Batur and Kintamani, Bali

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.

There are fewer annoying locals and you’re treated with slightly more respect. Still, Kintamani has more barking dogs per square meter than any other place on Bali. There’s a busy market every third morning along the highway in the north part of town, right in front of Losmen Miranda.

The temples of the area look out over the crater. People come from all over the island to pray here, especially during ‘odalan’. A grand old ‘gong gde’, one of only three on Bali, plays for the ceremony.

Trunyan

Bali’s best-known The Bali Aga, is the island’s oldest inhabitant, aboriginals who lived here long before the Majapahit invasion in the 14th century. Legend has it the village was established on the spot where an ancient ‘taru menyan’ tree stood-thus the town’s name. It is said that in ancient times the lake goddess Dewi Danu was lured down from heaven by the lovely scent of this tree.

Today Trunyan is a real tourist trap, and you may not get to experience much more than villagers clamoring for money. Still, the setting is spectacular-green mountain backdrop and deep blue lake, mist-shrouded Gunung Batur rising up dramatically on the other side.
Culturally and ethnically outside the mainstream, Trunyan provides evidence of how Bali’s earliest people lived.

Pura Pancering Jagat

Trunyan’s old temple, Pura Pancering Jagat (”Temple of the Navel of the World”), stands under a massive banyan tree. Unusual architecture abounds in this austere ‘pura’-a fossilized relic of aboriginal Balinese society.

The Kuburan, the Bali Aga prefer exposing their dead in the open air rather than cremating them. Valuable land cannot be given over to the burial of the dead. After complicated rituals, the naked body is first wrapped in white cloth, then placed in a shallow pit, protected from scavengers by a triangular bamboo fence and roof. Those who have committed suicide or who have died of horrible disfiguring diseases are buried.

Accommodations

Most ‘losmen’ are located on the main street, Jalan Pasar Kintamani, each offering cold, cubicle-like, damp-smelling rooms. This environment is somewhat alleviated by a crackling log fire at night-order the wood earlier in the day. Kintamani’s best budget hotel is small, friendly, family-run Losmen Miranda with six rooms in the upper end of town. Services include free baggage storage, hot water at no charge, and a log fire. This clean, well-kept hotel and its good food are excellent value. Nothing glamorous but no bugs in the bed, and bars on the windows.

Food

There are ‘warung makanan’ up from Puri Astina in the market. Losmen Miranda has a pretty good fully Westernized 28-item breakfast and dinner menu, including fried noodles, veggie omelets, black rice pudding, and vegetables, eggs, and sauce. Miranda claims to have the best pancakes on Bali-banana inside, coconut on top.

Getting Away

From Kintamani to Penelokan by ‘bemo’, to Singaraja by bus (1.5 hours) and to Denpasar by bus (1.5 hours). The Denpasar-Singaraja bus passes in front of Losmen Miranda. For Gunung Batur, it’s possible to start your climb from Kintamani at 0600 and return by 1200. Expert local guides, available through the hotels, will lead you down the old bridle path that drops steeply from the lip of the outer crater, then climbs up and over the rim of the inner crater before descending into the innermost crater.

Posted in: South East Asia