Sidemen

Sidemen is what Ubud was thirty years ago. A valley with rice terraces, a river and villages where life revolves around the harvest and the temple calendar. There are a few homestays and small hotels, and nothing else. You walk here, you eat at a warung and you look out at Mount Agung, Bali's holy volcano. Two nights is ideal.

What is there to do in Sidemen?

• Walking: narrow paths run between the fields along the irrigation channels. With a guide from the village you spend a morning walking through the terraces, past small temples and farmers at work. He knows which paths are passable and explains how the subak works, the centuries-old way the farmers share out the water. Go early, while it's still cool and Mount Agung is often still free of cloud.
• Weaving: Sidemen is a weaving village. Women weave on wooden looms: endek, an ikat cloth for everyday wear, and songket, with gold or silver thread, for weddings, tooth-filing ceremonies and other big occasions. In the small workshops you can watch how it's done and buy cloth. A piece of endek easily costs a few hundred thousand rupiah; songket costs more, because far more work goes into it.
• Bukit Jambul: a viewpoint on the road from Klungkung to Besakih, looking out over rice terraces and green valleys. On a clear day you can see as far as the sea and Nusa Penida. A good stop on the way to or from Besakih.
• Pura Besakih: Bali's mother temple, the largest temple complex on the island, on the slopes of Mount Agung. It's just under an hour's drive and busy during the day. Go early, and read what to wear in a temple first.
• Rafting on the Telaga Waja: trips start near Muncan, a few kilometres away, and finish close to Sidemen. You spend two to three hours on the water, over about 17 kilometres.
• Cooking: with a family in the village you learn to cook Balinese food, starting at the market.

How long should you stay, and how does it fit into a route?

Two nights is enough for a walk, a weaving workshop and a trip to Besakih or Bukit Jambul. If rest is what you're after, stay three. On the Quiet Bali trip, Sidemen sits between Ubud and Amed: after the bustle of Ubud you slow down here, then head for the coast. The East Bali day tour, past Tirta Gangga, Taman Ujung and Tenganan, can also start from Sidemen. On Bali with kids you spend two nights here too.

How do you get there?

From the airport it's about a two-hour drive, from Ubud one hour. Amed is an hour and a half to two hours away, with the Tirta Gangga water palace on the way. There's hardly any public transport into the valley, and the roads are narrow and winding. Most travellers come with a private driver. Dek Leonk himself comes from Karangasem, the regency Sidemen belongs to.

When should you go?

Sidemen works all year round. The valley is greenest from December to March, in the rainy season. There's usually a heavy shower in the afternoon then, and the paths get muddy. From April to October it's drier and you see Mount Agung more often. It's clearest early in the morning; later in the day clouds often roll in front of it.

What does it cost?

A homestay or small hotel costs about €25–80 a night for two (2026), a villa with a pool about €80–200. On top of that come the guide for your walk and the entrance fee at Besakih. Rafting costs about IDR 300,000–600,000 per person, depending on lunch and transport. A driver costs from about €45 a day. How it all adds up for a whole trip is in What does a trip to Bali cost?