Hot Spring (Air Panas)This hot spring only a 10-minute walk from the monastery (Brahma Vihara Asrama), if you take the shortcut. Or drive six km east of Lovina on Jalan Seririt, take a left and travel two-km to the Banjar Tegal market, then a further two-km uphill. Motorcycle 'ojek' drivers or 'dokar' wait at this turnoff to Banjar to give you a lift. Fifty meters on the left after the market look for the Air Panas 1-km and follow the forested road to the end. After cycling up the hill, the hot water will be a great relief. You can swim all day.
Bali Barat Park
The 76,312-hectare (777-square-km) Taman Nasional Bali Barat, with its complex of habitats including forests and coral-fringed islands, is the wild side of Bali. Since Bali is such a densely populated, intensively cultivated island, very little of Bali's forests are left. To preserve a portion of the island as a wilderness zone, as a buffer against human settlements that border it, and as a resource for forest products, Bali Barat National Park in Bali's western end was officially gazetted as one of Indonesia's 10 national parks in 1984. The park today encompasses 10% of Bali's total land area. If managed wisely, the tourism potential of its adjacent marine reserve is almost unlimited.
Brahma Vihara Arama
Go first to Dencarik village, about 18 km west of Singaraja on the highway to Seririt. From the highway where the 'bemo' lets you off, walk two km, then at the intersection just before the Banjar Tegal market, turn left up the paved road. Climb another two km (40 minutes) to the hilltop monastery. Or take a 'honda ojek' all the way up the steep hill from the Banjar turnoff. Wear long pants or a sarong as you must be respectfully dressed. Entering the vihara, sign the guestbook and give a donation.
Gedong Kirtya
Holy objects are ordinarily stored out of sight in high places, but in Singaraja you can view sacred 'lontar' books at Gedong Kirtya at the East End of Jl. Veteran. The only library of its kind in the world, the 3,000-odd 'lontar' stored in labeled tin boxes in this small nondescript archive record the literature, mythology, magic formulas, medical science, folklore, religion, and history of Bali and Lombok. Many of the 'lontar' were looted from the palace in Mataram during the Dutch military expedition to Lombok 1894. The library was established in 1928 by L.J. Caron, a Dutch resident of the time. Pictograms above the gate show the year.
Gitgit Waterfall
Eleven kilometers south of Singaraja, off the dramatic road to Bedugul, is Bali's most spectacular waterfall, easily accessible at the end of a 500 meter walk past numerous pushy textile and souvenir sellers and peaceful rice fields. Pull into the parking lot, cross the street, then pay a small donation. Enter a narrow concrete path between a cement building on the left and compound on the right. A fascinating walk for botanists, wind through coffee trees, timber-sized bamboo, and a riot of temperate zone 'house plants'-King Kong compared to the dracaena and philodendron of the West. The path levels out among irrigated rice fields and at the falls are a restaurant, 'warung makan', souvenir shops, and toilets.
JagaragaHeading east from Singaraja turn right (south) at the end of Sangsit village on the road to Sawan. Jagaraga is four kilometers and Sawan is two kilometers farther. From Singaraja's Penarukan station 'bemo' go direct to Sawan so visit Sawan first then just walk down to Jagaraga. A number of temples are found on this road, all featuring effusive, cunning, and mischievous carvings A fantastic ride, with archaic villages surrounded by vegetation not found anywhere else on Bali. Jagaraga's architecturally extravagant 'pura dalem', one km north of the village, is dedicated to Durga. It features carved comic-strip panels of cyclists, Balinese flying kites, dog fighting airplanes, fishermen hooking a whale, a Dutch steamer, long-nosed Dutchmen in a Model-T Ford held up by a bandit with a horse pistol, and mammoth fish swallowing a canoe.
Lovina Beach
Laze on the beach and watch the sky turn red, yellow, and orange as the sun sinks behind the towering volcanoes of Java, which appear on the horizon rising purple from the ocean. At night fishing fleets head out in their 'jukung', luring fish into nets with kerosene pressure lanterns swaying and glowing yellow all along the waterfront. You can join them for a two- or three-hour late afternoon trip. Or hire a freelancer and go out on a sailing excursion, with sailor. The bay is great for swimming. Lovina's warm sea laps lazily at the gray-sand shore during the dry season, quite tame compared to the volatile southern coasts. Although a little dirty, the wide expanses of sand are good for sunning (especially at Kalibukbuk), and beach masseurs are available.
PancasariA vegetable-growing and service community of Pancasari, north of Bedugul, is actually located in Buleleng Regency just over the border separating it from Bangli Regency. The Lake Buyan Recreation Area is on the left as you enter Pancasari from the south. There's a very scenic walk around the south side of the lake, up over the saddle, then on to Lake Tamblingan to the road around the northern side of the lakes back to Pancasari.
Pulaki
From Lovina, travel the road west toward Gilimanuk through a relatively arid landscape of coconut groves and grape orchards. The administrative center of Buleleng Barat is the small market town of Seririt, 22 km west of Singaraja. At Seririt, turn inland for the road to Denpasar via Pupuan. Pura Agung Pulaki, large, dramatic temple only 25 metes from the sea, is situated 30 km west of Seririt (48 km west of Singaraja) near the grape-growing village of Banyupoh. Cliffs tower behind the temple surrounded by jungle and overrun by hordes of aggressive simians. Considered sacred, the macaques are well-fed by locals but always eager for tourist handouts. This important temple commemorates the arrival of the Javanese saint-priest Nirartha to Bali in the early 16th century.
Singaraja TownA small seaport and the capital of Buleleng featuring tree-lined avenues, quiet residential perimeters, a wide market street, rows of bright Chinese shops, and horse-drawn carts amidst frenetic traffic. Singaraja is reminiscent of Java. Traders from all over Asia have called at the port of Buleleng since the 10th century, trading arms, opium and 'kepang' for fresh water, food, livestock, and slaves. Each group has greatly impacted the cultural life of the city. Singaraja means 'lion king', a name commemorating a palace built in 1604 by Raja Panji Sakti. The Dutch fought the powerful raja at a fierce battle in the nearby village of Jagaraga, finally taking control of the northern Buleleng region in 1849.
Singsing Waterfall
From Lovina take a 'bemo' (one km) west to Temukus, or walk in 30 minutes from the bridge in Kaliasem. At the 14.5-km mark turn up the dirt road and you'll see a sign for Air Terjun Singsing ('Daybreak Waterfalls'). It's about a 500-meter walk with good eating stalls along the way. Boys will show you the way to the 12-meter-high falls. At the falls, swim in the pool below while cool, fresh water cascades over you. The falls only run in the wet, at other times farmers may block them off because they need the water. There's a bigger, better, more isolated waterfall known as Singsing Dua on a path to the east. Swim here too.
Tamblingan Lake
A trip to Danau Buyan and smaller Danau Tamblingan has the feel of a mini-archaeological expedition. Both are contained within one vast caldera. A rugged area lying between 500 and 1,500 meters above sea level. Because of the scarcity of public transport, the trip is best accomplished with a chartered vehicle or motorcycle. There are two approaches. West of Singaraja, turn south at Seririt and follow the asphalt road to Munduk, which then runs east along the tranquil northern shores of Danau Tamblingan and Danau Buyan. For an easier approach, head south on the main highway out of Singaraja.
Yeh Sanih
To reach the quiet beach resort of Yeh Sanih, catch a minibus (17 km) from Singaraja's Penarukan station. This shady seaside spot offers an idyllic black-sand beach-a bit rocky, but the swimming is good. Enjoy wooden bale for sun-bathing. Yeh Sanih's main attraction is an enclosed natural swimming pool of clear, fresh, cool water welling up from an underground spring. Known by the locals as a recreation site since the early 30s, the water is believed to come from Lake Batur in the mountains-the temple near the pool is thus dedicated to Lord Vishnu. Cool sea breezes, tall trees, and the nice panorama over the Bali Strait make for a serene setting.
