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Morning call woke us up at 3.30 am and we met our local guide at the lobby hotel of Puri Bening Hayato located in Toya Bungkah. We arrived the previous afternoon for a one night stay.

The guide’s name was Nyoman Sumerta and he explained that the trekking to the summit of Mount Batur would take two hours. Mount Batur rises to 1717 meters above sea level. He also told us that the best trekking is in the dry season, April to September. Dry season brings relatively little mist and few clouds and provides a perfect setting for a sunrise view. And it helps that the trails are not muddy and slippery!

Nyoman Sumerta shared photos of a glowing sunrise and said we’d see this first hand, weather permitting.

We rode motorcycles to reach Pura Jati which is about three kilometers from Toya Bungkah. There are a few starting points to climb Mount Batur, but the most popular one is Pura Jati. We saw a few cars parked close by and realized that we had company. They had driven from Sanur and Ubud and were very international, coming from Germany, Britain, Japan and France.

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Bali is a small island, which barely shows up on the world map. There are other, smaller islands surrounding Bali, such as Menjangan, which belongs to the regency of Buleleng, Serangan, which is part of the city of Denpasar, and Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan, which together belong to the regency of KIungkung. Bali has an area of 5.632 km, a coastline of 529 km, and is inhabited by a population of around three million people, including ethnic Balinese and immigrants from elsewhere. Consisting of eight regencies and one capital city, it has a population rate of 517people/km in its most densely populated areas. The largest lowland is located in the regency of Buleleng in northem Bali, with an area of 1.365.88 km or around 24.25% of the whole area of Bali.

Geographically, the province of Bali is situated between 8°03?40? - 8°50?48? of the south latitude, and between 114°25?53? - 115°42?40? of the east meridian. On the west, there is the Bali Strait separating the island from Java, and on the east, there is the Lombok Strait, separating the island from Lombok. The southem coast faces the Indian Ocean, and the northem coast, the Java Sea. The wildlife in Bali is unique, because it seems to be
divided in two, north by south, by the mountain range that divides the center, and stretching out from the west to the east. Two of the mountains in this range are Gunung Batur (1,171m) and Gunung Agung (3,140m).

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The title Consul is used for the official representatives of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul’s own country, and to facilitate trade and friendship between the people of the country to whom he or she is accredited and the country of which he or she is a representative. This distinguishes the consul from the ambassador or chargé d’affaires, who is, technically, a representative from one head of state to another.

Thus, while there is but one ambassador representing a nation’s head of state to another, and his or her duties revolve around diplomatic relations between the two countries, there may be several consuls, one in each of several main cities, providing assistance with bureaucratic issues to both the citizens of the consul’s own country travelling or living abroad, and to the citizens of the country the consul is in who wish to travel to or trade with the consul’s country.

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Recently I took a trip to Trunyan, which is nestled on the eastern bank of Lake Batur at the foot of Mount Abang. Trunyan is home to the descendants of the original inhabitants of Bali who are known as the ‘Bali Aga’. This community of people, who have certain animistic beliefs, populated the island long before invasion of the Javanese aristocracy from the Majapahit kingdom during the 14th Century.

Trunyan is accessible only by boat and I made my mid-morning crossing from the village of Toya Bungkah, which was only a 20-minute journey. The cool waters of Lake Batur were calm on the way over, but the return trip was slightly choppy due to the strong afternoon winds.

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If you asked Balinese where to find cheapest arts and craft, they will recommend you to go to Sukawati!!

Sukawati road-facing market located in Gianyar Regency has a strategic position, as it is passed through during the tour to some destinations to the east. Sukawati art market is close to Celuk village, the center of gold & silversmiths. We can drop in after watching barong and Kris dance performance in the morning.

It cans be accessed through bemo transport, tour bus or taxi. Sukawati has a traditional market on the main road and side streets. Known for its art market where you can get the “cheapest price” handicrafts. A wide range of souvenirs of Bali are available, both in finished and semi-finished state. A large variety of woven baskets can be found here along with Balinese ceremonial items made from colourfull “Prada” - gold painted cloth. As well paintings, all types of handicrafts and fabrics can be had for a really good price.

Two hundred meters toward west from the Sukawati Art Market, on the right side of the road, there is another market called ‘Pasar Seni Pagi’ or ‘the morning Art Market’ which only open very early in the morning until around 7 AM. The crowd of souvenirs retailers from other part of Bali will come here to get semi-finished product with a very low price. Many of Bali’s most established puppeteers live in Sukawati. In line with this fact, Sukawati is also the center of Shadow puppets production center. The leather puppet, ‘wayang kulit’ are made either of cow or buffalo hide.

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