East Bali offers a different impression from the southern plains. It is a quiet country of authentic remains of old kingdoms, of ancient Bali Aga villages and secluded communities, where elegant customs, dress and ritual remain vital daily live. The town of Karangasem, now called Amlapura, is reached by driving east-ward from Denpasar through Gianyar and Klungkung. East of Klungkung landscapes are still blackened by the lava streams of the ‘63eruptions of Mt. Agung that destroyed and isolated one fifth of the island. Next you will visit the Scared Goa Lawah, the Bat Cave, with thousands of vibrating bats on its wall; you will pass the colourful outrigger pros that line the shore of Kusamba fishing village; Tenganan, an ‘Original’ Balinese community surviving from pre-Hindu times; and then after crossing the widest of lava streams, you enter the district capital of Amlapura to visit the Puri Agung and mooted water palace (which was heavily damaged by the eruption).