The Rough Guide to Bali & Lombok (Travel Guide eBook)

Rough Guides

Description

Practical travel guide to Bali & Lombok featuring points-of-interest structured lists of all sights and off-the-beaten-track treasures, with detailed colour-coded maps, practical details about what to see and to do in Bali & Lombok, how to get there and around, pre-departure information, as well as top time-saving tips, like a visual list of things not to miss in Bali & Lombok, expert author picks and itineraries to help you plan your trip.

The Rough Guide to Bali & Lombok covers: South Bali, Ubud and central Bali, east Bali, north Bali and the central volcanoes, west Bali, Lombok and the Gili Islands.

Inside this travel guide you'll find:

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR EVERY TYPE OF TRAVELLER
Experiences selected for every kind of trip to Bali & Lombok, from off-the-beaten-track adventures in Bali Barat National Park to family activities in child-friendly places, like The Amed Coast or chilled-out breaks in popular tourist areas, like Gunung Batur.

PRACTICAL TRAVEL TIPS
Essential pre-departure information including Bali & Lombok entry requirements, getting around, health information, travelling with children, sports and outdoor activities, food and drink, festivals, culture and etiquette, shopping, tips for travellers with disabilities and more.

TIME-SAVING ITINERARIES
Carefully planned routes covering the best of Bali & Lombok give a taste of the richness and diversity of the destination, and have been created for different time frames or types of trip.

DETAILED REGIONAL COVERAGE
Clear structure within each sightseeing chapter includes regional highlights, brief history, detailed sights and places ordered geographically, recommended restaurants, hotels, bars, clubs and major shops or entertainment options.

INSIGHTS INTO GETTING AROUND LIKE A LOCAL
Tips on how to beat the crowds, save time and money and find the best local spots for diving and snorkelling or climbing volcanoes.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THINGS NOT TO MISS
Rough Guides' rundown of Danau Bratan, Denpasar, Semarapura, Lovina's best sights and top experiences helps to make the most of each trip to Bali & Lombok, even in a short time.


HONEST AND INDEPENDENT REVIEWS
Written by Rough Guides' expert authors with a trademark blend of humour, honesty and expertise, to help to find the best places in Bali & Lombok, matching different needs.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Comprehensive 'Contexts' chapter features fascinating insights into Bali & Lombok, with coverage of history, religion, ethnic groups, environment, wildlife and books, plus a handy language section and glossary.

FABULOUS FULL COLOUR PHOTOGRAPHY
Features inspirational colour photography, including the stunning Pura Tanah Lot and the spectacular Pura Ulun Danu Batur.

COLOUR-CODED MAPPING
Practical full-colour maps, with clearly numbered, colour-coded keys for quick orientation in Kuta, The Gili Islands and many more locations in Bali & Lombok, reduce need to go online.

USER-FRIENDLY LAYOUT
With helpful icons, and organised by neighbourhood to help you pick the best spots to spend your time.

Sujets

• Points of Interest
• Museums
• Point of interest
• Southeast
• Travel
• Museum
• Indonesia
• Ubud
• Asia
• Lombok
• Bali
• Tours
• Indonésie

Informations

• Publié par: Apa Publications
• Date de parution: 15 septembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 7
• EAN13: 9781789196818
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 54 Mo

Extrait

Contents
Introduction to Bali & Lombok
W here to go
W hen to go
A uthor picks
t hings not to miss
I tineraries
Basics
G etting there
V isas
G etting around
A ccommodation
F ood and drink
F estivals and events
H ealth
O utdoor activities
S pas, traditional beauty treatments and yoga
C ulture and etiquette
S hopping
T ravelling with children
N GOs and volunteer projects
T ravel essentials
South Bali
K uta–Legian–Seminyak
T he Bukit Peninsula
D enpasar
S anur
T he Nusas
Ubud and central Bali
U bud and around
S outh of Ubud
E ast of Ubud
N orth of Ubud
East Bali
G ianyar and around
T he coast south of Gianyar
B angli and around
S emarapura and around
G unung Agung
B esakih
S idemen and around
P adang Bai and around
C andidasa and around
A mlapura and around
T irtagangga and around
T he Amed coast
T ulamben and Kubu
North Bali and the central volcanoes
G unung Batur and around
D anau Bratan and around
L ovina and around
S ingaraja and around
T he northeast coast
West Bali
T abanan and around
G unung Batukaru and around
B alian Beach and the west
T he north coast
Lombok
W est Lombok
N orth Lombok
E ast Lombok
S outh Lombok
The Gili Islands
G ili Trawangan
G ili Meno
G ili Air
Contexts
H istory
R eligion
T raditional music and dance
M odern Balinese music
V illage life and traditions
T he impact of tourism
B ooks
L anguage
G lossary
Small print

Introduction to Bali & Lombok

Part of the Indonesian archipelago, Bali and Lombok are fringed by dramatically rugged coastlines, gloriously sandy beaches and world-class surf. Both islands are small – Bali extends less than 153km at its widest point, Lombok a mere 70km – and dramatically volcanic, graced with swathes of extremely fertile land, much of it sculpted into elegantly terraced rice paddies. Culturally, however, they could hardly be more different. Bali is Southeast Asia’s only predominately Hindu society, and religious observance permeates every aspect of life here; Lombok's Sasak people, on the other hand, are largely Muslim, like the vast majority of Indonesians.
Bali landed on the tourist map in the 1930s and is today an incredibly popular destination, drawing everyone from backpackers to high-end travellers, divers to sun-worshippers, package groups to people seeking spiritual healing. Visitor numbers continue to increase annually, fuelled by international flights connecting it to all points of the globe. Filling stunning resorts, amazing restaurants and world-class spas, this influx has strained existing infrastructure, and traffic congestion and commercialization have affected swathes of Southern Bali and Ubud.
That said, the island’s original charm is still very much in evidence once you leave the densely populated areas, with evocative temples and vibrant festivals set in verdant landscapes.
Just to the east of Bali, Lombok plays host to far fewer foreign travellers, but numbers are steadily increasing thanks to the island’s many unspoilt beaches, terrific surf and forested mountain slopes. Blessed with such natural beauty, Lombok has a burgeoning reputation as a more adventurous destination than its illustrious neighbour.
Unfortunately, the global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-21 had a devastating effect on both islands' tourism industry. International arrivals dropped dramatically and lots of tourism-related enterprises went bankrupt. Bali and Lombok's reopening after pandemic closure in early 2022 gives hope of the islands' quick tourism revival.


Traditional dress
It is customary for Balinese men and women to wear traditional dress to attend temple festivals, cremations, weddings, birth rites and other important rituals; temple dress is also worn if playing in a gamelan orchestra and occasionally for banjar (neighbourhood) meetings.
Many women wear a vividly coloured bustier under the kebaya (blouse), and hair is usually tied neatly in a bun, adorned with flowers or golden ornaments for special occasions. The kebaya is worn over a kamen sarung (sarong) held in place by two cumberbunds.
Men also wear kamen sarung, topped by a saput (knee-length hip-cloth) and a formal, collared shirt (generally white but sometimes batik) or a starched jacket-like shirt. The distinctive headcloth ( udeng ) is tied with a triangular crest on top which symbolically concentrates the mental energies and directs the thoughts heavenwards via the perky cockscomb at the front. Nowadays, some men buy their udeng in shops, ready-tied.




Celebrating before Nyepi
Alamy
Until the twentieth century, both Bali and Lombok were divided into small kingdoms , each ruled by a succession of Balinese rajas and Sasak princes whose territories fluctuated so much that, at times, parts of eastern Bali and western Lombok were joined under a single Balinese ruler. Both islands endured years of colonial rule under the Dutch East Indies government, which only ended when hard-won independence was granted to Indonesia in 1949. (Indonesia celebrates its declaration of independence as August 17, 1945, however, The Netherlands remain committed to the UN-decreed 1949 date.) The Jakarta-based government has since focused on creating a national identity among its vast array of extraordinarily diverse islands and peoples, both by implementing a unifying five-point political philosophy, Pancasila, and through the use of Bahasa Indonesia, the lingua franca across the whole archipelago. Politically, Bali is administered as a province in its own right with Denpasar as its capital, while Lombok's Mataram city is the capital of West Nusa Tenggara Province, which it shares with Sumbawa Island to the east.












Fact file Bali (almost 5800 square kilometres in size with a population of over 4.3 million) and Lombok (just over 5300 square kilometres in size and with a population around 3.8 million, including Sumbawa) make up two of the 34 provinces of the Republic of Indonesia, an ethnically diverse democracy of over 270 million people. The Balinese traditionally celebrate their new year, known as Nyepi and generally falling in March/April, with a day of silence and meditation. By contrast, the night before features a deafening cacophony designed to scare away evil spirits. Every November/December, Muslim and Hindu communities on Lombok take part in the Perang Topat , or Ketupat War , a ceremonial mock-battle at Pura Lingsar featuring copious rice- and egg-throwing. The Wallace Line that runs through the 35km-wide Lombok Strait, which separates the two islands, was long thought to mark the boundary between the distribution of Asian and Australasian wildlife. Both Bali and Lombok are volcanic : large eruptions killed thousands in the twentieth century and occasionally close the islands’ airports.
Where to go
Bali’s best-known beach area, the Kuta–Legian–Seminyak strip, is a 6km sweep of golden sand that draws an incongruous mix of holidaying families, weekending Indonesians, backpackers, a loyal gay clientele and design-conscious visitors drawn by its fashionable restaurants and boutiques. Travellers seeking more relaxed alternatives generally head west to the beaches around and beyond Canggu, across the southern peninsula to Sanur or offshore to Nusa Lembongan ; to sedate Candidasa or Amed further east; or to Lovina's black volcanic sands on the north coast. Quieter, smarter seaside options can be found at Jimbaran and Nusa Dua in the south and Pemuteran in the northwest. On Lombok, the trio of white-sand Gili Islands in the northwest draw the biggest crowds; there are quieter islands off the southwest Sekotong peninsula, a wide range of fading resort accommodation around Senggigi , lovely boutique resorts north of Senggigi in Mangsit and a series of extraordinarily beautiful beaches and a new high-end holiday development near Kuta in the south. All these resorts make comfortable bases for divers and snorkellers and are within easy reach of the islands’ many reefs. Surfers have countless swells to choose from, including the famously challenging Uluwatu on Bali and Desert Point on Lombok, as well as many more novice-friendly breaks.
Most visitors also venture inland to experience more traditional island life. On Bali, the once-tiny Ubud village is a hugely popular cultural centre, still charming but undeniably commercialized, where traditional dances are staged every night and the streets are full of organic cafés, art galleries, yoga studios and myriad purveyors of alternative therapies. Te tebatu on Lombok occupies a similarly cool position in the foothills, although, like the island as a whole, it lacks Bali’s artistic heritage. In general, the villages on both islands are far more appealing than the towns, but Bali’s capital, Denpasar , the historic district capital Semarapura , and Lombok’s Mataram conurbation are each worth a day-trip for their museums, markets and temples.
Bali’s other big draw is its proliferation of elegant Hindu temples , particularly the Tanah Lot island temple, the dramatically located Uluwatu and the extensive Besakih complex on the slopes of Gunung Agung. Temple festivals , most of which are open to respectful tourists, are also well worth attending.
Both islands hold a number of hiking possibilities, many of them up volcanoes . The best is undoubtedly the climb to the summit of