Archive 'Place of Interest'
by Putra - 03 Sep 2007 @ 1:20 am · Category Place of Interest
After Agung, Batur is the most sacred mountain on Bali. Most often the mountain’s only sign of life is an occasional wisp of smoke that drifts across its lava-blackened slopes. However, when this 1,717-meter volcano erupts, it glows red, bellows and throws out rocks and showers of volcanic debris.
History
Batur was initially formed in the shape of a sharply pointed cone over 3,500 meters above sea level. A terrific explosion blew the point off the cone, atomized a large portion of the volcano and collapsed the bulk of the mountain into the magma chamber, which was emptied by the initial cataclysm.
Before the present caldera was born, Penelokan and Kintamani lay on the western slope of the “first” Gunung Batur. Now Penelokan and Kintamani are spread out along the top of the caldera’s outer crater rim. The present younger, smaller volcano-of the effusive rather than explosive type-gradually grew out of the crater floor over a period of hundreds of thousands of years.
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by Putra - 05 Dec 2006 @ 12:48 am · Category Place of Interest
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.
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by Putra - 30 Nov 2006 @ 1:00 am · Category Place of Interest
Bangli is an hour’s drive (40 km) northeast of Denpasar. An offshoot of the early Gelgel dynasty, the ancient kingdom of Bangli became Bali’s most powerful upland court in the second half of the 19th century.
Bangli today is perhaps the quietest and most easygoing of all the regency capitals. Travelers use for lying on the slopes of Gunung Batur, Bangli has one of the most temperate climates on Bali. The town is still the subject of fierce barbs, and the Balinese look at you askance when you say you’re going to Bangli.
Pura Kehen
Eight royal ‘puri’ were once situated around the main crossroads of town, but now only Puri Denpasar (the present Artha Sastra Inn) is open to the publicAs the original palace of Bangli’s last raja note the sculptures of lions and bodhisattvas inspired by early photographs of Borobudur, and the remarkable painted mural and frieze in the ‘bale loji’ depicting Chinese life in Bangli. The mural is in bad shape but you can still make out detail. Also worth seeing is the 100-year-old ‘bale kulkul’, about a five-minute walk.
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by Putra - 07 Nov 2006 @ 2:42 am · Category Place of Interest
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.
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by Putra - 02 Nov 2006 @ 3:49 am · Category Place of Interest, Religion and Culture
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.
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by Putra - 25 Sep 2006 @ 2:53 am · Category Place of Interest
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.
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by Putra - 17 Sep 2006 @ 2:54 am · Category Place of Interest
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.
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by Putra - 15 Sep 2006 @ 2:45 am · Category Place of Interest
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.
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by Putra - 14 Sep 2006 @ 2:52 am · Category Place of Interest
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.
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by Putra - 11 Sep 2006 @ 2:51 am · Category Place of Interest
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.
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