Six km west of Singaraja, three hours drive from Denpasar, the popular beach resort of Lovina is a long stretch of black sand with crystal-clear water. Actually, Lovina is a generic term for a whole line of six small villages and palm-fringed beaches. From east to west it includes: Pemaron, Tukadmungga, Anturan, Kalibukbuk, Kaliasem, and Temukus. The strip starts at about six km mark west of Singaraja to about five km past of Kaliasem. Kalibukbuk has the highest concentration of restaurants and accommodations while the fishing villages of Anturan and Temukus are less densely packed and thus quieter.

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History has it, Lovina beach was the first seaside resort to appear in the mid-‘70s. The name “Lovina” was coined by the last King of Buleleng, Anak Agung Panji Tisna. He named this stretch of coast after the English word “love” in 1953. He founded the first hotel in this beach, Tasik Madu Hotel, or “sea of honey” hotel. The few simple accommodations that existed in the sleepy early 1970s were demolished in 1976 earthquake. The resort began anew and during the 1980s new accommodations and restaurants appeared. Lovina has had its ups and downs through the years, and always appears to be on the brink of a renaissance.

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Cakepung is a male social performance, combination of singing and dancing, done strictly for recreation and amusement, and is found today only in Karangasem Regency and on Lombok, its former vassal state. This folk-performance derives its name onomatopoeically from the sound of its accompaniment, a rhythmic vocal sound similar to that produced by the cak chorus. In the accompaniment, two dozen vocalists chant ‘pung-cakapung’ in unison.

A performance of cakapung might take place any evening during leisure time. The dancers gather at about seven o’clock at the bale banjar with simple costume, a sarong, headdress, a shirt sometimes bare-chested. Some participants bring bottles of tuak (Balinese palm wine), brem (sweet wine) or arak (distilled palm wine).

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Sema, or cemetery is always a source of horror for Balinese. It is the place where the spirits of uncremated corpses wander around, playground for evil spirit and bhuta kala and of course, hunting ground for leak, the witch of Bali who fond of the flesh of newly buried corpse. Even during the day, Balinese consider sema as a terrifying place to visit and they will avoid it if possible. At night, no explanation needed.

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Sema is usually situated on the seaward-west (southwest in southern part of Bali) corner of the village. Balinese believe that seaward-west is the direction of hell, the direction that is guarded by Rudra, god of evil spirit, leak and bhuta kala. This direction is considered to be inauspicious fits to be used as cemetery where evil spirits will gather and perform their bloody orgy.

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In their life, Balinese put great emphasis on the balance of all world powers and elements. Countless of religious ceremonies are held to keep and restore the balance in the world. Of course, for Balinese, the world means the island of Bali.

However, constant religious ceremonies are not enough to keep Bali free of problems. Agricultural field has been decreasing by 1000 acres every year, as a consequence of the development of tourism and industrial infrastructure. Tourism and industry is also resulting a drained water reserve, mounting waste, polluted river and sea, limited energy and decreasing biodiversity. Among the other things, life quality of the community has declined because of air pollutant, crowded traffic, criminal act and limited space. In short Bali is not in balance.

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Rengganis, the daughter of Begawan Arab, went to the garden of Sri jayengrana, King of Mekah, to eat the sweet-smelling flowers. For she was a goddess, and only fed on the juice of flowers; rice was too coarse for her. Repatmaja, the king’s son, also went to the garden and found it scattered with flower petals and rengganis picking the flowers. He had taken her prisoner, but she was so beautiful that he fell in love with her, and wanted to marry her. She, however, would only consent to become his eighth wife, and promised to provide him with the other seven. So they flew away together and came to Mokadam.

Ni Kadarmanik, the King of Mokadam’s daughter, was very desolate, because her father had promised her to a crazy prince named Irman, Rengganis, seeing her so sad, asked her if she would like to have a handsome husband in his place. “How can I tell if he is handsome,” she said, “he may even be more objectionable than Irman.” “I can show you his likeness,” said Rengganis, “I will take his shape.” She disappeared for a moment, and repatmaja who was waiting outside appeared in her place. “This is what I am like,” he said. “Will you have me for your husband?’ “Yes indeed,” she cried. “I have never seen anyone so handsome.” At that moment Rengganis came back, which proved that she had seen was no apparition, but Repatmaja himself. So they all flew away through the air with the great sorceress Rengganis.

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Ulun Danu Bratan Temple may seem like floating on the surface of the Lake Bratan, as a matter of fact, it is situated on a small promontory jutting out from the western shore of the lake, flooded periodically by the rising lake. This sacred temple is a historical monument of peaceful amalgamation of Buddhist and Hindu in Bali. this half-Hindu, half-Buddhist temple was built by the king of Mengwi in 1633 A.D, dedicated to Dewi Danu, the Goddess of Lake.

Lake Bratan is looked upon as a source of irrigation water for the south part of the island. Therefore, the Ulun Danu Bratan Temple is the central temple for thousands of irrigation temples and shrines that spread all over southern region of Bali. Island-wide ceremonies are held every year in this temple to ensure a steady and continued supply of water and thousands of pilgrims come from all over the island to pay homage. This sacred temple is also regarded as a central temple by the blacksmith (pande) clan that its members spread all over the island.

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