64) Lovina - a good combination of beach and culture

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September 5th 2005

Published: September 26th 2005

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Stephan and Klaudia

Pura Ulun Danau Bratan

This temple is special for its location at Lake Bratan's western shore

They say, everybody needs a second chance and so we thought that the island of the gods also deserved one. We were hopeful but it did not start well; as a matter of fact the trouble started as soon as we set foot on Bali. And this is not a question of different cultural backgrounds, as a reader suggested, we had come perfectly along on Sumatra and Java. It seems that for the Indonesian government the country consists mainly of Java and Bali, some attention has gone to Sumatra due to its northernmost province of Aceh, but it seems that east of Bali Indonesia ceases to exist, maybe they still bear a grudge against the East Timorese? We think that tourism should not be concentrated on the two islands, the whole country has much to offer but individual travellers can really have a hard time there. Our feeling was that they are concentrating on package tourists and are trying to keep the backpackers out. Definitely the first group is richer and more willing to pay exuberant prices but individual travellers spread their money better among the local population even if bargaining is a must (and a game) for them. Could it

Enjoying the swimming pool in Lovina

Klaudia comes from a city whose landmark is a dragon, so she felt an inborn attraction to this one

be that we are partial? Well, Klaudia started backpacking relatively late, at the age of 30, and when she was younger only travelled in organised tours, so she is able to see it more clearly. Be it as it may, the ferry arrived in the Balinese port, we left the bus driving directly to Denpasar and were transferred to a minibus to Lovina. So far, so good. At the moment of our arrival, there was only one passenger on the bus waiting for departure. Well, if this trip has taught us anything then it is patience. We thought we did not have much to lose, we had paid the fare in advance and seen that also the driver had been remunerated. So why worry? It only took the assistant 15 minutes to state that the bus would only leave if it was full (i.e. with ten passengers). Fine, we could wait. Only a couple of minutes later he announced that the minibus would leave on the spot if we were willing to pay IRP 100,000, which is a fortune in Indonesia. We could not believe our ears, vultures!!! Of course we refused, not only because the bill was already settled,

Split gate at Pura Beji

Typical Balinese entrance gate with rich carvings all around

and showed our most indignant mien. We tried to stay polite, in Asia it does not help if you blow your top. But inside we were fuming and considered what we could do. After half an hour we calmed down, rebuffing every single attempt of robbery, left the vehicle and sat down in better light to read. Who would be more patient? We were! After two hours, the minibus left all of a sudden, drove out of the port and around one street corner, where it got packed with people and luggage. These poor people also must have waited a considerable time. Although there was no more seating space available, the driver returned to the port once more, he had got greedy. There we passed his assistant and could not help showing our contempt, which left him completely cold. We arrived in Lovina in the dead of the night, which did not matter as the place is the touristiest spot on Bali’s north coast. We were lucky with the hotel Angsoka, it was in a quiet street of Kalibukbuk, with a nice room, fine breakfast and, once again, a pretty pool.

Lovina is not a settlement but an 8km

Pura Beji's second gate

This tempple is a good example for the exuberant north Balinese temple style

stretch of sand west of Bali’s second biggest city Singaraja, and includes six villages and their respective beaches. Kalibukbuk is the heart of Lovina, the busiest, most developed part, with the greatest number of tourist facilities and nightlife. As we always try to find internet access and never mind some company, we chose this place. After trying to swim on Bali’s south coast, where both in Sanur and Kuta it is next to impossible due to high waves and the crowds of surfers, we went for the north coast with quieter waters this time. Swimming was one of the reasons why we had chosen Lovina, but unfortunately the beach was not very attractive and a bit dirty, and getting into the water turned out to be less than easy due to the sharp pieces of coral with which the ground was covered. We managed once but did not enjoy it and did not repeat this experience, since swimming in the nice hotel pool, whose water gushed out of a dragon’s mouth, was mere pleasure. In the hotel we met M. Hamel, an elderly Frenchman who was a walking encyclopaedia of Southeast Asia and told us many interesting background details. He

Carving of Pura Beji

This statue shows traces of paint, we cannot imagine how overwhelming it must have looked painted all over

knew it all very well, having lived in Cambodia for 16 years and worked as a journalist specialised in the region for Reuters. We admired his mental and physical agility at his age (we estimated him to be in his mid-70s) and enjoyed his company a lot, he seemed to enjoy ours as well.

The first time we had completely left apart Bali’s cultural heritage, this time it should not occur again. There are some interesting temples in Lovina’s vicinity, and we were determined to explore them. By local transport, of course, like ordinary Balinese. In order to reach any of these temples, we had to pass through Singaraja. Which in fact is no problem, every bemo from Lovina goes to Bali’s second biggest city (100,000 inhabitants), once a capital during the Dutch reign. This was the easy part, and we paid the local fee, too. Besides this, once you get a feeling for the prices, you just hand the driver the amount of money you consider appropriate and if he accepts you know it was not too little. This system works well as long as you are in a real public bemo with other passengers, but as soon

Pura Beji's centre

Containing the most sacred shrine

as you happen to be the only one, you run a high risk of chartering the whole vehicle against your will, at ten times the price for one ride. In Bali we again grew allergic to this way of acting which resulted in several disputes with greedy bemo drivers. Not because we cannot afford it, the price is ridiculous even for people travelling for ten months, but because we want to decide when we charter a bemo and hate being treated like a money-printing machine. If the locals don’t push us too hard, we are willing to spend money, if they overdo it we simply don’t buy. They should quickly learn this, assuming that other travellers react more or less the same way. Going on from Singaraja, which has three terminals, was more complicated, it was always necessary to change terminal. Theoretically there was a colour code for the bemos running to the different cardinal directions and the route was also indicated, but the system was not always applied, which resulted in more hassles with the drivers. Nevertheless we always arrived at our destination paying the normal fare, thanks to Stephan’s negotiation skills and patience. Getting back to Lovina also

Staue in Pura Beji's inner court

Before the Europeans came to Bali, the local women used to walk around with bare breasts

was more problematic because the public transportation system comes to a standstill at nightfall which is around 6:30. Since we love to spend as much time as possible at cultural sites, we were regularly late for the last bemo and had to charter one to Lovina, which was ok because there was no other means.

In Bali there are over 20,000 temples - or pura - due to the fact that each village should at least have three: one where the village ancestors are worshipped, one temple of the dead usually found near the cremation ground and finally one used for meetings of the village with a great assembly hall. The island’s most sacred temples are to be found at notable geographical sites, particularly high up on mountains, on imposing outcrops overlooking the sea and beside lakes. Their strategic locations have been chosen to ensure that they safeguard the entire island and its people. Balinese pura are places where the gods rule supreme, and evil spirits are rendered harmless. But the gods are to be appeased and courted if they are to protect people, so offerings are brought to the site, a very common sight on Bali but nevertheless

Klaudia at Pura Beji

Wearing the colourful sarong which is mostly obligatory in Balinese temples

an impressive one every single time. The offerings are renewed at least every day, we observed that one family had come together for praying, and the subsequent group silently put the offerings aside to put theirs on the place. One person is constantly busy rearranging and selecting the offerings, throwing away withered flowers or feeding the edible ingredients - mostly rice, fruit and sweets - to stray dogs, monkeys or birds. The food and the flowers are usually presented in tiny braided receptacles of palm leaves - all of them hand made, which after having served their purpose are negligently tossed to the ground. Although Balinese temples worship the same Hindu gods as their Indian counterparts, their look and structure differ considerably. The Balinese temple complex consists of several courts - depending on the region - each separated by walls. The innermost court is the most sacred and is thought to represent heaven, the outermost, the underworld. The entrance to the front court is usually through a split gate, which is often decorated with beautiful stone carvings, you can find really exuberant examples where it takes some time until your eyes can discern all the details. The entrance to the

Pura Dalem around Singaraja

A Pura Dalem is a temple of the dead

inner court is usually guarded by a demon’s head and rises up in the form of a pyramid. Along its back wall are the most sacred of the shrines, these may have multiple roofs - as many as 11. The greater the number of roofs, the more important the god. The extraordinary thing about the temples on the north coast, though, is the fact that the shrines there are only topped by one roof, and therefore distinct from the pura around Ubud.

Around Lovina we managed to see five temples, each of them similar and yet very different. Two of them were ‘Pura Dalem’ (temple of the dead) endowed with very expressive and even gruesome details, their stone carvings impressed us very much by their vividness. The first temple on our list was dedicated to the rice goddess, the association of rice and religion reflecting the dependence of people upon rice for their survival. As a strategic temple, it is a fine example of North Bali’s exuberant style of temple architecture. Its split gate is a flamboyant mass of fanciful carvings of plants, animals, demons and nagas, while the walls of the temple itself are equally alive with carvings.

Main shrine of the Pura Dalem

This temple also had beautiful stone carvings, many animals and gruesome statues

On certain spots of the outside wall, traces of paint were visible, how overwhelming it must have looked is hard to imagine. The second one, a pura dalem, was special for its location in the middle of rice fields and its erotic carvings on the outside wall, believed to frighten away evil spirits. The third temple is by many considered to be the finest of North Bali’s pura due to a certain realism and humanity characterising the carvings. It was also special for 34 stone figures outside the entrance gate representing characters from the Ramayana. When we came there, quite late because we had seen the two previous temples the sane day, the temple was opened especially for us. In some of the temples, women are obliged to wear sarongs, sometimes also the men, but you must always at least wear a brightly coloured sash, which are all for rent, and the lesser-known temples don’t request an entrance fee but you are expected to leave a donation. Already upon our arrival we were welcomed by a lively crowd of school kids who should become our unmeant guides. They were sweet and smart and had learned all the important details by

Indecent Stephan

Trying to imitate a very expressive statue

heart, which they recited of one voice when we moved around. Stephan had some problems taking pictures, the kids did not move an inch, so Klaudia did her best to distract them from the interesting camera. We could not have an as intensive look as we would have wished, we could at least admire the temple’s most famous carving showing a Dutchman riding on a bicycle with wheels made of flowers. On the other hand, who could blame such charming guides? A second excursion took us to the picturesque Lake Bratan, surrounded by the crater walls of a now extinct volcano. On its west shore is a stunningly positioned and mystical pura, which we could not miss. But before we entered, we stumbled over well-equipped fruit stalls and could not resist the temptation of delicious strawberries, actually the first ones on our trip, since they do not grow in tropical climate. God bless Bali’s volcanoes and the fertile grounds around! The temple itself was nothing special, only its position is truly remarkable, it seems to float on the water. Nevertheless, there were quite many tourists around, almost all of them in organised tours.

During our stay in Lovina, there

Statue at Pura Dalem

This one does not promise nice things upon one's death...

happened to be a special day for Hindu cremations, namely the 8th September. As this was the date of one excursion, we were lucky to observe one complete after-cremation ceremony. The part we watched was when they moved to the beach for offerings, and at the end of the ceremony walked back to the village. There were numerous participants walking in a procession, so the traffic was blocked or regulated by specially dressed guards. Music plays an important part in all Hindu ceremonies, so it is essential that many musicians take part. Everybody is dressed in their most elegant and traditional way, the women wearing their prettiest lace blouses and sarongs, the men a special headgear and sarongs as well. When the procession came to the beach, a priest started blessing the offerings, then these were carried by specially selected men into the sea, where they were set afloat. After some more music, drinking and eating, the whole procession moved back to the village. At the beginning we did not know what was going on, we just heard nice Balinese instruments and saw the people move, so we joined them to have a closer look. The group was astonished about

Mask at Pura Falem

Impressive head with a very exuberant hairstyle, like a lion's mane

our arrival, but nobody shoved us away or treated us like intruders, on the contrary, they gave us to eat and to drink. These people were very generous and we are happy that we could experience some real Balinese life.

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