The Beauty of Nature: Lempuyang-Seraya Mountain, Bali’s most easterly peaks, in Karangasem regency, offer an unspoiled, picturesque respite for visitors to the island and residents. Despite massive development in southern areas of Bali, many other regions remain as they have for countless centuries.

SEMINYAK The Bali Times POLICE, city guardians (Satpol PP) and tax officials inspected a new foreign-owned villa complex in Seminyak on Monday that they claim does not have a building permit (IMB), has not registered as a foreign investment firm (PMA) and has not paid tax. The Australian owner was overseas. Bali Yarravillas, located along [...]

….because of our ceremonies, Bintang beer and the foreigners that come to visit our island. It’s nice to meet people from so many different countries. Ketut Jaya, 26, Karangasem

NAME: Komang Awa AGE: 29 OCCUPATION: Gym instructor LOCATION:  Buleleng How do you think the country is doing now? There is a lot of corruption and the judicial system is not balanced. Someone who steals a chicken is put into prison for five years while someone who is corrupt and steals millions from the country [...]

Lily Maritza, 30, from Jakarta, opened Istana Raja Kobra 10 years ago, a shop and restaurant at the Dewa Ruci roundabout in Kuta that specialises in cobra blood and meat as well as other natural remedies made from animals that are meant to treat health problems. She shared her day with Carla Albertí de la [...]

Jero Kajeng, 60, is from Sanur and sells soft drinks at the beach. She has three children and six grandchildren. What’s the greatest lesson life has taught you? Life has taught me how to bring my children up and how it’s important that I sell soft drinks to have money to feed my family. What’s [...]

From the perspective of Mujayana, 37, a mother of nine children and professional masseuse from Java. What are we here for? To live for the family. Do you believe in the Big Bang theory that the circa-13.7-billion-year-old universe and all that’s in it was created by a massive explosion of enormously dense matter at what [...]

I am beginning to suspect that Bali not only originated a unique approach to engineering and construction, but could well be leading the world in its implementation. For months I have examined how things work here, from aerosol nozzles that squirt sludge to whole villas where nothing works as it should. I now believe that [...]

JAKARTA The national government is considering proposals to block internet sites that are deemed to violate “public decency” and privacy, provoking a barrage of criticism from bloggers and web users. Fresh from a round of film and book bans, the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is now turning its sights on the internet in [...]

JAKARTA A statue depicting US President Barack Obama as a boy was removed this week from a park in the capital. The two-metre bronze was removed from Menteng Park on Sunday and taken to nearby Menteng One primary school, which Obama attended in the late 1960s, vice-principal Akhmad Solikhin said. “Workers hired by the school, [...]

JAKARTA Guided by a Scottish-born convert to Islam, a group of devout Indonesian Muslims is shunning “worthless” paper money in favour of gold and silver coins for their daily transactions. The followers of Sheikh Abdalqadir as-Sufi – born Ian Dallas – trade goods like food, medicine, clothes and phone cards with gold dinars and silver [...]

SECOND IN A TWO-PART SERIES ON INVESTING IN BALI By Daniel O’Leary In terms of the legal system in Indonesia, the three most commonly used services in the legal profession are provided by notaries (notaris), lawyers (pengacara) and legal consultants (konsultan hukum). A notary is required to hold a bachelor’s degree in law (SH), a [...]