Eastern Bali, Indonesia 

We approached Pura Besakih, Bali's most important temple, on a rainy morning. Located at nearly 1000m on the slope of the highest and most revered mountain in Bali, Gunung Agung (3142m), the temple is part of a complex of 23 temples. "The precise origins of Pura Besakih are not totally clear," says the Lonely Planet, "but it almost certainly dates from prehistoric times. The stone bases of Pura Penataran Agung and several other temples resemble megalithic stepped pyramids, and date back at least 2000 years. It was certainly used as a Hindu place of worship from 1284, when the first Javanese conquerors settled in Bali. By the 15th century, Besakih had become a state temple of the Gelgel dynasty." We returned through the Sideman Valley surrounded with lush green hills.

We also stopped in a former regional capital, Semarapura (aka Klungkung), and saw the Kertha Gosa complex, a pre-colonial era relic. The town was once the centre of Bali's most important kingdom in the eighteenth century, the Klungkung kingdom. The Kertha Gosa complex, dating from that era, contains the remains of "a palace laid out as a large square, believed to be in the form of a mandala, with courtyards, gardens, pavilions and moats ... Most of the original palace and grounds were destroyed by the 1908 Dutch attacks." Most notable is a builiding called the Hall of Justice. A painting in the museum has a Balinese artist's depiction of their war with the Dutch. —Namit

Pura Besakih, Mt. Agung, Sideman Valley
Temples (1, 2) Temples Temples Temples	Mt. Agung (more) Mt. Agung Mt. Agung	Sideman Valley village Sideman Valley village	Post-festival street Post-festival street
Klungkung (Semarapura)
An intersection in Klungkung town (more) An intersection in Klungkung town An intersection in Klungkung town	A street in Klungkung A street in Klungkung	Taman Kertha Gosa complex (1, 2, 3) Taman Kertha Gosa complex Taman Kertha Gosa complex Taman Kertha Gosa complex Taman Kertha Gosa complex	Kertha Gosa, the Hall of Justice, Klungkung kingdom Kertha Gosa, the Hall of Justice, Klungkung kingdom
Painted ceiling with Bima's story and others (1, 2) Painted ceiling with Bima's story and others Painted ceiling with Bima's story and others Painted ceiling with Bima's story and others	Klungkung style paintings (more) Klungkung style paintings Klungkung style paintings	Museum on site Museum on site	War between the Dutch and Klungkung kingdom (info) War between the Dutch and Klungkung kingdom War between the Dutch and Klungkung kingdom