THE GUIDE - The Rough Guide to Bali and Lombok - page 357

Mai Malu 0365 470 0068, [e-mail] . Simple, bright, spotless and with
fans and cold-water bathrooms as standard - the first accommodation option on the road to
the beach is arguably the be st choice at this price. The caveat is that traffic noise from the
main road can be a problem. Rp150,000
Puri Dajuma Cottages Pekutatan, 3km east of central Medewi 0365 470 0118,
dajuma.com . The most relaxing retreat in the area, this seafront hotel has new suites and
roomy modern-rustic bungalows; not luxurious but all with a/c, hot water and garden bath-
rooms, the best sited just behi nd the beach. The whole place is set in a tropical garden, with
a pool, spa and hammam . $137
Pura Rambut Siwi
Sixteen kilometres west of Medewi • Daily dawn-dusk • Donation Rp20,000; including sarong • Reached via
Denpasar-Gilimanuk bemos or buses, which drop you at the head of the 750m access road to the temple
When the sixteenth-century Hindu priest Nirartha sailed across from Java, he paused at this
spot and pronounced it a holy site. On leaving, he donated a lock of his hair to the villagers,
who duly erected a temple and named it Pura Rambut Siwi , “the temple for worshipping the
hair”, which is now highly revered by the Balinese.
Nirartha's hair along with some of his clothing is enshrined in a sandalwood box deep inside
the central three-tiered meru in the inner courtyard; it's inaccessible to casual visitors but can
seen from the south-facing kori agung (gateway). Built in tiers of red brick and ornamen-
ted with fierce stonecarvings of open-mouthed Bhoma, the gateway gives direct access to the
cliff face and frames a superb view of the Bali Strait. The figure that stands in the stairway,
staring out to sea with an arm raised, is said to be looking sorrowfully at Java (you can see
Mount Bromo distinctly from here) to bemoan the ascendance of Islam over the Hindu king-
dom of Majapahit. Gently stepped garden terraces of frangipani and palm trees connect the
outer gateway with the shrine to Dewi Sri , goddess of rice and of water (and hence prosper-
ity), which balances on the cliff edge. Descending the rock-cut steps to the charcoal-black-
sand beach, you'll find a string of tiny cave temples tucked into the cliff face to the left of the
stairway.
Negara
If the coast from Tabanan to Medewi is little seen, that beyond is practicaly terra incognita as
most tourists hurry towards ferries at Gilimanuk then on to Java. This is the least populated
area of Bali, with only one town, NEGARA . Formerly the home of the Jembrana royal fam-
ily, it remains the administrative capital of Jembrana district, as its wide boulevards suggest.
Its other claim to fame is as the heartland of bull-races ( makepung , literally “chasing around”)
with carts like chariots, a sport introduced to Bali by migrant Madurese farmers and now cel-
ebrated by statues island-wide. Race tracks on beaches, village tracks, even football fields,
are cleared in late July and races are staged every Sunday until mid-November. Tuwed vil-