BANGLI REGENCY

Stretching north to south in central-eastern Bali, Bangli is the only landlocked regency on the island. Only tiny Klungkung has fewer people than Bangli's population of 180,000, divided into 187 community groups in 73 villages.
     With its rugged, overgrown hillocks, wooded ravines, and steeply tiered gardens leading up to immense volcanic craters, the regency encompasses some of the most superb natural scenery on the island. The roads north from Bangli or Tampaksiring climb gradually, the air becomes cooler, and upland crops such as peanuts begin to replace rice. North of Bangli, the road meanders through eerie forests of giant bamboo, finally emerging on one of Bali's most dramatic vistas: the huge 10-km-wide basin of Lake Batur, with the smoldering black cone of Gunung Batur behind it.
     The region offers mineral hot springs, volcano-climbing, boat tours of beautiful Lake Batur, unique archaeological sites, venerated temples, the mountain towns of Penelokan and Kintamani, and the Bali Aga village of Trunyan. Isolated corners of the mountainous Bangli region are home to a number of aboriginal, pre-Majapahit communities, ethnically and culturally distinct from the Balinese mainstream. These mountain folk don't believe in priests, holy water, or cremation. They speak archaic dialects, expose their dead to the elements, uphold a fine stonecarving tradition, and practice an archaic, non-Javanized form of Hinduism.
     Tourism is not well developed in Bangli, with the exception of the Penelokan/Kintamani area, a favorite lunch stop for tour buses which take in the sights and return to Sanur or Nusa Dua in a single day. Most independent travelers visit the regency on a fast roundtrip from the south, or climb the Batur volcano one morning on their way to Lovina, heading back down via Bedugul and Lake Bratan in the western range. This despite the fact the Batur area really deserves three or four days.
     The region's higher altitudes are quite cold at night, so bring warm clothes and shoes. Make certain your accommodations provide dry blankets and firewood. Visit the mountains in the morning because by the afternoon the volcano and lake are shrouded in clouds and fog. Thievery is just as much a problem here as in the madcap alleys of Kuta, so watch your gear.

History
This regency was born of cruelty, incest, betrayal, and murder. In Bali, where legend and history are so intertwined, the history of Bangli reads like a story from one of the Panji tales. In the 18th century, the ruthless king Dewa Rai of Taman married his cousin, Dewa Ayu from the Bangli Denbancingah family, and immediately began plotting to overthrow his uncle, the ruler of Nyalian. Dewa Rai adopted Dewa Gede Tangkeban, the son of the ruler of Nyalian, but the son fell in love and had an affair with his adoptive father's wife, the queen. She persuaded her lover to turn Dewa Rai's dissatisfied subjects against their despised king. After Dewa Rai was murdered in the courtyard of the Puri Agung of Bangli, Dewa Gede Tangkeban married his stepmother and became king of Bangli. Since this marriage was not sanctioned by the religious adat of the time, seven generations of rulers were cursed with bad luck.
     In the 18th and 19th centuries, a time when maritime trade was paramount, only those kingdoms with ports were economically and politically powerful. To trade, Bangli was forced to transport its goods through other territories, paying heavy tribute to their sovereigns. Bangli's luck changed in 1849 when its king Dewa Gede Tangkeban II was appointed by the Dutch to rule the northern regency of Buleleng. This vast area came under Dutch control after Buleleng's King Gusti Ketut Jilantik committed puputan. This confederation was of great advantage to Bangli—it was then able to gain access to the sea. Buleleng could also benefit as it was able to irrigate its rice fields with Bangli water. But the union was short lived. In 1854, Buleleng rebelled against Bangli. No matter; in 1882, all of northern Bali came under direct Dutch colonial administration.
     Bangli first became known to the Western world when a German doctor, Gregor Krause (1883-1959), was appointed to the Dutch hospital here from 1912 to 1914. An avid photographer and amateur ethnologist, Krause took over 4,000 photos during his tenure. Four hundred of them, together with his reports on Balinese cultural life, were published in Germany in 1922 and distributed worldwide. The book's effect on Europe, having just emerged from four years of war and still struggling with poverty, was electric. The majority of photos were shot in Bangli and constitute an invaluable historic record of the time—the puri, aristocratic life, raja and princesses in ceremonial attire, royal topeng dancers.
     Another famous literary personality, Scottish-born Muriel Pearson, under the pen name Ketut Tantri, wrote Revolt in Paradise, a fascinating tale of her life in Bali and Java from 1932 to 1947. Inspired by the early Hollywood film The Last Paradise, she came to Bali, settling first in Denpasar, Soon growing restless, she drove inland in search of the real Bali. Her car ran out of gas in front of the Puri Denpasar in Bangli. The raja of the time invited her into the palace and eventually she became his quasi-adopted daughter. He gave her the name Ketut Tantri, ketut meaning fourth-born child. She wore traditional clothes and at the raja's suggestion dyed her red hair black—only leyak have red hair on Bali.

Economy
Traveling through Bangli regency even 10 years ago you could easily forget which century you were in. But by the mid-1990s the region seemed to be waking from a long sleep. Today, the streets are clean and the economy is growing, with many new shops and supermarkets rising to meet local demand. Agricultural products are still the most important source of revenue for this relatively remote regency. The broad plain in the south, consisting mostly of rice fields, lies about 100 meters above sea level; the higher elevations above Bangli town mark the dividing line between the two agricultural zones of the regency. Here you begin to see plots of corn, sweet potatoes, cassava, cabbages, peanuts, coffee, tobacco, and vanilla, as well as salak, passion fruit, citrus, and clove plantations. This mountainous district is also known for its decorative plants, particularly orchids and unusual ferns.

Events
Bangli's temple festivals are known for their stunning offerings. Ceremonies often last all night, and the dances are more traditional than in the south. Here, the dancers fall into a real trance. This is usually the only district where you can see a genuine sanghyang dedari (exorcistic dance).
The highlight of your stay here may be stumbling upon a gamelan competition. Only in the Bangli area can you still find the powerful, deep, and reverberating gong gde, a huge ensemble of calung, jegogan, trompong, gong, big drums, half a dozen saron-style gangsa, and large cengceng. In feudal times, the gong gde was perhaps the most important symbol of a court's opulence. Rare, streamlined versions of this archaic 50-musician orchestra can be found outside Bangli town in Demulih and Sulahan, and in Kintamani's Pura Batur.
The balian of Bangli are renowned for their supernatural powers, for their practice of the science of black magic (pengiwa), and for their ability to heal psychically through the medium of trance. Those patients the balian are unable to treat are sent to Bangli's lunatic asylum.