The road to Singaraja

Before going to Amed, we took a (long) day trip to Singaraja on the opposite coast. Balinese friends seem to think we are a little crazy to be driving around as we do, but make the most of transport freedom, we say.

The best road is up to Kintamani village on Mount Batur and then to head west. The drive offers a winding and scenic journey that passes the volcanic crater and then traverses a rich spice growing region.

Cloves and cinnamon were spread along the road to dry and flimsy-looking bamboo ladders led up to where vanilla pods were being collected. The Indonesian archipelago was known to Europeans as The Spice Islands, of course, and it was this edible treasure that led to centuries of Dutch colonial rule. The aroma by the side of the road was heady and delectable.

Our reliable glove box companion, Lonely Planet, had informed us about a temple in the village of Kubutambahan, on the road we were travelling. The point of difference from other temples is Pura Made Karang's sculptured panels, notably the one depicting a cyclist. With Eddie's interest in this sport, this became a small quest to find. It wasn't terribly difficult, but it wasn't on our main road either*. The cyclist is believed to be WOJ Nieuwenkamp, a Dutch artist, who it is said to have brought the first bicycle to Bali in 1904.

We always carry a sarong and sash in the car in case of temple visits, so as we prepared in the car park, a gaggle of children appeared, as they so often do in Bali. They led us across to the temple, we paid our donation and (unusually) were asked by one of the children's mothers to sign a book and state the amount, before the children then took us into the temple proper. Their English was quite good, but they delighted in learning the word 'snail' as we passed a particularly impressive specimen.

Snaiiiil

When we reached the famous bicycle panel, they formed a chorus and in unison they rattled off the story in English that they had obviously learned by rote. It was both hilarious and charming. Full of giggles they then asked if we would like to see the 'Kama Sutra' panels, which received the same chorus treatment. Pretty mild, but they enjoyed our feigned shock/horror reaction. These lovely kids then picked some fruit to share, helped us out of our sarongs and folded them for us. Yet another unexpected highlight.

Singaraja is the capital of the Buleleng regency**, and was the Dutch administrative capital for many years, so there remains a colonial charm in its wide, tree-lined streets. The struggle for independence was vigorous here and the waterfront features a huge symbolic statue marking this fight.

Nearby Lovina is the tourist area, and although we had been before, this time it seemed much nicer than we remembered and we will come back for a few days to explore it more.

Completing a circuit back to Ubud involved a winding road, many, many trucks, a huge traffic jam in Bedugul (very pretty place though, and the strawberry capital of Bali) and a heavy shower of rain. An excellent day out, despite these small irritations.

The Mount Batur pic comes from Wikimedia Commons, as it was a bit difficult to pull over for a decent shot.

 *In fact, it's on the main road to Amlapura, and if we'd kept driving across the top of the island from our Amed trip a few days later, we'd have passed this temple again.
** We have realised that we have now visited all but one of Bali's eight regencies, as well as the capital city-regency of Denpasar. The missing one is Jembrana.