating pork in deference to their ancestor.

North of Bangli
The largest bamboo forest on Bali is in Kubu, four km north of Bangli on the road to Penglipuran. The locals believe the bamboo took root from bamboo sticks used in the making of camp shelters and ‘pikulan’ abandoned by the all-conquering army of Panji Sakti in the early 17. Trunyan on the northeast shore of Lake Batur; Kajubii is surrounded by a protective wall. Here the children are considered more important than the old people; looked upon as servants of God.

West of Bangli
Catch a ‘bemo’ in front of the hospital toward Tampaksiring. After about one km, on the south side of the main road, is the lake-fed spring of Tirta Empul, located at the bottom of a big ravine. Take the long flight of steps down to the springs. About two km farther west, after the school, you’ll see the signpost and the track to the right to Bukit Demulih (”Hill of No Return”).

If you continue straight up the wooded ridge, you’ll reach Penelokan. Perched on top of Bukit Demulih is the small temple of Penataran Kentel Gumi. From the hilltop, you can see the Balinese Pyrenees, a range of nine mountains named after the nipple-like ‘trompong’ percussion plates in the ‘gamelan’ orchestra.

Batur and Kintamani

A mountain village, Batur is north of Penelokan on the western rim of the crater, with no distinguishable border separating it from Kintamani. The newcomer on the ridge, Batur until 1926 was a prosperous village located at the foot of Gunung Batur. In 1917, the volcano erupted and buried most of the village in lava. This cataclysm took the lives of 1,000 people, destroying 65,000 homes and 2,500 temples. Miraculously, the molten lava stopped short at the gateway of Batur’s village temple.

Kintamani Village
Kintamani is a cool, fresh retreat, bring warm clothes, as it’s cold at night (1,500 meters above sea level). The fog comes rolling into Kintamani early, transforming it into a ghost town of howling ‘anjing’, so you’d best settle in before nightfall. The coldest months are July and August, lots of rain from October to March. Get up early to watch a superb sunrise.

There are fewer annoying locals and you’re treated with slightly more respect. Still, Kintamani has more barking dogs per square meter than any other place on Bali. There’s a busy market every third morning along the highway in the north part of town, right in front of Losmen Miranda.

The temples of the area look out over the crater. People come from all over the island to pray here, especially during ‘odalan’. A grand old ‘gong gde’, one of only three on Bali, plays for the ceremony.

Trunyan
Bali’s best-known The Bali Aga, is the island’s oldest inhabitant, aboriginals who lived here long before the Majapahit invasion in the 14th century. Legend has it the village was established on the spot where an ancient ‘taru menyan’ tree stood-thus the town’s name. It is said that in ancient times the lake goddess Dewi Danu was lured down from heaven by the lovely scent of this tree.

Today Trunyan is a real tourist trap, and you may not get to experience much more than villagers clamoring for money. Still, the setting is spectacular-green mountain backdrop and deep blue lake, mist-shrouded Gunung Batur rising up dramatically on the other side.
Culturally and ethnically outside the mainstream, Trunyan provides evidence of how Bali’s earliest people lived.

Pura Pancering Jagat
Trunyan’s old temple, Pura Pancering Jagat (”Temple of the Navel of the World”), stands under a massive banyan tree. Unusual architecture abounds in this austere ‘pura’-a fossilized relic of aboriginal Balinese society.

The Kuburan, the Bali Aga prefer exposing their dead in the open air rather than cremating them. Valuable land cannot be given over to the burial of the dead. After complicated rituals, the naked body is first wrapped in white cloth, then placed in a shallow pit, protected from scavengers by a triangular bamboo fence and roof. Those who have committed suicide or who have died of horrible disfiguring diseases are buried.

Accommodations
Most ‘losmen’ are located on the main street, Jalan Pasar Kintamani, each offering cold, cubicle-like, damp-smelling rooms. This environment is somewhat alleviated by a crackling log fire at night-order the wood earlier in the day. Kintamani’s best budget hotel is small, friendly, family-run Losmen Miranda with six rooms in the upper end of town. Services include free baggage storage, hot water at no charge, and a log fire. This clean, well-kept hotel and its good food are excellent value. Nothing glamorous but no bugs in the bed, and bars on the windows.

Food
There are ‘warung makanan’ up from Puri Astina in the market. Losmen Miranda has a pretty good fully Westernized 28-item breakfast and dinner menu, including fried noodles, veggie omelets, black rice pudding, and vegetables, eggs, and sauce. Miranda claims to have the best pancakes on Bali-banana inside, coconut on top.

Getting Away
From Kintamani to Penelokan by ‘bemo’, to Singaraja by bus (1.5 hours) and to Denpasar by bus (1.5 hours). The Denpasar-Singaraja bus passes in front of Losmen Miranda. For Gunung Batur, it’s possible to start your climb from Kintamani at 0600 and return by 1200. Expert local guides, available through the hotels, will lead you down the old bridle path that drops steeply from the lip of the outer crater, then climbs up and over the rim of the inner crater before descending into the innermost crater.

Besakih Temple

Bali’s oldest, largest, most impressive and austere temple complex sits one-third the way up the slopes of Gunung Agung. Besakih, actually consisting of three temple compounds, is the Mother Temple of Bali and the most important of the island’s Sad Kahyangan religious shrines. It’s Bali’s supreme holy place, the essence of all Bali’s 20,000 temples, a symbol of religious unity, and the only temple that serves all Balinese. Even though it’s touristy, it’s still spectacular-good energy!

History
Besakih was built on a terraced site where prehistoric rites, ceremonies, and feasts once took place. Perhaps it was here where the spirit of the great, angry mountain, which loomed menacingly above the island, received pagan sacrifices. Certain timeworn megaliths in some of the bale are reminiscent of old Indo-Polynesian structures.

Hindu theologians claim the temple was founded by the 8th century missionary Danghyang Markandeye, a priest credited with introducing the tradition of daily offerings (bebali) and the concept of a single god. His son, Empu Sang Kulputih, was the temple’s first high priest.

The first record of the temple’s existence is a chronogram dated AD 1007, possibly describing the death ritual for King Udayana’s queen, Mahendradatta. This inscription also reveals that Besakih was used as a Buddhist sanctuary. ‘Lontar’ books dating from the Majapahit Kingdom indicate Besakih’s significance during the 14th century, and several 15th-century wood tablets refer to state support of Besakih, confirming its preeminence.

Besakih’s central Pura Penataran Agung, the largest on the island, functioned as a funeral temple for the Gelgel dynasty’s deified kings and as the central state temple for the entire island. Gelgel rulers are today enshrined in their own temple here, the Padharman Dalem. For centuries worship at Besakih was the exclusive privilege of rajas, not commoners, and the difficult trek here in former times reinforced the ardor of the devotional act.

The great 1917 earthquake destroyed the temple complex, but it was subsequently restored by the Dutch to its original form (only two structures survived this quake). Besakih was again heavily damaged on 17 March 1963 by a Gunung Agung eruption. The complex has since been extensively restored and now encompasses a mix of old and new buildings. Because it is a state shrine, the provincial and national governments pay for its upkeep.

Layout and Design
Besakih is a very complex architectural structure venerating the holy Hindu trinity. Via a series of long stairways, the temple group ascends parallel ridges toward Gunung Agung, the honored birthplace of Bali’s deities, tantamount to heaven. The temple is continually enlarged as municipalities, regencies, and wealthy honored Brahman families add more shrines. In fact, each caste and kin group, as well as various sects, artisan guilds, and aristocratic families, maintains its own temple inside the complex.

About 22 separate sanctuaries contain a befuddling array of over 60 temples and 200 distinct structures (a map is posted at the top of the road leading from the parking lot). Given the Balinese passion for covering surfaces with carving or paint, it’s remarkable most of Besakih’s sanctuaries are constructed simply of wood.

The sun god (Bhatara Surya), the god of the sea (Ratu Waruna), and every major figure in the Balinese pantheon is represented here. Each of the island’s nine regencies also maintains its own temple within this complex. Curiously, the small, relatively inconsequential ‘rajadoms’ like Blahbatuh and Sukawati are assigned proportionally large sections, while major regencies like Badung and Gianyar are meagerly represented. The historical importance of the Gelgel kingdom is evident, however, by its assignment to the innermost, central courtyard.

Beyond a great unadorned split gate, a broad terrace leads to a ‘gapura’, which opens onto 50 black, slender, pagoda-like ‘meru’ temples. The more roofs, the higher-ranking the god or deified ancestor to whom the ‘meru’ is dedicated. Long flights of stone steps lead to the main central temple, Pura Penataran Agung, which consists of six rising terraces built on a slope, all connected by gateways. In the third inner court of the central temple is the ’sanggar agung’, a beautifully decorated 17th-century triple lotus stone throne representing the divine triad. This is the ritual center of Besakih. Through the clear, fresh air of the topmost terrace, over 900 meters above sea level, is an unsurpassed view over spectacular rice terraces. Behind, thick white clouds hover over Gunung Agung.

Besakih’s three main temples, which stretch for over a kilometer, are Pura Penataran Agung (in the symbolic center), dedicated to the paramount god Shiva, or Sanghyang Widhi Wasa; Pura Kiduling Kreteg, honoring Brahma; and Pura Batu Medog, dedicated to Vishnu. The longitudinal axis of this complex points directly ‘kaja’, toward Gunung Agung’s peak to the northeast.

Farther up the mountain is another compound, Pura Gelap, the “Thunderbolt Temple.” Highest, in the pine forests of Agung’s southwest slope, is austere Pura Pengabengan.

Ceremonies and Events
Because so many gods, regencies, and old Bali clans are represented here, there’s always something going on. About 70 rituals are held regularly at Besakih’s different shrines, with banners representing each god hung on or near the temple and long lines of women walking up the terraces, their heads piled high with offerings.

A visit to the sanctuaries of Besakih is a special pilgrimage each Balinese must undertake periodically. They return with holy water for use in ceremonies back home. A visit to Besakih is also required to properly consecrate the soul of a dead relative as a family god in the house temple.

Each of Besakih’s temples has its own ‘odalan’, and on the full moon of the 10th lunar month, vast crowds pack the entire compound to celebrate the visit of the gods (turun kabeh); this rite also commemorates Besakih’s founding. During Galungan, enormous throngs of pilgrims turn Besakih into a hive of activity. An important island-wide Water Opening ceremony also occurs here, long-nailed priests dramatically gesticulating, sprinkling holy water, and ringing tinkling bells.

The most majestic event is held only once every 100 years, the spectacular Eka Desa Rudra, a purification ceremony in which harmony and balance in people and nature are restored in all 11 directions. The rite last occurred in March 1963, some 16 years before the proper date, apparently because Sukarno wished to impress a convention of travel agents. Midway through the opulent ceremony, Gunung Agung began to shower the whole area with ash and smoke, finally exploding in its most violent eruption in 600 years. Earthquakes toppled temples, hot ash ignited thatched roofs, volcanic debris rained upon the earth. As the molten lava moved toward them, Hindu priests prayed frantically, hoping to appease the angry gods, assuring worshippers they had nothing to fear. In the end, 1,600 Balinese were killed and 86,000 left homeless.

The Balinese don’t take such extraordinary coincidences lightly; the catastrophe was attributed to the wrath of the god Shiva in his most evil aspect as Rudra. It ultimately became a damning judgment on the entire Sukarno era. Miraculously, the flaming lava flowed around Besakih, sparing most of the temple, though shrouding it with black ash for month.

The ceremony was held again in 1979, this time on a Saka year and with all the proper officiations. The sacrifice of an elephant, a tiger, an eagle, and 77 other animals seemed to do the trick-Eka Desa Rudra was completed without incident, and Besakih reestablished its place as the principal Hindu sanctuary in Indonesia.

Sidemen

The Swiss ethnomusicologist Ernst Schlager (1900-64) and ethnologist Dr. Urs. Ramseyer lived and worked for many years in the Sideman area, southwest of Iseh. Presently, a Swiss charitable foundation has established a special school here devoted to propagating and strengthening traditional Balinese culture. With 120 students, the school’s curriculum includes the study of ‘adat’, crafts, music, dance, painting, water divination, calendrical traditions, the Balinese language, traditional penmanship, literature, and the Bali-Hindu religion.

Visit also the weaving factory Pertenunan Pelangi opposite Sideman Homestay. There are several workshops and outlets where you can purchase expensive silk ‘kain songket’ interwoven with designs of gold and silver thread, as well as distinctive Sideman-style ‘endek’ garments. This beautiful area is also known for its scholarly healers, ‘balian usaba’. Here also is enacted the ‘barong ketek’, a dance drama concerning a highly esteemed mythical lion. This magical creature also serves a curative function-’tirta’ from his beard is prescribed by area ‘balian’ to clients ill or enduring ill fortune.

Sidemen Homestay (tel. 62366-21.811) has one of the nicest locations on Bali: 14 comfortable bungalows with fans, fine food (four-course dinners), good service, and superb views. Climb the many steps to enjoy a drink at the bar, with Gunung Agung rearing up behind you. See also Sanur Beach; at night lights sparkle all along the coast. In the vast expanse of ’sawah’ in front is a wonderful collection of ragged, multicolored scarecrows.

Still, the charge is an astonishing sum (though guests seem willing to pay it). No air conditioning, ‘kelambu’, hot water, nor Visa, but the rooms are nicely furnished, the beds decent, and the ambience peaceful. Good library of Balinesian books in all languages. Ibu Putu also runs Subak Tabola Inn (tel. 62366-23.015) that lies in the middle of ‘padi bali’, three km from the main road at the end of a walking track; nice gardens, pool, and basic meals served.

Alternatives? Two km from Sideman Homestay in Desa Tabola is Homestay Patal, a better deal: with six spacious, quiet, set in a well-tended garden high on a hillside, half a km from the road. Also check out the American Emerald Star’s Tirta Sari; luxury accommodations, meditation center, many sacred rocks in the area. Reach Sidemen by traveling west on the scenic road from Amlapura through Bebandem, Putung, and Iseh, or by waiting for a ‘bemo’ at the turn at Satria (or Sampalan Tenah) northeast of Klungkung, then traveling 12 km through the hills. Stand in front of Sidemen’s market for a lift out of town in either direction.

Balina Beach

About five-km beyond the turnoff to Padangbai, and after the village of Manggis, is a small steel bridge. About 500 meters beyond, turn right down a small lane to Buitan village. This is the heart of Balina, a simple, quiet resort with scant sellers, few tourists, a nice wide black sandy beach, tame waves, no treacherous currents, and seldom the sputter of a motorbike. Though similar to Beach Inn-style complexes found all over Candidasa, Sanur, and Kuta, this simple, quiet resort is in the middle of a fishing village. All the amenities of Candidasa are accessible by ‘bemo’ four km to the northeast, while the urban center of Amlapura lies 18 km to the northeast, and the metropolis Denpasar is a 1.5 hour’s drive.

Water Sports
Balina is known for its diving excursions in a marine reserve offshore. If you reach the beach by late afternoon, you can go night fishing with local fishermen using lanterns. The Balina Diving Center has an impressive team of five instructors supervised by a PADI Open Water dive master; he can also arrange fishing and outrigger sailing trips. Dive trips, instruction, and snorkeling are offered every day starting at 0900. Minimum two people, except for the three-person minimum to Nusa Penida and Menjangan.

Snorkeling and scuba diving rates, including transport, instruction, equipment, lunch, and tax, depend on the destination. Some places of water sports: diving at Blue Lagoon, diving at Nusa Penida, diving at Pulau Menjangan, snorkeling and diving at Tulamben, a stunning shipwreck 40 km northwest of Balina and at Cemeluk, near Amed to the northwest and diving at Pulau Kambing, off Balina. Strong and dangerous undercurrents at the south end of the island can carry you up to 500 meters out of your way. Sharks frequent the area; a few foreigners have gone down here and never come up.

Accommodations and Food
The best midmarket place to stay is 34-room Puri Buitan, east of the Balina Beach Bungalows on one of east Bali’s most beautiful, safe beaches. Definitely worth the price if you’re looking for easy living-nicely furnished rooms with hot water, swimming pool, great snorkeling, shuttle service to Ubud, plus the personal attention of proprietor I Made Patera. Puri Buitan’s motel-style units are clean and tidy. Add 15.5% tax and service to the price.

The restaurant overlooking the pool has a full menu of so-so food reflecting heavy Italian patronage. Also snacks and toiletries. Remain connected to the real world via the international telecommunications office in front of Puri Buitan. Guests can easily walk up the road and grab a ‘bemo’ to Candidasa to get something to eat. Contact Box 444, Denpasar 80001

More upmarket is the 58-room Serai Hotel (tel. 62363-41.011, fax 41.015) on a secluded beach amidst a beautiful coconut grove. Although designed by the same architect, who designed the Amankila, this hotel appeals to a younger, upwardly mobile set. The low-rise Western architecture blends well with natural surroundings and typical Balinese pavilion-style public areas. What sets the Serai apart from other Balinese establishments is that it’s under Australian management who understand better what guests require.

The Nelayan Villages (or Balina Beach Bungalows, Box 301, Denpasar, tel. 62361-41.002/005, fax 41.001) offers accommodations with private verandas and baths set amidst palms and rice fields. Forty-one Balinese-style bungalows range from small two-bed units and family units (best views). Extra 15.5% for tax and service are added to the price. Prices include continental breakfast; credit cards honored, postal service, moneychanger, safe deposit boxes, good parking, pool, gazebo bar, luncheon service, “Bali Night Dinner” with barbecue. Ideal for the sports-minded, as the Balina Diving Center maintains its office here. Drawbacks: expensive, terrible restaurant meals, and they don’t smile much.

At the nearby Java Restaurant the food is somewhat better and certainly more reasonably priced; also runs a small homestay. Fishing families will offer you drab rooms in the ‘kampung’. At the opposite end of the scale, Balina’s most conspicuously upmarket hotel is the Mandra Alila, with 80 rooms. The luxurious beachside Serai Hotel, tel. 62366-41.011, fax 41.015, built in the imposing Pacific Rim architectural style, is in the same class. Although the rooms are motel-style, they are spacious and well appointed. The swimming pool is near the beach under coconut palms.

Nearby accommodations include Sunrise Bungalows, tel. 62366-41.008, in Buitan, consisting of 10 bungalows. The nicest rooms are on the second floor in the back, with lots of windows overlooking palms and garden foliage, with the bay in the distance. Beach between two concrete jetties with good snorkeling. Full-time security; small restaurant. Ketut has a car, speaks good English, possesses a wealth of information, and caters to a regular and devoted clientele. Mailing address Box 287, Denpasar 80001, Bali.

To the west is the even more isolated Ampel Bungalows in Manggis village-beautiful seascapes, nice gardens, restaurant. You’ll get a simple, clean room (no hot water or electricity) and an exceptional view. The verandas are lit, with oil lamps provided in the evenings. There are no nearby restaurants, but proprietor Wayan Pastika Adijaya willingly arranges transport to the closest in Candidasa or Balina Beach. To get here go past Manggis and the turnoff to Amankila, where the road winds down to the coastal flats heading to Candidasa; the turn to Ampel is 300 meters before the bridge (see sign on right, if coming from Manggis), about one km before Balina Beach. Any ‘bemo’ driver can find the place.

Hotelier Adrian Zecha’s Amankila is another world. Only about two-km from Padangbai, heading north past the stone mangosteen monument, is this spectacular resort palace, set on a high cliff facing the Bali Strait. The 400-meter-long “restricted access” salt and pepper beach lies below an old temple spotlighted at night. Built in a luxuriant grove of frangipani, palms, and other local mature trees, some 35 spacious suites, linked by walkways to the restaurants, pools, and beach.

All are exceptionally well designed, with extreme attention to detail. The structures may look heavy and blocky (someone wrote that they were looking for the graffiti!) but are actually ecologically correct, built to preserve and encourage drainage via natural waterways and streams. No TVs, as guests are expected to relax in an atmosphere combining unobtrusive luxury with informality.

Enormous areas are dedicated to public space, including a “staircase” of three pools at different levels; seven suites come with their own pools. Visit the decadently elegant Library Museum, the sumptuous Beach Club with its thin 45-meter-long pool in the midst of a coconut plantation. Nonguests may frequent the Beach Club and the beach. Nice little restaurant (superb fish and chips) and the best lap pool on Bali. Barbecue is every Tuesday and Friday night; ‘kecak’ dances are held Wednesday, ‘baris’ on Saturday. Reservations c/o Amanusa, Nusa Dua, Bali, tel. 62363-41.333, fax 41.555.

Getting Away
The man at Kios Melati, just up from the Puri Buitan, rents vehicles for guests. You may also charter vehicles for the airport, Kuta, or Nusa Dua. In the high season, a shuttle service may be in operation with shared rides to Ubud, Sanur, Kuta and the airport. For much cheaper public transport, go up to the main road and flag down a ‘bemo’. Kios Melati also develops film in one day.

The area west of Balina around Manggis is really picturesque, with the sea on one side and mountains on the other. Walk 1.5 hours through woods and gardens to Ngis via Manggis; Tenganan is a two-hour walk from Ngis.

Penelokan

Its name means “Place to Look.” From Denpasar’s Terminal Kereneng, Penelokan is 56 km. This cool, 1,450-meter-high village perches on the rim of a caldera looking out over the sacred, blackened, smoking volcano of Gunung Batur and Lake Batur, an all-important water catchment for south central Bali’s agricultural wealth.

Get here by 0800 or 0900, before the clouds move in. Better yet, wake up early to catch the sunrise. In August and September the sunrise is too high, coming up over the middle of the peak, but in June and July it rises to the left of the peak in a golden yellow. At night see the moon sail over the volcano.

Warnings
The Penelokan/Kintamani area has one of the worst reputations in all of Indonesia for money-hungry, aggressive people. The many food peddlers, who have no alternative livelihood, hound tourists mercilessly. Beware of road sellers who pull the big switch-substituting a low-quality item for the high-quality piece you agreed to buy. Try not to show even the slightest interest in the wares pushed by the clutch of vendors on the street or outside of the restaurants.

By the mid-’80s the situation had become so grim the government stepped in and made all the hawkers get licenses and wear identity badges; the authorities also implemented fixed prices on local transport. Now the situation has improved somewhat, though freelancers offering transport deals are still a big problem.

Accommodations
From Penelokan’s ‘losmen’ you’ll discover one of the town’s most pleasant activities is just sitting and gazing at the mountain and lake. You’d pay a lot for the view, though, if you stay in the generally overpriced, damp, run-down, and very basic ‘losmen’ here. Penelokan does not yet have any good-value, comfortable, reasonable accommodations. Power outages are a fact of life.

Food
A major drawback to staying anywhere in the Batur area is the poor food. There is a critical shortage of good eating ‘warung’, though the fruit stands opposite the road to Kedisan sell ‘jeruk’, passion fruit, and other exotic fruit. For less costly fare, try the ‘nasi campur’ at a few local flyblown ‘warung’ (Warung Makan Ani Asih or Warung Makan Sederhana), though they tend to be bland.

Between Penelokan and Kintamani on the volcano side of the road are several cheaper alternatives-Puncak, Gong Dewata, Gunungsari, and the Mutiara Cafe-with views just as nice as those offered by big tourist restaurants.

Shopping and Services
The shops along the road include some bargain buys. The local tourist office (open daily 0900-1500) is nearly opposite the road down to the lake; scan the bulletin boards for info on charters, guides working the area, and accommodations. A post office located between Penelokan and Kintamani handles parcels; open 0800-1600. A postal agent is located next to the police post, about a five-minute walk north of the market. Change money at the branch of Bank Rakyat Indonesia about 200 meters up the road to Kintamani.

Getting There; Getting Away
The most popular way to reach this mountain area is on the highway out of Denpasar by ‘bemo’ from Batubulan station. ‘Bemo’ pick up more passengers in Bangli, then head straight up to Penelokan. You can use minibus from Singaraja in the north.

There are also some unfrequented back-road approaches to Penelokan from Ubud, via Payangan; drive a 100cc (or more) motorcycle through the deep upland interior of Bali. To walk from Ubud via Payangan takes about 12 hours.

Vicinity of Penelokan
An exciting, fun ride is to take a bicycle up to Penelokan on top of a ‘bemo’, then freewheel it all the way back down to the southern coast. There’s a wonderful garden in Desa Teman, see loving cultivation of salak, cengkeh, apokat, coklat, bananas, kopi, nanas, durian, mango, mangosteen, papaya, white and black pepper, ginger, and kunyit. Nice view over a river valley. Farther south is Quilt Alley.

In the highland jungle, are the Bali Aga villages of Selulung, Batukaang, and Catur. See remains of primitive pre-Hindu monuments, lichen-covered stone statues, small Polynesian-style megalithic pyramids.

Climbing Gunung Abang
This old 2,152-meter-high volcano (”Red Mountain”), on the eastern side of the crater southeast of Penelokan, is the highest point on Batur’s outer crater. Climbing it is demanding but easier than climbing Gunung Batur. The trailhead lies about six km southeast of Penelokan.

Selat

A village surrounded by lovely rice terraces rising to Gunung Agung. During festivals, Selat builds a huge ‘barong’, requiring up to 20 men to lift it, made entirely of fruits, vegetables, and rice. From Selat, take the country road southwest via Sideman, which comes out just east of Klungkung. Just beyond Selat is the village of Padangaji, known for its ‘gambuh’ troupe; this classical dance-drama is now rarely performed on Bali.

Four km west of Selat, in the peaceful village of Muncan, a special ceremony called Makanplengan is held the day after Nyepi-large costumed figures simulate copulation. Feast on Balinese specialties or European and Chinese cuisine, meanwhile enjoying the scenery from Bukit Jambul Garden Restaurant in Pesaban, south of Rendang to the west.

The 900-meter-high village of Sebudi, five km north of Selat, is the favored starting point for the five-km southern assault on Gunung Agung. Sebudi is also the location of the very imposing Pura Pasar Agung (”Temple of the Agung Market”). The road to the pura climbs precipitously up through stands of bamboo and ’salak’ plantations to the parking lot where you take the 500 steps up to the 1,200-meter-high terraced temple with Gunung Agung towering above. An ethereal and dramatic spot.

Putung

Located 11 km west of Bebandem, 20 km west of Amlapura, and 68 from Denpasar. This miniature tourist resort is famous for ’salak’ grown on area plantations. The accommodations lie at the terminus of a dead-end road. Enjoy the cool fresh air; it doesn’t warm up until noon. An ideal place for meditation. Very quiet, these grandiose surroundings will nourish your soul.

From Amlapura, take a ‘bemo’ to Bebandem, another ‘bemo’ to the turnoff in Duda village, then walk or hitch 2.5 km to the Putung Country Club. Here are five ‘lumbung’-style rooms. Each bungalow comes with a good foam mattress, closets, veranda, downstairs ‘mandi’ and sitting room, loft bedroom with large picture windows. Rooms 4 and 5, with adjoining doors, are perfect for a family.

Although plain and basic, what you’re paying for is the knockout view. The bungalows sit on the edge of a high cliff over a deep chasm-no ‘padi’, just jungle falling sharply away to the sea 700 meters below. This area, it is said, is a favorite haunt of ‘leyak’ who hover over the nearby hills and cliffs. The restaurant serves Balinese/Indonesian meals. In the off-season you’ll probably have the whole place to yourself.Several nice walks in the area.

From Putung, take the seven-km-long path via Bakung through gardens and forests down to the coast to Manggis, six km west of Candidasa. Or head west along the road to Rendang, then spectacular terraced rice fields follow the land’s dramatic contours to the coast. If you turn south at Duda, you can reach Klungkung via Sidemen.

The Nusa Dua

In 1974 the government concocted the Nusa Dua Experiment, calling for the construction of luxury hotels along the East Coast of the arid, thinly populated Bukit Peninsula. By offering foreign investors 50-year leases with maximum incentives and tax holidays, it was hoped the Nusa Dua resort would accommodate and contain the surge in visitors. Nusa Dua constituted a major shift to elite tourism, planned as an isolated, self-contained ghetto that would allow visitors the experience of Bali but keep their interactions with the natives to a minimum.

Because relatively few of the island’s 2.7 million people live near the sea and few tourists want to stay anywhere else, the plan looked really good on paper. But the resort was very slow to develop. It was only in the 1980s that Nusa Dua finally came into its own; it wasn’t until late in the decade those tourist projections were met.

In this Mediterranean-style, self-contained hotel resorts tourists can sun their near-naked bodies on white sandy beaches without scandalizing anyone and watch abbreviated pseudo-events performed in expensive hotel foyers. Those with a spirit of adventure may day-trip around the island in air-conditioned buses to pre-selected villages and tourist sites, leaving untainted the rest of Eden.

The early 1990s brought a more formal experiment in “village tourism,” wherein groups of tourists move discreetly in small numbers with a minimum of intrusion, making direct, low-impact contact with the Balinese. The idea is being tried in three Balinese villages, Jatiluwih (rice-planting and fabulous views), Penglipuran (a nearly Bali Aga village in Bangli), and Sebatu (woodcarving and other art forms).

Guests from the southern hotels experience something “real” by joining day or weekend excursions to these villages. This cultural tourism is really just an extension of enclave-style tourist development, consistent with the policy of limiting and canalizing tourist development to minimize its impact on Balinese society.

What to Wear in Bali: Women’s Clothing

Women should take a few long-sleeved blouses and longish skirts. Skimpy clothing, backless dresses, and shorts can be offensive in Bali’s small back-road villages, on formal occasions, and particularly if worn in the island’s temples or to religious festivals. Your bikini is acceptable provided it’s worn only at the swimming pool or to the beach.

Take one wrinkle-proof dress that is easy to wash and dress up or down with. Dresses of double-knit cotton T-shirt material are excellent. If you prefer to complete your travel wardrobe on arrival, the clothes shops and boutiques of Kuta and Legian have a wide selection of contemporary and economically priced dresses, jackets, skirts, blouses, pants, and beachwear. Always closely scrutinize the quality of the fabric and workmanship.

As an alternative to possibly poorly sewn ready-made clothes, commission one of Bali’s hundreds of seamstresses to sew a dress (Rp15,000-30,000) or skirt (Rp7500-10,000). Your hotel or a clothes shop can recommend a dressmaker. Just give them one of your best-fitting garments or a photograph from which they will make a paper pattern.

If you lighten your hair, bring enough lightener with you to last your entire trip. Only black and a few brown shades can be found on Bali. Also bring deodorant and antiperspirant. The only decent products here are FA or Purol powder; the rest are ineffective.

Business in Bali

Usually people visit Bali for its lanscapes, festivals and petite dancers. There is another aspect to modern Bali though: business. Balinese religious symbolism and the use of offerings in all rituals have sreated a workforce exceptionally adepth in the production of art and handycraft.

Starting in the seventies, when backpackers and hippies started trading in Balinese art and craft to finance their stay in the island of the gods, businese in garment and textiles, jewelry, carving, furniture, antiques, and other items had been growing at a rate even outpacing that of the tourism industry.

As a result, the home-industry producing handycrafts and garment has become the most dynamic sector of the Balinese economy. Though it is difficult to know real figures as many exports are classified as souvenirs taken home by ‘tourists’, it is estimated that as musch as US$400 millions per annum, or a fifth of the regional annual income, are raked in by these home-industry businesses. Bali is also currently an important international production center for beach-style fashion and designer itms.

The most dynamic sectors of this export business belong to the undeclared economy. Bali has a small semi-resident community of several thousand expatriates who every year spent four to eight months on the island to make designs, order products, control quality, organize their marketing networks abroad and, of course, have good time. These expatriates usually reside in the Legian-Seminyak area, although smaller communities are also found in Sanur and Ubud.

They control many of the fashion and designers’ shops lining the main streets of Kuta, Legian, Sanur and Ubud, often indirectly through a local business partner or spouse. Their legal status is hazy: most of them stay in Bali with a tourist or ‘business’ visa and go to Singapore for a few days whenever their visa expire. The way they work is simple: most place direct or indirect orders to individuals or small groups of specialized craftsmen from the hinterland villages; all they do is provide the designs and control the quality. There are also a few large workshops working on order from foreign companies, but they lack the suppleness of the local expatriates, who have a better hunch for finding local talents and creating new designs.

The semi-legal way of doing business in the Balinese handicraft and garment industry is regularly criticized in the Indonesian press. Local competitor complain that the expatriates enjoy undue advantage by not paying taxes; there is also little legal protection for the local business partners and the workers: everything is relied on trust and cheating is not uncommon. There is no hiding the fact though that this semi-legal expatriate community, and the business it runs, palys a positive role in Balinese economy and society.

That is why it is tolerated by the Indonesian authorities. Numerous honterland villages, particularly in the Gianyar Regency, literally live from handicraft exports, usually through such expatriate intermediaries. One has to admit that they have a positiveimpact on the local job market and, even indirectly, on the stability of Balinese village life and culture: the youths who remain at home are more active in dance and music than ever.

Furthermore, owing to the global exposure and international markets created for them, Balinese handicraft products have increased in high quality and have� gained international recognition. In fact, both Balinese and non-Balinese carvings are now found in sophiscated boutiques the world over, often having lost, for the sake of their winning new markets, their ethnic Balinese features. Bali is thus increasingly turning into a designers haven.

When doing business in Bali, one should take into account this specific environment. Investors are officially welcome in most sectors of the economy, but the bureaucratic hassles and the level of investment required-US$1 million-duscourage more than one. Unless one intends to pass large orders, or invest in the hotel industry (in which case it may be preferable to do business in partnership with-established local partners), the best way to do business in Bali is probably by using the informal network. There is one reservation though.

Whatever the high technical skills of the Balinese, some sort of supervision, either by an expatriate or by an Indonesianaccustomed to quality and schedule requirements, may be needed: the Balinese are an agrarian peopla, and their artistic skills rest to a large extent on this cultural background. This gives them little awareness of the demands of a modern economy. It is probably the reason why so many businesses are run or indirectly controlled - at least at the level of finished products and marketing - by non-Balinese, sometimes Chinese or Jakartanese, but more often than not by Western or Japanese expatriates.

This combination of Balinese artistic talent and outsiders’ ideas and marketing skills may well soon be provided with a better legal framework. Indonesia is in the midst of its ‘reformasi’, and among the ideas being discussed I that of autonomy, perticularly in the field of economy. It is obvious in this context that the existing connivance between the Balinese and their foreign guests could be put to a more productive use in given an adapted regulatory setting.

Bali is the ideal place where individual creative types can exercise their talents such as� writers, publishers, software and fashion designers, education specialists and painters. These are the kind of people who should be welcomed to work, set up businesses and transfer skills. The alchemy between Bali and the outside world is already working, albeit informally. With encouragement, Bali can become not only a place where modern ideas an products could be developed.

To support the core businesses of the tourism industry, many support services have developed. They include cargo handling, freight forwarding, shippin, toursm publications, graphic design and printing.

One dynamic company in the creative field in Art Vision. Set up six years ago as a professional production service company, it does full production and associate production services for the filming industry from around the world. It has a wiide range of state-of-the-art equipment. Art Vision has been appointed as associate producer by many film companies that shot in Bali.

The company is run by international standard professional management and a creative team who have access to other professionals in the film industry both regionally and worldwide. To cater to market needs and to create new business opportunities in thw international market, Art Vision has been responsive in adopting new technology such as mutimedia, internet, and other advancements. In fact, its multimedia and graphic design division has seen tremendous growth recently. With an understanding of local culture, it also provides communication services for international companies who use Bali as base for international markets in the hotel and tourism-related industry.

Ngaben Ceremony

A cremation is a superb study of all the most important symbols of Balinese ceremonial life, what anthropologist James Boon calls “a vast historical and ethnographic musing on the inevitability of death.” The Balinese believe a person’s sojourn on earth is but a short interlude in the long evolutionary process of the soul. Death occurs when the soul escapes from the body, but out of habit it continues to hover around the corpse. The soul cannot be freed as long as there is a body; only when the corporeal container is destroyed by the elements can the soul be liberated from all worldly ties.

The ‘ngaben’ ritual is the last and most important rite a family can perform for a loved one. Failure to free the soul by neglecting a cremation, or by incomplete or improper rites, renders the soul into a ghost who will wreak havoc on its neglectful descendants.

For hundreds of years, cremation was a privilege of the noble classes, but today it is estimated 10-30% of all Hindu Balinese cremates their dead. Except for the disappearance of suttee, the practice of widows immolating themselves on the funeral pyres of their husbands (the last occurred in 1903), Balinese ‘ngaben’ rites haven’t changed significantly in well over 300 years. A priest’s main job is to consecrate the deceased and his effigy with holy water, cleanse the body before cremation, and write letters of introduction (ratnyadana) to open the doors of heaven for the soul. Only high Brahman priests may officiate at cremations of the highborn, and only the poor would hire a lesser ranking ‘pemangku’.

Pre-Burial and Preparation
The signal of death in a house is a coconut-oil lamp hung from a long bamboo pole high over the roof. During the period before cremation, the soul of the deceased is thought to be agitated, longing for release, and the lamp enables the wandering spirit to find its way home in the dark.

On the first auspicious day after death, the body is prepared for purification and pre-burial. If the cremation is to take place quickly and the body to remain in the house, it may be mummified. If necessary, the teeth are filed. While prayers and mantras are recited, the corpse is rubbed with a mixture of sandalwood powder, salt, turmeric, rice-flour, and vinegar. The hands are bound and folded over on the breast in the gesture of prayer. Mirror-glass is placed on the eyelids, slivers of steel on the teeth, a gold ring in the mouth, jasmine flowers in the nostrils, and iron nails on the limbs, all to ensure a more perfect rebirth with “eyes as bright as mirrors, teeth like steel, breath as fragrant as flowers, and bones of iron.” An egg is rolled over the body, and the corpse then wrapped in many meters of white cloth.

The Procession
Days before the cremation, relatives “reawaken” the deceased by opening the grave. The remains are cleaned and wrapped in a white sacral cloth and taken to the cremation grounds to await the arrival of the coffin containing the effigy, which takes the place of the actual bones. Bones buried in unclean ground may never enter the family compound. On the morning of the cremation, relatives and friends visit the house to pay their respects.

When all the guests have partaken of a lavish banquet, the village ‘kulkul’ is sounded to begin the final march to the cremation grounds. Incited by the climactic rhythms of the ‘gamelan’, members of the dead man’s ‘banjar’ rush into the home and lift the corpse from its stretcher and hoist it, by way of an elaborate decorated stairway (raren), onto a soaring decorated wood and bamboo tower (bade) supported on a bamboo substructure. The tall bade is a fantastic Christmas tree-like creation beautifully decorated with tinsel, paper ornaments, flowers, glittering mirrors, and expensive fabrics. Since height is considered holy, the higher the tower, the higher the rank of the deceased. Towers for wealthy Ksatriya may attain heights of 20 or more meters, though the pervasive power lines of the island mean the really tall towers of the past are seldom seen today.

The Burning
The cremation grounds are usually located near the temple of the dead in the cemetery just outside the village. In the center of the grounds stands an animal-shaped sarcophagus, the appropriate figure determined by the caste of the deceased: a bull for a Brahman male, a cow for a Brahman woman, a winged lion for the Ksatriya class, a mythological half-elephant, half-fish (gadjamina) for a lower-class Sudra. Once hewn of tree trunks, these coffins are now constructed of bamboo and plaster. Access is gained through a lid in the back. The entire coffin is draped with velvet or other expensive cloth and decorated with gold leaf, silk scarves, and cotton wool.

When the cremation tower reaches the burning site, a lengthy white shroud (kajang) is attached to the body. Held over everyone’s heads, the corpse is led by the ‘kajang’ down from the tower and placed inside the coffin. The fragile, pagoda-like tower, no longer of any use, is tipped over and stripped of all valuables. A sea of fingers then passes ritual items up to be placed on the coffin.

Westerners find it curious how the Balinese treat the body of a dead relative. While the soul is regarded as all-important, the body is considered a foul, contaminated object to be dispensed with at the first opportunity. At cremations men clobber burning bodies with bamboo poles in order to break them up so they burn better. As the fire subsides, the ‘pedanda’ climbs the elevated platform and utters a few ‘mantra’, ringing a bell to hasten the soul’s journey to heaven. The eldest son rakes the ashes to make sure all the flesh is burned.

This act represents the final purification and disposal of the material body, the ultimate purification of the triple cleansing cycle of earth, fire, and water. Later, there are private, often quite elaborate ceremonies for the care of the soul. In these rites the soul takes its rightful, honored place as one of the family ancestral deities installed in a special shrine in the family temple. Twelve to 42 days after the burning, offerings and powerful incantations are made on the soul’s behalf. Wealthier families even construct a second tower at this time, nearly as elaborate as the cremation tower.

Attending a Cremation
Westerners are welcome to attend the cremation festivities, which may last several days. The Balinese don’t sell tickets to their cremations, but they sell transport to the ceremonies. In tourist resorts you’ll see signs announcing the event, as well as the address and telephone number of the transport agency. The local tourist office also knows when and where cremations take place. Some don’t need advertising: the 1993 funeral for the last raja of Gianyar drew 50,000 people, almost two percent of the total Balinese population. Wear a sash around the waist while attending a cremation