SIDEMEN RICE TERRACE

This guide to the Sidemen rice terraces begins with the 1963 eruption of Mount Agung, the volcano framing the valley, and lava flows that by some accounts stopped meters short of Bali's holiest temple. It follows subak, the centuries-old cooperative system Balinese farmers use to share every drop of irrigation water so no one owns it, and the philosophy behind it, Tri Hita Karana, the idea that a good life needs balance between people, the divine, and the land.