JEMBRANA REGENCY

The Balinese call this rugged, thinly populated region Pulaki, site of a lost invisible city condemned to one day sink beneath the sea. Except for a strip of coast, most of the district's 841,800-square-kilometers are mountainous, with impenetrable highlands said to harbor strange wild animals. The wilderness area of Bali Barat National Park—with its jungle fowl, boar, wild deer, Javan buffalo, and monkeys—falls almost wholly within Jembrana Regency (40% of the district's land area). So rugged are the lonely mountain forests of Jembrana that the villages are spread far apart. West of Pulukan no roads head north across the island.
     Jembrana is the most heavily Javanized regency of Bali. Settlements with typical Javanese names like Palarejo are common in the area; in some instances the people have adopted Balinese subak-style irrigation practices. In a subtle gray area around Negara you can see where Java really starts. You begin to notice more mosques, peci, nasi padang restaurants, Javanese-style wooden cikar carts pulled by plodding water buffalo. The Balinese culture recedes to the east, almost as if the Balinese had relinguished this swath of island to the Javanese. Jembrana is also home to Bali's strongest and most populous Christian communities.
     Jembrana is the least populated regency of Bali. The population today is around 215,000, scattered throughout 51 villages, mostly situated along the main Denpasar-Gilimanuk coastal artery. Four of five inhabitants earn their income from farming or fishing. Drier and not as agriculturally rich as the rest of the island, revenues derive for the most part from huge coconut plantations along the coastal strip, ubiquitous rice fields, coffee plantations in the highlands near the border of Tabanan, and vanilla, cocoa, and cloves. One of the main fishing ports of Bali is Pengambengan, eight km southwest of Negara.
     Jembrana is also the least visited part of Bali. Its isolation only came to an end with the Gilimanuk-Ketapang ferry in the 1930s. Today, most tourists speed through the region on buses, racing along the 134-km-long road from Denpasar to Gilimanuk. All Jembrana's hotels are located in Negara, Medewi, or the ferry terminal of Gilimanuk. Not even rudimentary English is widely spoken. Ample bemo and minibuses regularly service the district, dokar and ojek are available in the smaller towns and villages.
     Other than exciting bull races held in the vicinity of Negara, in which buffalo thunder down racetracks at speeds of 80 kph, there's a dearth of historic sights and cultural performances. The regency does offer utterly unique dance and gamelan forms, isolated, stunning sea temples, challenging surf, and a heavily trafficked 71-km-long stretch of highway paralleling a coast lined with rocky, black-sand beaches pounded by high surf.

Flora
Besides the mangrove and nipah palms of the region, the buyuk grows in the saltwater marshes of the Perancak River. This plant prevents shore erosion and provides habitat for fish, birds, and monkeys. The people of Jembrana use the leaves of the buyuk as roofing material. The leaves are resistant to sunlight, helping to keep the interior of homes comfortable when it is hot, and retain heat when it is cold.

History
The present channel between eastern Java and Bali's northwestern tip was exposed as dry land during the Pleistocene epoch about 20,000 years ago. This enabled settlement by early human beings; Jembrana, in fact, was the first place people lived on Bali. During WW II, pottery fragments, basalt pebble-tools, and neolithic adzes were found at Cekik, south of Gilimanuk. The remains of a burial site of 100 people were also discovered.
A Balinese chronicle records that the region came under the jurisdiction of the Gelgel dynasty in the 15th century. Two princes were sent by the king to civilize the wild western wilderness, establishing separate courts near present-day Gilimanuk and Negara. The princes vied with each other over who could develop the most prosperous kingdom, their rivalry eventually erupting into a full civil war which destroyed both courts. Jembrana then slipped again into anonymity until 1803, when another court developed in present-day Negara. When the Dutch subjugated Buleleng Regency to the north in 1849, they assumed control of Jembrana.
Neither wealthy nor powerful, Jembrana never played an important role in Balinese politics. Because of its close proximity to Java, Jembrana was visited early by Chinese, Javanese, and Buginese traders who leased land from the local lords for planting cash crops. The Dutch and other Europeans established huge plantations of cotton, cacao, coconuts, and tobacco in the regency as early as 1860. Coffee land grants were still awarded to Chinese merchant princes in the late 19th century. Sparsely populated Jembrana has also been settled by transmigrants from Java and other parts of Bali, particularly after the devastating eruption of Gunung Agung in 1963.

Arts and Crafts
The most famous painter in the regency is I Gusti Putu Windya Anaya, who can be found in his home-studio in the village of Yeh Embang. Jembrana's traditional handloom weaving centers are Sangkaragung and Dauh Waru near Negara, producing songket and endek for formal occasions. The best woodcarvers and sculptors work in Pendem village near Negara. Look for silverware and gold jewelry in Dauh Waru. Bamboo artifacts such as lamp covers, bags, and baskets are the specialty of Pulukan near Melaya in western Jembrana, while lontar palm leaf handicrafts are produced in Gilimanuk. To see a traditional blacksmith at work, visit the village of Batu Agung near Negara.

Dance and Music
Bamboo has been the mainstay of music-making here since the beginning of recorded time. The intriguing and sonorous gamelan jegog ensemble of Jembrana, created by Kiyang Gelinduh in 1912, consists of 14 instruments made of giant bamboo tubes that play a reverberating, low-pitched melody. Likened to the sound of deep, roaring thunder, these instruments formerly functioned as a means of calling people for cooperative village work. So large are these natural resonating tubes, the musicians must sit on top, striking the swaying bamboo beneath them with heavy mallets. The gamelan jegog accompanies Jembrana's traditional leko-style dances. In his book Balinese Music, Michael Tanzer describes the tubes "stretching to an incredible three meters in length, with circumferences of 60-65 centimeters."
     It's best to hear the orchestra during a village celebration, or you can commission a performance for around Rp175,000 by contacting Ida Bagus Raka Negara in Tegalcangkring, a village that traditionally produces the finest jegog players and instrument makers. Also check at the Office of Education and Culture in Negara.
     The largest version of jegog is the jegog mebarung, in which two gamelan compete with one another, accompanied by kendang, rebana, kecak, and tawa tawa. Sets of jegog instruments are displayed both at STSI, the Institute of Arts and Dance, tel. (0361) 72361, on Jl. Nusa Indah in Abiankapas (near Denpasar), and at Sangkar Agung, a private museum three km east of Negara near the village of Pangintukadaya.
     For jegog music visit the villages of Moding near Melaya and Yeh Kuning on the way to Perancak. The Grand Hyatt Hotel of Nusa Dua features a mighty gamelan jegog during their pasar malam.
     Other musical forms in Jembrana show distinct folk influences from Java and Madura. Examples include the daring cabang (knife dance), the jegog dance, and pencak silat. Sewa gati is a "seated opera" found in the village of Berangbang five km north of Negara. The leko from Pendem village stars two female dancers dressed in classical legong garments. Kendang mebarung is a duel between two one-meter-wide drums (kendang) accompanied by a set of angklung. Genggong, from Penyaringin village (near Mendoyo), emulates the sound of frogs. The resonant bumbung gebyog employs lengths of bamboo in varying pitches, playing harmonious interlocking rhythms. It accompanies such dance dramas as Goak Ngajang Sebun ("Crow Building its Nest"). Derived from the pounding of newly harvested padi, it's perhaps the only music on Bali created by women.

Bull Races
Negara is famous for its thrilling water buffalo races (mekepung), introduced by Madurese migrants to celebrate the end of the rice harvest. The competitive races take place on erratic tracks outside Negara, beginning about 0800 before the heat makes the big bulls sluggish. Mostly locals attend this festive event—there's lots of rooting and cheering, and the betting is frantic. It's possible to attend rehearsals, trials, and competitions, and even to commission a bull race.
     There are also year-round races held for tourists every two weeks, usually every second Thursday at 1500 on a special track near Perancak, 10 km south of Negara. Though the course length and rules are identical to the real thing, the competition last only an hour. To see a race, contact Peanuts, tel. (0361) 75259, in Kuta; it costs Rp20,000 entrance at the event or you can join a tour for Rp55,000 which takes in the race, lunch at Lalang Linggah, Pura Rambut Siwi and a tour of the pathetic zoo next to the racetrack.
     Only the island's handsomest, sleekest water buffaloes are chosen to compete. Teams are divided into two clubs, the Eastern Division (east of the Ijo Gading River) and the Western Division (west of the river). Look for the red banners of the east, and the green flags of the west. Organized by the regional government, trials are usually held in the dry season on the second and third Sundays in September and October. The Bupati's Cup occurs on the Sunday before Indonesian Independence Day in the town square in Negara. The even more prestigious Governor's Cup takes place on a Sunday in October. The dates and places are different each year, so get current information from Negara's Department of Tourism on Jl. Setia Budhi behind kantor bupati.
     Before the race the bull's horns are painted and around their necks are placed decorated harnesses and silk ribbons. After teams are paraded before the crowd of spectators, their ornaments are stripped off and the beasts teamed with their brightly clad jockeys. Each pair of bulls pulls a small two-wheeled cart (a modified cikar) manned by a precariously balanced jockey over a two-km-long stretch of back road converted to a racecourse. To gain speed, the jockeys twist the bulls' tails and lash their backs with whips. Entrants are judged not only for speed, but are also awarded points for strength, color, and style. These heavy, awkward looking, normally docile animals can reach speeds of up to 60 kph. The winning bulls are used for stud and fetch up to twice the market value when sold.
     A variation of the mekepung is the megembeng, in which a pair of bulls is harnessed together and decorated with elaborate ornaments. Huge wooden bells (gembeng) are hung around their necks, making a distinctive sound as the bulls race across the field dragging the colorfully dressed jockeys behind them on skids. The only other places traditional bull races are held are on the home island of Madura off the northeast coast of Java and near Singaraja in Buleleng Regency on Bali's north coast.

MEDEWI

Twenty-four km east of Negara, and 72 km (Rp2500 by bemo) west of Denpasar on the main Gilimanuk-Denpasar road is the small, peaceful seaside resort of Medewi, offering an excellent sand-and-rock bottom surfing beach. Formerly this area was a thick forest of thorny trees; the Balinese name for the thorny forest was alas meduwi. The forest was cleared and settled in 1912 and rice fields and coconut plantations planted. Today, Medewi gets about 700 visitors a month. Pura Rambut Siwi, six km farther west, is the main tourist site of the area.
Coming from Negara, as you're heading downhill in the eastern edge of the village of Pulukan, turn right before the bridge and drive or walk down the asphalt road to the turn-around area just before the sea. This headland offers constant, cool sea breezes, a public toilet, fishing jukung in the mornings, soft sunsets, the perfect dark shape of Java's Gunung Ijeu, and the twinkling lights of Banyuwangi in East Java far in the distance. Brown-sand Pantai Medewi is very quiet, with no dogs and few roosters, only the sound of the waves. Up on the main road, catch bemo to Negara (Rp1500) or Tabanan (Rp2000). Medewi is Rp1000 and 25 km west of Balian.

Surfing
The very rocky, flat shoreline along this coast provides little sand to lie on. The surfing in front of Medewi's beach is known for the length of the ride. Paddle out from Medewi Beach Cottage and try the high, rolling, uninterrupted, left-point break, its peak finishing in the river's mouth. It's easier to get out there in low tide with booties. Or reach the surf via the river to the west—a long paddle. One can also rent jukung for Rp10,000 to take you out for a couple of hours. During the full moon, the waves are best at midtide. Lately, Medewi has become popular with Japanese surfers. Another little-known surfing beach is Selabih to the east.

Accommodations
Three accommodations sit at the end of a tarred road. The best is the Tim Jaya Hotel which has rooms and lumbung-style bungalows (Rp10,000-25,000) with inside mandi. Run by friendly houseboys, everything works—electricity, plumbing, showers, fans. Rooms are nicely furnished with good mattresses and clean bed linen. The bungalows are situated in a grassy yard that slopes down to the beach.
One hundred meters east along the beach is a warung run by I Gede Suyasa where you can order tea, coffee, snacks, and nasi campur. Behind his warung, in his homestay Gede rents two rooms in two raised bamboo bungalows for Rp15,000 s, Rp20,000 d; less in the low season, with common mandi. Another homestay, Ketut's, charges Rp10,000 d.
Across the road still farther to the east from the Nirwana is first-class Medewi Beach Cottages, Box 26, Negara 82217, Bali, tel. (0365) 40029, or fax 41555; Rp88,000 s, Rp100,000 d for standard units, or Rp120,000 s, Rp138,000 d for ocean view suites with air conditioning, satellite TV, refrigerator, terrace, private bath, and hot water. Rooms with garden views are Rp88,000 s, Rp100,000 d. Amenities include a pool, well-designed grounds and gardens, ample parking, bar, and restaurant with fairly high prices—Rp9000 for Indonesian or American breakfasts, Rp23,000 for lunch or dinner. All prices subject to 15.5% government tax and service. Major credit cards accepted. Good folks work here. A romantic spot for honeymooners. Every Sunday night there's a joged bumbung folk dance in the garden of the Medewi Beach Cottages starting at 2000. Free for guests of all of Medewi's hotels; just buy drinks and food. Bamboo gamelan accompanies this dance.

Food
One can eat cheaply. Boys come around selling lobsters for Rp25,000-30,000 per kilo (two to five lobsters per kg, depending on size). Gede will cook them for you in his warung; he also offers soup and an entree for only Rp2000-5000. The warung at Tin Jaya has an outstanding traveler's menu serving tasty fish dishes, jaffles for the Australian contingent, and the Indonesian standards. Check out the warung (good gado-gado) on the main road. The best eating for the money is at Chinese-style BMC Hotel and Restaurant, a 10-minute walk along the highway from Medewi Beach. Go toward Denpasar on the main road. It's a little ways up on the left after you cross the bridge. Try the superb mie kuah ayam (Rp2500) and sate (rabbit sate!) served by friendly and beguiling waitresses. Sometimes offers shrimp. The BMC Hotel also rents rooms: most are pretty substandard; the few good ones go for around Rp25,000 d.

VICINITY OF MEDEWI

Rambut Siwi Temple
On the south side of a deserted stretch of the Gilimanuk-Denpasar highway between the villages of Yeh Embang and Yeh Sumbul, 17 km east of Negara, is a shrine and several warung selling fruit and flowers. Here is the start of the one-km narrow asphalt road to Pura Rambut Siwi, the regency's most important temple. A pemangku blesses truck drivers who don't have time to pray at the main temple. At the end of the road is a parking area, garden, toilet, pavilion, and warung selling fresh local fruit. At the carved gateway travelers are blessed, asked to make a donation, then given a sash to wear before proceeding into the red brick and stone temple complex through a side entrance.
     Its name means "Worship of the Hair" in reference to the 16th-century Hindu priest Sanghyang Nirantha. The priest stopped in the village of Yeh Embang in 1546, leaving a symbolic gift of his hair as a gesture of esteem for the devout villagers. View the panorama of rice fields from the pavilion north of the complex, walk through the temple, then descend to the long narrow black-sand beach below. Walk east down the beach and take the stairway back up to the small road which leads again out to the main highway.
     Special because of its simplicity and natural location, this beautiful clifftop sea temple is shaded by frangipani and cempaka trees and hugged on two sides by sawah. Except during festivals, it's very peaceful here. The temple anniversary occurs every six months, when worshippers arrive from all over the island to ask blessings for safety and prosperity. Like all temples, Rambut Siwi consists of three principal enclosures. The entrance is guarded by beautifully carved wild boars and naga; the structures are of aged red brick and stone. Inside are shrines to Saraswati (symbolized by a goose) and the rice goddess. To the side of the gate to the second courtyard, note the pedanda being swallowed by a snake. An impressive candi bentar on the southern wall opens onto the cliff with the surf lapping below. Since 1988 the Bali government has been shoring up the more precariously perched buildings threatened by the sea.
     Flanking the main temple is Pura Penataran 100 meters to the east on the rocks up a winding stone stairway. This is the original temple, believed to be the site where Nirantha first prayed, and since 1993 the site of a permanent painting exhibition. See small Pura Melanting at the top of another stairway to the west. Dedicated to the goddess of prosperity, Dewi Melanting; merchants often pray at this shrine. Under an overhanging rock is the sacred five-chambered cave Goa Harimau ("Cave of the Tiger God") and the holy spring Goa Tirta ("Holy Water Cave"), where priests obtain holy water, salt-free in spite of its proximity to the ocean.

Pura Prancak
If you continue west you come the sea temple Pura Prancak which commemorates Nirantha's first landing on Bali to begin his teachings of the Hindu doctrine which lasted until his ascension (death) in 1550. Carved of white stone, the pura overlooks the slow-moving Prancak River about 150 meters to the south. Nice beach, too. To reach the temple, turn left off the highway at the village of Tegalcangkring seven km west of Rambut Siwi. After one and a half kilometers you reach an intersection with a monument. Turn right and travel nine km down a narrow back road to the sea. The temple lies on the right just before the road turns south, in all about 10 km southeast of Negara.

The Pekutatan-Pupuan Road
About 20 km east of Negara (86 km west of Denpasar), Pekutatan is where you climb steeply up from the coast to the upland village of Pupuan, then head northwest. If heading west, this is the last road north before reaching Cekik, three km southeast of Gilimanuk. If entering Jembrana from Siririt, enjoy sweeping views of Java and the Bali Strait to the west.
On the narrow twisting Pekutatan-Pupuan road, in the village of Manggissari, you'll ride through the gnarly tendrils of a wild bunut tree (similar to a waringan tree) at Bunut Bolong. The base is hollow and the hole big enough for a bus. The tree is very old; it is said that when the settlement of Manggissari was founded in 1928, the bunut was already there.
Farther on is a clove plantation; the coconut, cocoa, rubber, and clove plantations in the villages of Pulukan, Ashaduren, and Manggissari are all worth visiting. You'll pass fragrant spices laid out on mats by the roadside. See the historic Hindu temple of Bujangga Sakti, then wind down through fantastic rice terraces and coffee-growing country to Pupuan. Another popular scenic route north via Pupuan is from Antosari, also on the Denpasar-Gilimanuk road, Rp2000 by bemo from Denpasar.

NEGARA

Since 1803 the capital and main town of Jembrana Regency, Negara is 33 km southeast of Gilimanuk and about 100 km west of Denpasar. During the revolution, Negara's raja-puri was a center of fierce republicanism. The wide streets, the inhabitants faces, the wail of the mosques, the businesses all have an unmistakable feel of Java—Javanese and Buginese have settled here since the 19th century. Lately, Negara has been spiffed up with a new civic center, a big Honda dealership, and new monuments as centerpieces to new roundabouts. Yet, Negara hasn't lost its market town charm. It is perhaps best known for the mekepung (bull races) held between July and October, a sport introduced by Madurese agricultural migrants.
Take a bemo from Tabanan (Rp1500) or from Denpasar's Ubung station (Rp2000) to travel on one of Bali's busiest roads, through rolling paddy fields with mountains on the right and the sea on the left. If you want the journey to go faster, take a night bus. The downtown consists of two main parallel one-way streets. Along the four-lane bypass road Jl. Surapati in the north are the government buildings and the telephone office. The southern street, Jl. Ngurah Rai, is home to a gas station, bus station, post office, market, and shophouses.
For most tourists, Negara is little more than a pitstop on the long road from Gunung Bromo to Denpasar. The town sits inland and not on the coast, so it's not so attractive to tourists. It's a great place to practice Indonesian with the friendly inhabitants—it's also cheap. While a coffee in Kuta costs Rp1500, here it's only Rp400. The city telephone code is 0365.

Accommodations
Decrepit-looking Hotel Ana is a Javanese-style business hotel with 23 budget rooms for Rp4000 s, Rp6000 d or Rp6000-8000 s with mandi. Set in from the main street at Jl. Ngurah Rai 75, tel. (0365) 41063. No restaurant, and no fan (could be muggy), but very central. Mix with the Indonesians. Cute, garish Hotel Tis lies downtown on Jl. Srikandi, tel. (0365) 41034, by the river. Nine rooms go for Rp10,000 d, Rp15,000 t; Rp25,000 for rooms on top. Attached is a restaurant serving Javanese-style food like ayam goreng. Losmen Intaran, Jl. Ngurah Rai 73, tel. (0365) 41073, is another inexpensive downtown hotel. Hotel Tjogading, Jl. Diponegoro 5, tel. (0365) 23, is a typical small traders hotel far from downtown. Nearly across the street is the more expensive Hotel & Rumah Makan Taman Sari, Jl. Diponegoro 18, tel. (0365) 41154. A short distance away is Penginapan Indra Loka, the cheapest of the three. No sense staying in any of these, as the 25 rooms of the vastly superior Wira Pada are excellent value. At Jl. Ngurah Rai 107, tel. (0365) 41161, is Negara's best accommodation, Hotel Wira Pada, behind the restaurant of the same name. The tariff is Rp12,500 for quiet back rooms with mandi and fans to Rp20,000 for front rooms with showers. Breakfast included. The hotel's 10 spacious rooms with air conditioning and porch are a pretty good deal. Plenty of parking, moneychanger, secure, above average restaurant, and a minibus for rent at Rp100,000 per day.
Accommodations out of Town: The new Bali-style Penginapan Segara Mandala, Jl. Sudirman 34, tel. (0365) 41839, is opposite the kantor bupati. It has three units with two rooms each, equipped with bath and fan. Tariff is Rp7500 s or d. Kind of a lonely, sterile-feeling place. About 1.5 km from Negara down the main highway toward Denpasar is a sign pointing to the Cahaya Matahari Bungalows in Desa Batuagung. The homestay lies about one km up this country road. Ask one of the guys hanging out on the corner to give you a lift on the back of his motorcycle for Rp600-800, or wait for an infrequent bemo. Nice view up here 100 meters above sea level. Surrounded by sawah, each bungalow has twin beds, Asian toilet, shower, art on the walls, clock, electricity, and porch. The tariff of Rp15,000 s, Rp20,000 d includes breakfast and free tea and coffee served all day. You can order a day's meals for two for Rp30,000; single meal is Rp15,000 for two. Also several small local warung. Except for the loud radio, this is a pleasant place run by a nice family. To book, contact Wayan Tony Villa Indah in Ubud, tel./fax (0361) 975490. It's a seven km walk to a waterfall in the hills behind the homestay.

Food
The food served in the warung is very Java-oriented. Try one of the many pan-Indonesian warung in the bus station. The clean Wira Pada Restaurant, Jl. Ngurah Rai 107, tel. (0365) 161, serves cheap Chinese-style nasi campur (Rp2000) and fantastic cap cay (Rp2500, but specify if you don't want chicken liver—enough for two people. The udang goreng (Rp6000) is among the best on Bali! Also try the great grilled fish or chicken (Rp3000-5000), fried prawns (Rp6000), or es stroop (Rp500).
A half-km down Jl. Ngurah Rai toward Denpasar is the "100% halal" Rumah Makan Puas where you can enjoy classic Javanese entrees such as nasi plecing, nasi lele, Rawon Jawa, gado-gado, and pepes ikan. Choose from an array of Javanese desserts like soda gembira or es buah. Standard prices. A smaller Javanese eatery, Rumah Makan Caterina, Jl. Pahlawan 17, tel. (0365) 41325, specializes in homemade sambal and Javanese dishes like soto ayam and nasi rawon; the es caterina is not so great. The foodstalls of the pasar malam open up at night around the bemo station.
The Padang-style restaurant Papin is five km east of town. On the other side of town on road to Gilimanuk is Rumah Makan Miranda, Jl. Gatot Kaca 39, tel. (0365) 41195, a real gem with delicious Balinese food. A classic nasi campur with tea costs only Rp1500.

Services
The tourist office is located within the Pecangakan Civic Centre, Jl. Setia Budhi 1, tel. (0365) 41060. A competent guide who works in this office is Ketut Lanus Sumatra, Jl. Abimanui 15, tel. (0365) 41441. The only bank with an authorized moneychanger is Bank Pembangunan Daerah Bali, Jl. Srikandi, tel. (0365) 41066. For medical attention, go to the RSU, Jl. Abimanui 6, tel. (0365) 41006; also Poliklinik Kerta Yasa, Jl. Ngurah Rai 143, tel. (0365) 41248; or Poliklinik Darma Sentana, Jl. Ngurah Rai 151, tel. (0365) 41656. Apotik Karya Farma is a big pharmacy at Jl. Rama 16.

Transportation
By bemo it's Rp2500 from Negara to Tabanan, Rp1000 to Gilimanuk, Rp3000 to Denpasar. All bemo traveling the Denpasar-Gilimanuk road pass through Negara's center, stopping at the bemo terminal 100 meters north of the J1. Ngurah Rai roundabout. Here's where you can buy long-distance bus tickets to Java. Next door to Penginapan Indra Loka is an office selling bus tickets to Malang, Jakarta, Bandung, and Bogor, as well as Pelni ship tickets on the Kerinci, Kabuna, and Umsini. The agent in Rumah Makan Puas on the eastern end of J1. Ngurah Rai also sells long-distance bus tickets.

Vicinity of Negara
Negara's population has a noticeably strong Javanese, Madurese, and Sulawesi element. Muslim Buginese settlers from southern Sulawesi founded the town of Loloan Timur in 1653. Here, the sea-faring Bugis culture is most obvious in the oblong two-level wooden dwellings built on high piles. This architecture is found in no other village on Bali.
Visit the busy fishing port of Pengambengan, 10 km southwest of Negara; motorized prahu pulled up on the beach, sardine canning facilities, prawn-breeding ponds. The secluded beach at Candikusuma, 12 km west of Negara, boasts excellent bathing and swimming. Legend says a holy well here, marked by a triangular-shaped monument, was the bathing place of Nirantha's wife. Another beach, Pantai Rening, 10 km west of Negara, features black sand, sea cliffs, and a dramatic view of the mountains of East Java. Swim and windsurf at the beach in the village of Dlod Brawah about four km south of Mendoyo, 11 km east of Negara. The sand is said to be of great benefit to those suffering from rheumatism. A good road to the beach brings you to a parking area, toilet, and mekepung arena. Crowded on Sunday and holidays. Up the side of a mountain, 20 km inland from Negara at Asahduren, is a large clove plantation.

THE MELAYA AREA

Blimbingsari and Palasari
For many years after conquering southern Bali in 1908, officials of the Netherlands East Indies attempted to bar Christian missionary activity on Bali. The Dutch wanted no interference in the well-integrated religious life of the Balinese, who oftentimes opposed—sometimes violently—Christian proselytizing. But in the 1930s the government relaxed its hands-off policy.
     With the tacit consent of the Dutch Resident, a Chinese missionary named Tsang was sent to Bali in 1929 by the American Christian and Missionary Alliance to work among the Balinese Chinese. Tsang soon began to win converts, first among the Balinese wives of the Chinese, then among Balinese of the lower castes. He promised the Balinese freedom from taxes and corvee work gangs if they converted. By the mid-1930s, several hundred converts had been exiled from their own villages. The swelling numbers of new Christians soon caused unemployment and housing problems in Denpasar.
     Meanwhile back in Holland, missionary groups protested that an American fundamentalist church was allowed to establish itself on Balinese soil. Under pressure, the Resident expelled Tsang and allowed Netherlands-based Protestant and Catholic churches access to Bali. The 1930s were a period of worldwide economic recession and a time of unrest on Bali. The number of converts steadily increased throughout the thirties. In 1939, to relieve the tensions between Christian and Hindu Balinese, Christian agricultural communities were constructed in a part of Bali nobody wanted—the sparsely populated, malarial swamps of western Bali, 25 km northwest of Negara.
     Blimbingsari (pop. 1,900), a big Protestant community, was hacked out of the jungle in the form of a cross in 1939. The Blimbingsari church features a high, sweeping roof with three distinct tiers representing the island's mountains. Christian congregations from all over Bali consider this striking church with its graceful Balinese lines their "Navel Church." Even though the total culture of Bali is an adat system subordinated to all-powerful religious beliefs, at times it seems that the culture is even stronger than the religion. For example, the island's churches of all denominations, are decorated with typical Balinese motifs, incorporate the standard Balinese architectural features of split gateways and kulkul towers to summon worshippers, and practice and teach classical Balinese music and dance, but with biblical stories and characters rather than those of the Hindu epics.
     Blimbingsari, only 10 minutes inland by road from Melaya and 30 km northwest of Negara, is one of the best kept villages on Bali, the rice production one of the highest in Indonesia. A number of families put up visitors; ask the kepala desa, a nice young man. For breakfast eat pisang goreng, Bali cookies, and coffee or tea. Families also offer lunch or dinner, or you can eat in a warung. Give a donation—Rp15,000 would be a fair amount. Visit people making tuak and processing copra, or swim in nearby Grogogan Dam.
     The Catholic community of Palasari (pop. 1,700), five km to the southeast, has the largest Catholic church in eastern Indonesia, with a parish of over 700. Unfortunately, both Blimbingsari and Palasari are dying villages because all the young people are leaving. The roads to both villages are terrible; to get to either, hire one of the ojek that cluster around the corner of the turn-off roads and the main Denpasar-Gilimanuk highway.

The Palasari Dam
Located in a mountainous area in the village of Palarejo near Ekasari, 26 km northwest of Negara, this dam was built to prevent floods, provide a source of water for irrigation, and as a fish breeding pond and place of recreation, bringing great economic benefit to an impoverished area. The high elevation assures breezes and a cool temperature. Prahu for fishing and paddling about are for rent, and there are a few scenic walking trails. The dam is a beautiful 20 minutes drive on a bad road from Blimbingsari through the hills and fields of ladang.

GILIMANUK

This ferry port at Bali's westernmost tip—88 km from Singaraja and 134 km from Denpasar—links Bali with East Java across a narrow strait, Selat Bali. Looming up purple through the haze to the west are three of Java's most easterly volcanoes. Much of Bali's imports and exports, and most of its domestic tourists, pass through this point. Except as an around-the-clock ferry terminus, Gilimanuk has little to offer tourists, who usually alight the ferry or landing barges from Java and shoot straight through to Denpasar or Lovina. But with its basic no-frills services and amenities, Gilimanuk is a friendly little town for stopovers, for resting up.

History
The strait that separates Java and Bali, less than three km wide and only 60 meters in depth, is said to have been formed by some mythical king who, hoping to excommunicate his son, gouged a line with his finger along the ground. Then the earth parted and the waters of the Indian Ocean and the Java Sea rushed in, separating Bali from Java.
It was an easy matter for neolithic humans hunting in the primeval wilderness of East Java to cross this narrow strait. During WW II, stone adzes and pottery fragments were discovered just two km south of Gilimanuk at Cekik. Over time, about 100 burial places were excavated—containing funerary objects, simple tools, earthenware vessels, and sacrificed animals—demonstrating that this was Bali's earliest human settlement discovered to date. See these neolithic artifacts in the Bali Museum in Denpasar, the Archaeological Museum in Pejeng, the archaeological project at Sanglah, and at Gilimanuk's Museum of Ancient Life north of the Bay of Gilimanuk.
Gilimanuk shows a greater influence from Islamic Java than other parts of Bali. In fact, it was from Java that Balinese revolutionaries derived their material and ideological sustenance in their fight to oust the Dutch. In Cekik a war memorial commemorates landing operations by the Indonesian army, navy, and police on Bali from April to July 1946. Boarding a large number of outrigger canoes under cover of darkness, Indonesian irregular troops set off from Banyuwangi in East Java and landed at three points—Melaya, Candikusama, and Cupel—along Bali's southwest coast. The republic's first sea conflict took place during these operations, and fierce land battles erupted as the Indonesians came ashore. Many lost their lives. The survivors fled to the hills, where they joined units from earlier landings and engaged in guerrilla warfare.

Accommodations
There are plenty of places to stay. Cheapest are the Kartika Candra and Homestay Gili Sari (Rp8000 per person, no breakfast), both on the main street in the east side of town across from a mosque loudspeaker. Pondok Asih charges only Rp10,000 d for clean rooms with private bathrooms and tea and biscuits in the morning. The young employees are very helpful and very interested in female guests but harmless and just bored. Gilimanuk's best hotel, only 500 meters from the ferry, is the Nusantara Dua, facing a quiet mangrove-fringed beach with a lovely view of the mountains of Taman Nasional Bali Barat. Attractive and peaceful grounds with rooms for Rp10,000 s to Rp20,000, depending on room and bed size. Also a row of dark, depressing losmen-style rooms with squat toilets for a budget Rp8000; no breakfast. Bungalows with attached garden mandi farther down the beach run Rp25,000 s or d. More central but noisier Penginapan Putra Sesana, on the road toward Denpasar, has 11 small, tight rooms for Rp10,000 s, Rp15,000 d. No fan, small Indo-style toilets; restaurant.

Food
There's a long row of warung, rumah makan, and kaki lima by the ferry terminal where you can also buy fresh seasonal fruit. Several nasi padang restaurants are right across from the terminal; a good one is Rumah Makan Meriah. The Rumah Makan Bakungan on Jl. Gilimanuk, a half km down from the Putra Sesana, is the town's best restaurant. Order from the English menu if you can't read Indonesian. Particularly good is the gado-gado and ayam kecap (Rp3500).

Services
Visit the friendly staff at the Government Tourist Information Centre on Jl. Muhara beside Hotel Nusantara to pick up their map and brochure. I Ketut Lanus Sumatra is a fount of information on Jembrana, speaks quite good English, and can arrange almost anything. The town now has a Wartel; change money in the bank across from the bemo terminal or at Nirwana Homestay opposite.

Transportation
Take dokar or one of the Hondas clustering around the terminal to anywhere in town for Rp500-1000, or rent a motorcycle for Rp4000 per hour. From Gilimanuk's bemo station, bemo head out regularly to Denpasar until 2200 (Rp4000, two hours, 134 km). Dark red bemo also travel regularly to Singaraja via Lovina until around 1800 (Rp3500, 88 km). Less crowded minibuses travel to Singaraja/Lovina for Rp4000 or to Denpasar's Ubung for Rp4500.
Crossing from Gilimanuk over the Bali Strait to Ketapang on the Java side takes only 30 minutes and costs Rp450 deck class, Rp650 for the more comfortable lounge. Bicycles are Rp950, motorcycles Rp1800, cars Rp7500. Ferries depart 24 hours a day every 20 minutes during the day and about every 30 minutes at night; the crossing takes only 30 minutes including loading and docking time. Watch for pickpockets. The coffee in the ekonomi class lounge is terrible. Buses to Surabaya (Rp3500, five hours) wait for passengers on the Java side. Agents all over Bali will sell you a ticket to any point on Java that includes the ferry crossing. In Banyuwangi, eight km south of Ketapang, is a major bus terminal if you miss out on a cross-Java bus at Ketapang.
If there's room, you can also board one on the Gilimanuk side. Or hitch (politely) the lorry drivers or tourists driving their own cars. Another ferry terminal is 2.5 kilometers before the main ferry terminal if you're coming into town from the Denpasar side; motorcyclists will take you to the bus station (Rp500).

The Northern Route
Consider a different approach by heading up Bali's north coast road, visiting some of the island's most serene beach accommodations. The road between Gilimanuk and Singaraja (88 km) is also very scenic bicycling country, mostly flat with only a couple of hills. Not as much traffic as on the Gilimanuk-Denpasar road.
The lagoons and extensive mangrove swamps north of Gilimanuk harbor an unusual variety of wildlife. Pulau Menjangan, off Bali's northwest coast, is famous for its snorkeling and scuba diving. This marine reserve is part of Bali Barat National Park, the last wilderness area on Bali. Access to the park is easiest from Labuhan Lalang, about 25 km northeast of Gilimanuk. Three km south of Gilimanuk in Cekik is the park headquarters. For details on the park see "Buleleng Regency."