Insight Guides Bali and Lombok

Insight Guides

• Publisher: Insight Guides
• ISBN:
  9781786717733
• Edition: 20
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Travel

The mere mention of Bali and Lombok conjures up images of an otherworldly tropical paradise, and for good reason too. These islands are home to some of the best beaches in the world and boast unbeatable tropical scenery. Both islands also boast some of the most impressive Buddhist and Hindu temples in existence. Be inspired to visit by this fully overhauled guide, a comprehensive full-colour guide to these paradise islands.

Inside Insight Guide Bali and Lombok:

A fully overhauled edition by our expert author.

Stunning, specially commissioned new photography that brings these breath-taking islands and habitants to life.

Highlights of the country's top attractions, including the best beaches and temples, in our Best of Bali and Lombok.

Descriptive region-by-region accounts that cover both islands, including Denpasar and Mataram.

Detailed, high-quality maps throughout will help you get around and travel tips give you all the essential information for planning a memorable trip, including our independent selection of the best hotels and restaurants.

About Insight Guides: Insight Guides has over 40 years' experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce around 400 full-colour print guidebooks and maps as well as picture-packed eBooks to meet different travellers' needs. Insight Guides' unique combination of beautiful travel photography and focus on history and culture together create a unique visual reference and planning tool to inspire your next adventure.

'Insight Guides has spawned many imitators but is still the best of its type.' - Wanderlust Magazine

Ubud and Surroundings

The Gianyar region, to which Ubud belongs, is Bali’s undisputed cultural enclave. This is where to find artists’ studios and galleries – together with lush rice fields, ornate temples and ancient historical sites. Ubud is where visitors gravitate to when they want to escape the tourist hordes of the south.

Main Attractions

Taman Burung Bali Bird Park

Celuk

Ubud Market

Neka Art Museum

Monkey Forest

Herons roosting at Petulu

Tegallalang

Elephant Safari Park

Gunung Kawi

Pura Kehen at Bangli

Driving northwards from Denpasar into the Gianyar region, the cacophony of south Bali recedes a little, depending upon exactly where one is headed. Shrines and temples dot landscapes of verdant rice paddies, soothing one back to sanity. The richly cultural Gianyar region was home to ancient kingdoms, extending from the centre of Bali down to the southern coast.

Holy spring at Pura Tirtha Empul.

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Gianyar has given the island much of its reputation as a centre of creativity, born literally from the incredible fertility of its spring-fed, lava-enriched soil. With such bountiful harvests, the people had time to cultivate their artistic talents; the result is a high level of aesthetic excellence that extends even to the commercial arts and crafts industry. Ubud is one of Gianyar’s main tourist centres and is easily accessible from all parts of the island.

A stone carver at work in Batubulan.

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Denpasar to Ubud

The roads leading to Ubud are lined with countless villages, once isolated but nowadays nearly indistinguishable from one another in the continual sprawl. Non-stop driving might take just over an hour from Denpasar, but doing so would be a great pity as many villages along the way specialise in some kind of art form and are usually worth lingering at.

Batubulan

The first large village of note upon entering the region of Gianyar is Batubulan 1 [map] (Moonstone), stretching for about 2km (1 mile) and distinguishable from urban Denpasar only by the numerous paras stone-carving shops lining the road sides. Paras is composed of compressed clay and volcanic ash found in nearby ravines. It’s so soft and porous that the tropical climate wears it down, making it necessary for temple carvings to be replaced every few decades. Men usually carve in groups, copying in stone what their ancestors carved before them, and increasingly, what appeals to visitors.

Also in Batubulan is the Seniwati Gallery of Art, a showcase for female Indonesian artists and a source of income and empowerment (entry by appointment only; tel: [phone],).

Taman Burung Bali and Rimba Reptile Park

North of Batubulan is the Taman Burung Bali Bird Park 2 [map] (tel: [phone]; www.bali-bird-park.com; daily 9am–5.30pm). Paved paths lead through landscaped gardens where more than 1,000 specimens of over 250 exotic bird species live in well-designed aviaries. It is dedicated to the protection of mostly Indonesian birds; the endangered jalak putih (white Bali starlings) have been bred here in captivity for the first time in Bali.

Barong masks and costumes in the old royal palace, Puri Saren Agung, which hosts traditional dance performances nightly.

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Ticket includes entry to the adjacent Rimba Reptile Park, which is home to one of the biggest collections of rare reptiles and amphibians in Indonesia, all living among lush tropical gardens.

Singapadu

Continue about 1km (.5 mile) north on the main road and turn right at a T-junction into Singapadu 3 [map] (Fighting Lions) village. Numerous wood-and-stone carving shops are interspersed among the houses, but the village is more famous for producing some of Bali’s talented musicians and dancers. Take time to visit the workshop-home of I Wayan Tangguh (tel: [phone]), one of Bali’s best mask makers, and his son, I Made Sutiarka. Look for the sign with his name on the right side of the main road. Here you will see a chunk of wood evolve into a beautiful work of art in addition to viewing his collection of exquisite masks.

Bali Zoo Park

Further along the road in Singapadu, on the left, is the family-friendly Bali Zoo Park 4 [map] (tel: [phone]; daily 9am–6pm). This 3.5-hectare (9-acre) landscaped zoo is where you will find animals other than birds – like tigers, deer and camels – including the beast after which Singapadu was named. Singa (lion) refers to the two royal brothers who padu (challenged) each other for the right to rule.

Tip

At Banjar Babakan in Sukawati, you can watch leather puppets being made at the home of the puppeteer I Wayan Nartha, located at the very end of a side street about 100 metres south of the market. It’s best to call ahead on tel: [phone] to see if the house is open to receive visitors.

Celuk

From Singapadu, turn right at the T-junction and travel east to Celuk 5 [map] (Cove), synonymous with silver- and goldsmiths, and one of the wealthier villages in Bali. Shops along the way, less crowded and often cheaper than those along the main road, offer all kinds of sterling silver and gold jewellery and decorative objects. Stop to have a look in the artisan workshops which are usually small and dimly lit rooms crowded with workers, some not even in their teens. The intricate details obtained from using simple hand tools are amazing. As with most Balinese crafts, silversmithing is largely an art passed down from one generation to the next.

Shadow puppet in the making, Sukawati.

Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications

Sukawati

From Celuk, head east, then north to Sukawati 6 [map] (Beautiful Joy), once the centre of a powerful kingdom during the 18th century. Kain prada cloth, gold-leafed by hand in the past, is silkscreened by the metre by Sukawati’s villagers for costumes and shrines, and made into lovely temple parasols and dance fans. Look out for the road side shops selling these items.

Sukawati, however, is more famous for producing some of Bali’s best dalang (puppeteers), who make their own wayang kulit, or leather puppets, delicately carved from thin cattle hide and then painted (for more information, click here). The dalang’s work is very complicated and it takes years to master the craft. A...

Table of contents

• Bali and Lombok’s Top 10 Attractions
• Editor’s Choice
• Introduction: Bali
• People
• Geography
• Decisive Dates
• An Island Where Cultures Meet
• Religion and Rituals
• Insight: Festivals of Faith
• Cuisine
• Performing Arts
• Arts and Crafts
• Insight: Gifts to Deities and Demons
• Outdoor Activities
• Architecture
• Introduction: Bali
• South Bali
• Insight: Bali Beach Activities
• Ubud and Surroundings
• Gunung Batur and Surroundings
• East Bali
• Insight: Water Parks of East Bali
• North Bali
• West Bali
• Tabanan Region
• Introduction: Lombok
• West Lombok
• The Gili Islands
• North and East Lombok
• Central and South Lombok
• Transport: Bali
• Transport: Lombok
• A–Z
• Language
• Further Reading