THE GUIDE - The Rough Guide to Bali and Lombok - page 259

ARRIVAL AND INFORMATION: BESAKIH
By bemo Bemos from Semarapura go as far as Menanga, from where you should be able to
hire an ojek to the temple. Bemos also run from Amlapura (via Selat and Muncan) to Ren-
dang, with some continuing to Menanga. Most bemos run in the morning. There are no be-
mos north of Menanga to Penelokan, or between Rendang and Bangli.
On a tour Without your own transport, the easiest way of getting to Besakih is to take an
organized tour, but check how much time you'll have at the site; anything less than an hour
isn't worth it.
Tourist information The Besakih tourist office (daily 7am-6pm), on the right just beyond
the car park, is staffed by the local organization of guides who will pressure you to make a
donation and engage their services, both of which are unnecessary (see Guides at Besakih ).
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
There are a few cheap warung on the walk up to Besakih from the car park. Accommodation
near Besakih is limited.
Mahagiri Rendang, 9km from Besakih 0812 381 4775, mahagiri.com . If you've got
wheels, it's definitely worth stopping for food or an overnight stay here. It looks straight
across a stunning valley filled with rice terraces to Gunung Agung. There's a dozen attractive
fan-cooled bungalows with hot-water bathrooms and a pool (Rp50,000 for day-visitors).
Many tours sto p here en route to Besakih for the expensive but classy buffet lunch
(Rp70,000). $79
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Sidemen and around
The upland village of SIDEMEN sits within a quintessential Balinese setting of tiered rice
terraces, coconut groves and the coursing Unda River beneath the looming profile of Gunung
Agung. It makes a glorious base for a few days, with a burgeoning number of scenic places
to stay, opportunities for gentle ricefield treks and easy access to Pura Pasar Agung for the
challenging sunrise climb up Gunung Agung. It's also perfectly feasible to explore Besakih
from here, and even Batur, which is just 48km, or a ninety-minute drive, to the northwest.
Even if you don't intend to stay, you can appreciate some of the area's scenery from the road
that begins at Selat (8km north of Sidemen) and drops down to Paksabali, 16km southwest
of Sidemen on the main Semarapura-Kusamba road.
Artists Walter Spies and Theo Meier both lived in this area in the 1930s and 1940s, in Iseh ,
3km to the north, and Anna Mathews wrote her evocative The Night of Purnama about her
life in the village before and during the 1963 eruption of Gunung Agung. Although the
Sidemen area was carpeted in ash by the eruption it did not suffer the same devastation as