Sidemen travel guide

Sidemen is a valley in east Bali where rice terraces climb towards Mount Agung and tourism has arrived gently enough to remain a guest. It offers the scenery people cross the world for, without the queue to photograph it.

Where it is

In Karangasem regency, inland from the east coast, about ninety minutes from the airport. Agung fills the northern skyline whenever the cloud allows.

The valley

Terraced rice in every direction, worked daily and reached by lanes and footpaths rather than viewpoints with turnstiles. Walks leave from any guesthouse door. The villages weave songket and endek cloth on hand looms, and the workshops welcome visitors who knock.

The character

Guesthouses and a few small lodges scattered among the fields, warungs rather than restaurants, ceremony as a fact of the calendar rather than a show. Evenings are early, dark and loud with frogs.

Who it suits

Walkers, painters, honeymooners fleeing schedules, and anyone whose ideal Bali is agricultural rather than curated. Travellers needing coffee options and coworking should stay in Ubud and visit for the day.

What we have not verified

Guiding rates for valley and Agung treks vary by season and route. Verified figures will appear dated, on rule pages.