The Northeast Coast of Bali

Little Balinese colonials in the carving at Pura Beji

A bit drained from all the excitement of the day before, we drove eastward along the north coast for Singaraja, the Dutch center of power during their occupation of Indonesia in the first half of the 20th c. Only here is there a trace of western influence, and that scanty. Rather more obvious is a brilliant red Chinese Buddhist temple at the old Dutch harbor, now a series of restaurants on stilts. The Three Dharma Chinese temple is garishly painted and immaculately kept, with turtles climbing in and out of bronze pots in the courtyard. The three dharmas are: Taoism, represented by the Yin Yang symbol, Confucianism as a gold bell, and the swastika representing Buddhism, along with Quan Yin. Far better explained and more hospitable than any Balinese temple we'd been to, it's worth a stop.

Slack-breasted gods of death, Pura Dalem

We drove out into the steamy countryside to Pura Beji, a beautiful temple dedicated to Sri Dewi who protects rice and irrigated agriculture. Ornate carvings (including two small statues of colonially dressed Balinese string players) stand tall amidst rice fields of a staggering humidity. Down a pathway was the Pura Dalem, the cemetery temple, perched among glowing rice. Nearly every village has a Pura Dalem, this one with ferocious descending gods that crushed human heads, and ferocious slack-breasted goddesses of death.

Utterly wilting after a few more temples, we drove on to the smooth cool spring of Air Sanih, along a beautiful stretch of seaside road, where I swam in the fresh waters.

The Dutchman who introduced the bicycle to Bali

at Pura Maduwe Karang

We drove past snorkeling and deep sea diving resorts, funky and beautifully tucked along the shore with their gardens and bungalows, where the ship US Liberty lies broken beneath the water, a favorite of deep sea divers. We reached our night's destination, the beloved resort town of Amed, at first dispiriting with its clutter of closely spaced hotels sharing

Spring at Air Sanih

shallow pebbly beaches. This legendary stretch of the east coast has higher prices than we had seen, and they don't bargain. Beachfront hotel rooms start at $78, the ones across the road at $40. We drove in to the next village of Jemeluk up a hill that rises over the sea past plush looking hotels where families sprawled around low tables, sometimes in a fevered, crowded luxury.

Our bungalow at Amed

Bungalows, even at the beach front, were cheaper so we finally settled on one lush with tropical gardens ($40 a night), a pool and a gate to the pebbly beach where in darkness Jacques and I glided through warm currents under a half moon, invisible to each other in the black waters. Gamelan and other music drifted from the various hotels along the beach. In the sparse light of the jungle garden masseuses worked on 2 girls in front of the ornately painted wood carving of a bungalow. It is a kind of paradise. But, fatally, the AC stopped working at 2am!

Amed

We rose (in the absolutely airless bunglow) for a brilliant dawn and the coastal road with exquisite views of the indigo sea, a transparent emerald when you look straight down the volcanic coastline. This entire region is called Amed, much less visited than the south, but its guests often stay for weeks. Only strips of jungle and a few tethered black goats stood between us and the sea as we rounded the coastline. In former days the bridges had been made of only coconut logs, and Wayan kept fearing he would have had to turn back.

Palace at Amlapura

After the ravishing detour we joined the city of Amlapura, a

Monument in Denpasar: Royal family walking into Dutch musket fire

former Dutch center of power, whose acquiescent king, Anak Agung Agung Anglurah Ketut Karangasem, had curried much favor with his Dutch overlords. (By contrast, when the Dutch arrived in the late 19th and early 20th c many royal families famously donned their ritual best and walked straight into Dutch musket fire, flouting their jewelry.) One of his palaces is a museum, with remnants of the old way of life, a Europeanized elegance, now shabby, with old photographs of the Royal Family. The palace across the road is still in use by the Royal family. Young teenage boys were lounging on a pavilion, playing guitar. They sat up abruptly when we arrived, and one member of the Royal family escorted us through the decaying compound, trying to sneak pictures of us. Generally members of the Royal family live in Denpasar or Jakarta for the high government posts.

Tirta Gangga

The more beautiful of the water palaces built by the king of Karangasem is Tirta Gangga, colorful with riotous blossoms, fantastic statuary, cement lotus pads on which you can walk through the fountains, intricate pathways and bridgese. Many Balinese swam in the swimming pools or sat in couples. One very thin old woman washed her clothes in the canal.