Rainbow Over Ricefields
Tabanan is the name of a district in west Bali
and also the largest town in the district. The town is located next to the main
east-west road leading to Java. Though Tabanan is not really a tourist town,
there are still some interesting aspect to it. Tabanan has 2 important bemo
terminals for the adventurous. Bemos are the small minibuses and while most
tourists do not use them, they act as a safety net for getting around if other
ways fail.
The kingdom of Tabanan (a former regency of Bali)
refused to abide by Dutch regulations. The Dutch forces marched towards Tabanan
from the south, refusing to negotiate with the raja. In other regencies of Bali
the raja and his court committed the ritual puputan (fight until death or last
blood). The raja of Tabanan wanted to avoid this, but rather than be exiled in
Lombok, he committed suicide in Denpasar prison. The history of colonial rule
around the world is written in blood, Bali being no exception.
One of
the more positive historical points of interest is the Subak
Museum, located close to the main bypass road. While the museum itself is nothing
special, it documents one of the most important social/economic/cultural
institutions in Bali, the Subak. Dating back to 600AD, Bali has been using
a system of un-mechanized rice cultivation and water management. Bali’s
ability to produce an endless supply of rice year round is central to its
history. The Subak controls management of the watercourses, stretching
all the way to the highland lakes. A farmer cannot simply flood all his
fields at the same time, or divert a main stream to access more water.
The system is intricate and the Subak museum is the place where it’s officially
documented.
Yeh Gangga, Lalang Linggah and Balian to
the west are beach environments around the area. Highlights of the area close to
Tabanan include Taman Kupu Kupu (Butterfly Park) in Wanasari and Yeh Panas hot
springs. Pura Tanah Lot is a 15-minute drive South from
Tabanan.
Tanah Lot
Tanah Lot, one of the most
popular places of interest in Bali, is located on the coast of West Bali, at the
village of Beraban in the Tabanan Regency. It is also called Tanah Let, which
means ancient land, and also Tanah Lod, which mean the land to the south. The
temple Pura Tanah Lot, simple in its construction, is dramatic in its
ocean-front location and is one of the main temples in the worship of Balinese
gods.
Tanah Lot has a long history in the world of tourism. The temple
itself is built on a small promontory, which is only accessible at low tide.
During high water the rock takes on the appearance of a large boat at sea, such
is its shape.
Poisonous snakes live in the nearby caves to 'guard' the
temple and contribute to the temple's dangerous reputation. Sunset is the best
time to visit Tanah lot, when the golden red skies frame the temple and waves
crash into the rocks. It is advisable to avoid the tourist crush here, as it can
be severe.
Museum Subak
Rice cultivation has been a part of Balinese life since well before the
9th century AD. The island has been developed by an organization called
the subak, which controls watercourses. The subak and the Goddess of Rice,
Dewi Sri are part and parcel of daily life in Bali, with every sawah, or
rice field having a shrine to Dewi Sri.
The
original type of rice that grew in Bali (nasi Bali) has slowly been replaced by
newer brands from overseas, which ripen quicker. These newer brands have other
characteristic too. The rice tends to fall off of the ripened stalks easily, so
rather than taking bundles of ripened rice to the village for threshing, the
rice must be threshed on site. Men are always responsible for rice planting, but
women and men help with threshing. Many of the songs and rituals that were
shared during the village threshing are disappearing. As Norm from Eco Lodge
pointed out, people look for the easy route - fast growing rice, easy threshing
and not returning the stalks to the field, but burning them instead.
Here
in Bali rice has 3 names: padi is growing rice, beras is harvested uncooked rice
and nasi is cooked rice.
Yeh Gangga Beach
This beach
is 10km South West of Tabanan. The attraction of this area is natural beauty,
with rice fields leading down to the beach, volcanoes in the distance and a
rugged, empty coastline. Yeh Gangga beach, like many of the beaches on the South
West coast, is not suitable for swimming, due to the currents and lack of any
emergency services. When it is low tide, the beach is quite wide and easy to
walk on but there are not many places to buy food and drinks, although Yeh
Gangga beach itself has a few very basic places
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