PARAHYANGAN
The divine
Harmony with god
Temples, ceremonies, the days the island stops. 63 places, and when not to go.
Three trips · 2023 · 2024 · 2026
Ninety-two days, written down.
Balinese knowledge was kept on palm leaves — cut in with a stylus, blackened with soot, bound in order. We kept ours the same way. Here is the record.
Brahma · redWhat we made
Wisnu · blackWhat we kept
Siwa · whiteWhat changed us
Lontar · the bound record
Three trips, in the order they happened.
A lontar is read in sequence — leaf after leaf, bound between two covers. So is this. Including the first trip, which we got wrong.
- 2023 · 31 days
The one we got wrong
Canggu and Ubud, like everyone. Learned what the tour buses ruin, and at what hour.
- 2024 · 30 days
East, and slower
Sidemen, Amed, Munduk. Met Wayan. Stopped booking more than a day ahead.
- 2026 · 31 days
Checking our own work
Back to all 250 to see what had changed. Some had closed. Those came off the map.
Tri Hita Karana · three causes of wellbeing
Bali organises itself in three. So does this.
The philosophy behind Subak, the island's only UNESCO listing: harmony with the divine, with people, and with nature. Not decoration — it is how the 250 places are grouped.
PAWONGAN
The people
Harmony among people
Warungs, cafés, restaurants, the family who fed us. 104 places and the names attached.
PALEMAHAN
The land
Harmony with nature
Volcanoes, waterfalls, the subak terraces themselves. 83 places, best hours noted.