Sidemen is a rather large village in Karangasem, Bali in the foothills near the extremely active volcano Gunung Agung. It is largely a farming community, growing rice and peppers. It is much cooler and the weather can be a welcome relief from the hot and humid Bali climate. Much of it is reminiscent of ‘Old Bali’ tourism not making as large a footprint here in the green hills.
When I first came and stayed here, I met Wira. Wira is very industrious and has turned his family compound into a homestay business. There were two rooms that first time. Now there are four on his compound, six more in the rice fields near his compound that his family owns and another three in what used to be Wira’s pig farm. The pig farm didn’t work out, the pigs ate all the money, but Wira was not daunted. Wira is an embodiment of the old adage fail and fail again until you get it right.
All images available high resolution and without watermarks for reproduction. Please enquire for usage rights.
Copyright 2019: The Mouse & The Elephant, Daniel S. Vaughn.