Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The commercial hub of traditional Singaraja is the covered
market
. It's at its busiest in the
very early morning, around 5am, but at any time of day you can buy your live chickens and
ducks here and stock up on temple offerings, sarongs and any number of handmade knives.
The waterfront
A few minutes' walk north of the market,
Pelabuhan Buleleng
, the
waterfront
, is the site of
the ancient harbour of Buleleng, although it's hard to imagine that this was once the busiest
port on Bali. Today, it's notable for its restaurants, the statue of freedom fighter I Longtong
pointing a defiant finger out to sea, and Chinese temple
Ling Gwan Kiong
(admission by
donation), a red-and-white confection of shrines, statues and bridges.
Around Singaraja
A trio of otherwise unremarkable villages east of Singaraja - Sangsit, Jagaraga and Kubutam-
bahan - have some of the most engaging
temple carvings
on Bali. Throw in a stop at
the
Sekumpul
or
Gitgit waterfalls
, some of Bali's most beautiful falls, and you have the
makings of a good day-trip from Lovina. The temple villages are served by bemos from
Singaraja's Penarukan terminal (which is 3km east along Jalan Surapati from the Pelabuhan
Buleleng waterfront).
Pura Beji and Pura Dalem Sagnsit
Both daily 7am-6pm • Admission by donation (includes sarong rental)
Practically merged into the development that straggles out from Singaraja, the village of
Sangsit
, 2km east of Singaraja's Penarukan terminal, is famous for its exuberant north
Balinese temple carving. The pink-sandstone
Pura Beji
, 200m north off the main road, is
dedicated to Dewi Sri, the rice goddess, and its every surface seems to writhe with carvings
of animals, plants, masks, humans and monsters, both old and new.
From here you can just about glimpse the red roofs of
Pura Dalem Sangsit
, 500m northeast
across a ricefield. Its front wall depicts the rewards that await the godly in heaven and, more
luridly, the punishments lined up in hell: stone blocks on the head, women giving birth to
strange creatures and sharp spikes descending through skulls.
Jagaraga
Around 4km south of Sangsit off the main road,
JAGARAGA
was the site of two immense
battles between the Balinese and the Dutch. In 1848, the Balinese, led by local hero Gusti
Ketut Jelantik, won with huge loss of life, their sixteen thousand troops fighting with lances
and
kris
against three thousand well-armed Dutch. The two forces met here again in 1849,
when the
Dutch
finally took control of the entire Buleleng regency.
Pura Dalem Jagaraga
1km north of Jagaraga • Daily 7am-6pm • Rp15,000
Such was the bloodshed at Jagaraga that the sign for the
Pura Dalem Jagaraga
temple north
of there greets you “Welcome to the temple of death”. Though badly eroded in places, the
