Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
in piles along the roadside - about as industrial as rural Bali gets. Try the outlet of Tan-
teri Ceramic (Mon-Fri 8am-5pm, Sat & Sun noon-5pm; Rp30,000; 0361 831948, mu-
seumtanteribali.com ) , a respected producer that also has a museum with four hundred years
of pottery. It's in Banjar Simpangan in the village centre.
Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest
Daily 9am-6pm • Rp15,000, children Rp10,000 • 0361 814155 • Access is via Kediri: either take a bemo
from Denpasar's Ubung terminal to Kediri, then charter one for the final 3km, or drive to Kediri and follow
signs for Marga
The monkeys at Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest , 3km north of the Kediri junction, are less
aggressive than many of their cousins elsewhere in Bali; if monkeys are your thing and/or the
other monkey forests in Bali are too far away, this is a good place to get up close and simi-
an. That said, it's still wise to safeguard loose items like sunglasses. Beware, too, of getting
landed with a (human) guide - his main concern will be steering you to the souvenir stalls on
the edge of the temple car park.
Mengwi
The town of MENGWI , 18km northwest of Denpasar, has a glittering history as the capital
of a once-powerful kingdom. From the early seventeenth century until the late nineteenth, the
rajas of Mengwi held sway over an extensive area, comprising parts of present-day Badung,
Tabanan and Gianyar districts. Their fortunes eventually waned and in 1885 the kingdom of
Mengwi was divided between Badung and Tabanan. Descendants of the royal family still live
in the Mengwi area - one of their palaces, Puri Taman Sari in nearby Umabian, is now a
luxury homestay - while the otherwise missable town is just to the west of the important
Pura Taman Ayun .
Pura Taman Ayun
East off main Mengwi-Singaraja road • Daily 7am-6pm • Rp15,000; sarong not required • The temple is easily
reached by bemo from Denpasar's Ubung terminal (30min)
The state temple of the former kingdom of Mengwi, Pura Taman Ayun is thought to have
been built by Raja I Gusti Agung Anom in 1634. Designed as a series of terraced court-
yards, the complex is surrounded by a moat to symbolize the mythological home of the gods,
Mount Meru, floating in the cosmic ocean. The inner courtyard is encircled by its own little
moat and is inaccessible to the public except at festival time, although the surrounding wall
is low enough to give a reasonable view of the two-dozen multitiered meru within. The most
important shrines are the three that honour Bali's holiest mountains; their positions within
the courtyard correspond to their locations on Bali in relation to Mengwi. So, the eleven-
roofed structure in the far northwest corner represents Gunung Batukaru; the nine-roofed
meru halfway down the east side symbolizes Gunung Batur; and Batur's eleven-roofed neigh-
bour honours Gunung Agung. The Batur meru has only nine tiers because the mountain is
significantly lower than the other two.
Search WWH ::




Custom Search