Bangli : My Hometown

Bangli is the smallest town in Bali. It is located approximately 40 kilometres east of Denpasar, the capital of Bali. Because of its location in the middle of the island, Bangli does not have a coastline. However, it has the biggest lake in Bali, called Lake Batur. Bangli has hilly areas and one mountain known as Mount Batur, so the weather is usually cool with an average temperature of about 25-27^oC. It also has little pollution and is a comfortable place to live.

The Regency of Bangli is divided into 4 sub regencies i.e. Kintamani, Bangli, Susut and Tembuku. It has a population of around 197,210 people. Most of them are Hindus. Batur Temple, which is located at Kintamani, is the centre of Hindu activities and known as the second largest temple in Bali. There are also Bali Aga people, the original Balinese people. They live in the isolated area called Trunyan village. We have to cross the lake by boat to reach this area.The economy of Bangli depends on agriculture, tourism and small craft industries supporting tourism. The farm crops are rice, Arabica coffee, fruit and vegetables i.e. oranges and cauliflower. Arabica coffee is the pre-eminent product of the Regency of Bangli with potential areas of about 18,775 ha. Bamboo and wood handicraft are home industries in Regency of Bangli. Types of production are lampshades, bags and various other bamboo and wood materials. Other home industries are handicrafts made from gold and silver in the form of keris, silver accessories, brass accessories, and Balinese clothes and accessories. Some people also work in the tourism sector such as in hotels, restaurants, and so on.

Tourism in Bangli is located mainly in the Kintamani and Penglipuran areas. At Kintamani, there is much picturesque scenery including Mount Batur and Lake Batur, and at Penglipuran, we can find bamboo forest and unique traditional Balinese architecture. The tourism sectors are also supported by traditional dances and other traditional art.

Bangli has some traditional food that we also can find in other places around Bali, such as lawar and roast suckling pig. Fried eel and fresh water fish are a specialty of Bangli. There is also a traditional drink derived from coconut known as Tuak Manis. This drink is sweet and contains a little alcohol.

One of the most popular animals in Bangli is the Kintamani dog, a special breed of dog which lives in Kintamani. The government of Bangli usually holds a contest every year to prevent the extinction of this breed.

Unfortunately, Bangli has limited public transportation. We still can travel to many places by minibus, rented car or motorbike but we cannot find taxis. Bangli is also famous for one of its public services i.e. Bangli Psychiatric (Mental) Hospital, so there is a joke: if you are known as Banglinese, people think that you are a psychiatric patient or crazy.

EAP written task, May 2006
Picture : Penglipuran village
Reference: www.bangli.go.id