Sidemen & East Bali

About Sidemen & East Bali

East Bali is a different island from the one most visitors experience. There are no beach clubs, no traffic jams on narrow villa streets, no menus in twelve languages. What there is: one of the most beautiful river valleys in Asia, a weaving tradition so labour-intensive that a single cloth takes five years to make, a fishing coast where the volcanic black sand beaches are empty on weekday mornings, and Mount Agung — Bali's most sacred and highest volcano — as a constant presence on the horizon. Sidemen valley is the heart of this region: a patchwork of rice terraces, traditional villages, and small family guesthouses that offer genuine peace. Amed, an hour further east on the coast, has some of Bali's best snorkelling and diving over a coral garden that has largely recovered from the bleaching events of recent years.