You find a lot of Chinese influence the culture of Bali – in the food, in the population and in the ground. Particularly in the North, where much of the food is Chinese in origin. Siobak, a stir-fried pork dish which Singaraja is famous for all over Bali, is basically a Chinese dish adopted into the Balinese cuisine many generations ago. You often find old Chinese coins in the ground – beautiful round metal coins with a square hole punched into the centre. The chinese used them for ballast on the boat journey and for currency when they arrived. And theres a big ethnic Chinese minority in Singaraja. The Chinese has been coming here for centuries.

In the 9th century AD there was a Chinese trading station where the village of Kalibukbuk lies today. In 1995 a group of archeologist started an excavation, on a totally unassuming piece of land, right next to Jalan Damai, the road leading up to Damai. 5 meters down they were rewarded with the find of old terracotta bricks. One of them had a mouth moulded onto it, the mouth of Buddha – they had found the remnants of an old Chinese temple.

It was decided to rebuild it, using the old bricks together with reconstructed ones. They finished a few months back. And here it is, just next to Jalan Damai, 5 minutes from the hotel. Amazing isn’t it? Like a little version of Borobodur.

The crazy thing is, no-one takes any notice of it. There’s no tourists. The villagers don’t seem to bother. Maybe that will change, but for now it is just magical.