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JEMBRANA BALI

Some of Bali`s oldest remains of prehistoric humans have been found in the Jembrana regency. Legend tells that sparsely populated West Bali god that way because it's early in habitants was cursed into invisibility for having violated the daughter of a Powerful priest. A ruling family related to the Gelgel house was established here in the mid 1400s, but a dispute between its two founders led to civil war and a destruction of the court. For a while the area was considered to be marginal part of the Badung Kingdom, and a Prince from Sulawesi set himself up as ruler during the 17th century with little problem. Karang asem nearly took Jembrana in the late 1800s, but Jembrana surrendered peacefully to the Dutch before rival Kingdom were subdued. Most of Jembrana includes the forests, mountains, and coasts of the west Bali National Park and Reserve. Visitors must obtain the necessary permit and guide at the part headquarters in Cekik. You might be lucky to see the rare white Bali starling bird, or may be hear the roar of the Balinese tiger, long thought to be extinct.

Excellent diving and snorkeling can be found around Pulau Menjangan Island, with the Banyu Wedang hot springs near by on the coast. Catch a ferry to Java at Gilimanuk port. Closed to the district capital of Negara is the temple of Gede Prancak near a waver, while further east the Rambut Siwi complex has magnificent ocean views. A large fishing community has been established at Pengambengan, and there is an excellent surfing beach at Medewi. Cloves are grown on plantation in the foothills around Asah Duren.

Bigger is better in Jembrana: huge bamboo xylophones of the gamelan jegog accompany martial arts and dances. Kendang Mebarung competitions of large oversized drums are sometimes held. Exciting makepung bull races take place in the village of Banyubiru and Delod Brawah during the dry season. Joged bumbung groups with flirtatious dancers accompanied by smaller bamboo instruments are popular around Tegal Cangkring.

Makepung

Travelers to Bali, especially Jembrana, will have a special treat when scores of decorated bulls are led to a field to join the unprecedented Balinese bull race. The peak day of the traditional bull race, known locally as 'Makepung', will be on October 21, 2001. More foreign travelers are recommended to witness the event on October 27.

The bull race is held twice a year, July and October, every Sunday morning.

Participants of the competition are mostly cultivators who have finished harvesting their own rice fields. Through the race, they are eager to express their delight for their good harvest.

The racing bulls are carefully selected in terms of strength and color. The privileged bulls are given special food and never used for plowing. They are decorated with painted horns and enormous wooden bells, with each pair having a silk banner attached to the harness.

The participants along with their competing bulls will parade in front of the spectators before the docile animals turn 'wild', demonstrating their strength, power and running speed in the ground. During the race, the charioteers usually stand up to encourage the bulls to run as fast as possible.

"It's really an exciting show," a foreign traveler commented.

Gamelan jegog

Jegog is a form of gamelan music indigenous to Bali, Indonesia played on instruments made of bamboo. The tradition of jegog is centered in Jembrana, a region in Western Bali. In recent years jegog has started to become popular in other regions of Bali with a few groups being established in central Bali to entertain tourists. International interest has been spread by tourists visiting Bali and by recordings. There are virtually no ensembles outside of Bali with the exception of at least one group in Japan (Sekar Sakura), one in the United States (Sekar Jaya) and one in Germany (Puspa Kamala). Jegog music is very fast, loud, rhythmic and precise. Pieces last from a few minutes to as long as thirty minutes.

The instruments
Jegog instruments have a four note scale that roughly corresponds to the four pitches of a dominant 7th chord in Western music. All instruments have eight bamboo keys. Some instruments have two keys for each pitch slightly detuned so that the pitches beat when they are played together. Other instruments have a two octave range with four pitches in a low octave and the same four pitches an octave higher. In this case the instrument will be paired with another instrument that is slightly detuned. Taken together the ensemble has a range of five octaves.

Most Jegog ensembles have instruments that have keys that are made of bamboo that are split at one end and then half of the tube is removed. The other end remains intact and functions as a resonator for the split part. The keys are suspended on a wooden frame and struck with mallets (called pangguls), made out of wood or rubber. There are also Jegog ensembles with instruments called Jegog Tingklik. These smaller instruments are used primarily with children. The keys are made of bamboo slats mounted above a resonator box.

Jegog
The lowest instrument in a Jegog ensemble is also called a Jegog. The ensemble gets its name from this instrument. The keys of the Jegog instrument are as long as 3 meters in length and a pitch as low as 60 hertz. The instrument is so large, and the mallets are so heavy that it takes two people to play it. The players crouch on a platform on the top of the instrument and alternate playing the keys. The Jegog instrument has the lowest octave of the ensemble. Each pair of pitches are detuned by as much as 7 hertz. In this octave, that is almost a whole tone. The keys are arranged 1' 2' 3' 4' 1 2 3 4, one being the lowest pitch and 4 being the highest. The four keys on the left are the higher pitches of the detuned pairs and the four on the right are the lower ones.

Melody Instruments
One octave higher than the Jegog is an instrument called the Undir, and an octave above that is the Kuntung. The instruments are small enough to be played by one person each. The Undir is still big enough that the player needs to crouch on a platform on the top of it to play it. There are two Undir and two Kuntung. The Undir and Kuntung have the same arrangement of keys as the Jegog. Since there are a pair of Undir and a pair of Kuntung, one of each pair is arranged 1' 2' 3' 4' 1 2 3 4 and the other is arranged 1 2 3 4 1' 2' 3' 4'. This way a detuned pair is played if the two players play exactly the same thing on each of their instruments. These five instruments together play the melody (called the bun). Some ensembles have a high pitch flute called a suling that also plays the melody.

Kotekan instruments
The remaining 9 instruments span two octaves and are arranged 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 where 5 through 8 is an octave above 1 to 4. The lowest of these instruments, called the Barangan, span the same octaves as the Undir and the Kuntung. The next higher is the Kancil which begins with the octave of the Kuntung and extends an octave higher. The next higher -- the highest in the ensemble -- is the Suir, likewise, extending one octave higher. There are three Barangan, three Kancil, and three suir.

The Barangan play the melody twice as fast as the other melody instruments. Since this is often very fast, the players alternate playing the notes. The Kancil and Suir play interlocking patterns called Kotekan, sometimes the Barangan play these patterns as well. The Barangan are the front line of the ensemble. The center of the three Barangan is the leader of the ensemble. Other players watch the leader for cues and tempo changes.

Instrumentation variations
A smaller version of a gamelan jegog might not have the 2 kuntung and the 3 suir. This smaller ensemble has a longer history than the one outlined above.

If a gamelan jegog is accompanying dance, it may be augmented by kendang (drums), ceng-ceng (cymbols) and tawa-tawa (a beat-keeping small gong).

Menjangan Island

Although the best diving in Menjangan is said to be Apr-Nov (during the south-east monsoon), the island can be dived year-round as it offers some of the most protected diving in Bali. The clarity of the water can, at times, be amazing, and the best in Bali - Oct-Nov often has horizontal visibility of 50M+. A current of more than 1 knot is unusual.

It was in 1978 that Menjangan became Bali's first internationally-known dive location. Consequently, in older dive guidebooks, Menjangan is described as having beautiful reef flats. Unfortunately that is no longer true. Over the years a combination of dynamite fishing and (dive!) boats anchoring into the coral have taken their toll. Then, in 1997 there was a population explosion of the coral-eating Crown of Thorns starfish and, in 1998, coral bleaching as a result of El Nino.

However, these reef flats (5-15M) are now showing strong signs of recovery and will, in all likelihood, come back with much greater diversity than they had before.

Corals at Menjangan Island
On a more positive note, Menjangan is actually famous for the wall-diving and these walls were unaffected by the above problems. They descend to varying depths, the shallowest being 26m, the deepest 60M+. The walls offer the greatest diversity of gorgonian fans in Bali. They generally start at 10m with the flat coral reefs offering gentle conditions and lots of sunlight. These are full of medium and small fish. The walls are full of small nooks and crannies, overhangs, and bigger cavelettes, crevasses, etc. They are covered with soft corals, gorgonian fans, sponges.

There are only rare sightings of large fish (pelagics - ocean-going fish) in Menjangan due to the island being protected from the cold currents coming in from the open sea.

The more popular dive sites at Menjangan are: The Eel Garden, Pos II and, for the more experienced, a deep dive (40M
to the Anker Wreck, a 150yr old wooden boat.

The Anker Wreck

No-one knows the name of this small wooden boat, even if it had one, or what brought it to the area. The wreck is actually named for the anchor that still lies about 6-8M from the surface. You follow the anchor chain down the steep slope to the flattened remains of the shipwreck (35-50M), which lie across about 60M of sand. This is the deepest dive site offered by AquaMarine, we believe that the good visibility and calm conditions mean that it will present no problems to experienced divers.

Following the anchor chain down to 32M, there is a second (coral-covered) anchor at the point where the site becomes a sand slope. It is here that you see the first parts of the wreck, dark against the white sand. Across the site you will find copper sheeting and bottles, the boat's cargo (artefacts, not for souvenirs). There are still some parts of the boat which remain out of the sand, and which are covered in gorgonians, a sure sign of little or no currents at the site.

The wall to the west, at 5-10M, is rich with many overhangs, cracks and caves. A good idea for an extended safety stop after this dive.

Garden Eel Point

Starting this dive from the most north-western tip of Menjangan Island, following the wall southwards towards the Bali/Menjangan channel, you will see some of the most healthy and diverse coral on Menjangan. The cracks and breaks in the wall are filled with a great diversity of reef fish.

If conditions dictate that you cannot enter at the NW tip of the island, you will enter closer to Garden Eel Point.

Longnose Hawkfish
Oxycirrhites typus
Gradually following the wall down from the top (5-8M) to 25M (max depth 35M), where it becomes a white sand slope, you find a big gorgonian fan with long-nose hawkfish. This area is also known for sightings of white tip reef shark, small schools of barracudas, turtles, and of course Napoleonfish. From this 25M point we ascend (slowly) up the slope, over many soft corals, until reaching a huge colony of garden eels, which covers the slope from 20M to beyond where it flattens out at 14M.

From Garden Eel Point we head south to a coral garden at 5-12M. This area gives us Big-Eyed Trevally, Titan Triggerfish, many clownfish in their anemones and often a surprisingly number of scorpionfish.

Pos II

Located on Menjangan's most south-easterly point, Pos II can be beach-entry or boat-entry, and is usually drift-diving: whether beach or boat, the dives start at 12M, where the white sand slope meets the top of the wall.

Emperor Angelfish
Pomacantus imperator
If there is a current, it is generally north-easterly. Slowly descending along the wall, drifting with the current, to approx 25M (max depth 50M+) we see a profusion of soft corals, sponges, small gorgonians, moray eels and lionfish. Levelling out at 25M, the current takes us along the wall to the east point of the island, a dramatic area covered in large gorgonians. Here, where we meet the waters travelling down the north-east of Menjangan, there is an upwelling of cold waters from the deep ocean. This brings with it turtle, Manta Ray, shark, occasional Mola-Mola and other pelagics. We, of course, also encounter thermoclines here. Our safety stop is done above the remains of the coral reef (8-12M). As there is quite a population of Titan Triggerfish in the area, we need to choose our spot carefully.

Very occasionally we find that the current is actually heading west. Almost immediately you find an area where, if the conditions are right, you can see pelagics. Descending slowly along the wall, the diversity of reef fish is remarkable: angelfish, anthias, chromis, gobies, scorpionfish. The surface of the wall is full of crevasses, cracks and overhangs which hide many treasures. There is the occasional cave too.

Pemuteran

Located 20mins along the north coast from Labuan Lalang, Pemuteran is a small collection of resorts located on the beach. The diving here is on 500M wide coral-covered banks or mounds that go from the sand floor, at around 25M, up to about 6M from the surface. The top coral cover is a mixture of hard, soft and fire corals with some sea fans and sponges deeper. No currents to speak of and visibility is usually good, but varies quite a bit due to shallowness (wave action stirring up the bottom, run-off after rain).

The coral cover was very badly affected by coral-bleaching after El Nino in 1998.

Apr-Oct gives good conditions in Pemuteran but during the NW monsoon (Dec-Mar) conditions are usually poor (Jan and Feb is v wavy).

Due to the easy conditions, and close proximity to the resorts, you can night-dive at Pemuteran - not only on these coral mounds (takas) but also on the reef just off the beach.

MENJANGAN ISLAND HIGHLIGHTS

LOCATION: A small island to the north of north-west Bali, part of West Bali National Park
TYPE OF DIVE: Boat diving (one shore dive), access only by boat. Wall-diving, Drift-diving
VISIBILITY: 15 - 30 metres
CURRENT: Mild currents
DEPTHS: 5 - 40 metres
MIN LEVEL: Open Water
HIGHLIGHTS: Coral walls and grottoes.

Jembrana Food

The Jembrana regency in West Bali is famous for the virginity of its nature and authentic culture.
"Makepung" – the water buffalo race is only found in this regency. Jembrana is the habitat of Jegog – the giant bamboo gamelan. For those traveling for bird watching, it is suggested to visit West Bali National Park, the habitat of Bali bird (Leocopsar Rothchildi).
What else? Jembrana regency offers the specific food and meal, also cake and pie.
The Balinese cake is sometimes on the menu of your hotel’s breakfast and snack. The accommodations at Pengeragoan Beach, Pekukatan Beach, Madewi Beach, Delodberawah Beach, Rening Beach, Gilimanuk Harbor, Palasari village and the town of Negara offer a breakfast menu with coffee, tea, egg, toast, bread and boiled or fried banana. The village style accommodation in Batuagung and Sangkaragung village offer special Balinese breakfast such as black rice pudding and other Balinese cakes: laklak, apem and bendu.
The Balinese cakes are found at the coffee or food stalls, locally known as warung, throughout the villages in Jembrana regency. Keep trying to have a rest at a warung in the village and enjoy a glass of coffee or tea with Balinese cake, also enjoy the local atmosphere.
The Balinese cake is found also at the main traditional market such as Pekutatan, Melaya, Negara and Tegalcangkring. Every day, a woman of Tegalcangkring opens her temporary stall selling only boiled Balinese cakes. The bendu – made of rice powder, coconut and Balinese sugar wrapped with banana leaf is one of specialty of her cakes. Foreign tourists can buy such a cake for a gift to a friend living in Bali. Do you have time and interest to visit the cake vendor at work? She lives behind the market. She prepares all kind of cakes in the morning at her Balinese style house, a Balinese style kitchen with wood fire.
Do you have a chance to visit Jembrana in a special occasion such as wedding party, cremation, tooth filling? As an invitee, your Balinese host will offer you Balinese cake with soft drink – fanta, sprite and coca-cola (east meets west?). On the opening ceremony of the Jembrana Art Festival, town anniversary and other formal events, the guest is served with Balinese cake. The Balinese make a variety of cakes and pies for many purposes: for sacrifice, tooth filling, wedding, cremation and temple ceremony. During the main holidays such as Galungan, Kuningan, Nyepi, Saraswati, Pagewesi, they also make such cakes for ritual purposes.
The raw materials are rice, sticky rice, red rice and black rice – the powder of them. For ritual purposes, there are two kinds of cake, for offering to the God: could be consumed with the devotee after the ceremony and unconsumed ones, the latter is called jaja bunga-bunga – the cake with floral form and figure. It is accustomed to the Balinese family to have cake offering and praying to the God, they are back home with the fruit and cake offering.
Actually, the offering symbolizing the prosperity of the universe, consists of flora and fauna. The floral cake is made of rice with the basic main colors: white, red, black, and yellow. The colors are symbolizing the main divines from all directions; east, west, north, and south. From the world of flora, the cake represents the bean, the flower of durian and other foliage. They also create human figure, monkey, lizard, gecko, turtle, and snakes. (BTN/LanusSumatra)

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