Sixteen kilometers north of Denpasar on the main road northwest to Tabanan (get a 'bemo' from Ubung station) lies Kapal, a ceramics center that produces folksy, gaudily painted red clay articles as well as temple ornamentation and motifs used all over Bali. Stores lining the main street sell everyday, primitive-style ware including vases, satay holders, bowls, ashtrays, drinking flasks, plates, and lamp bases.

All the pieces are thrown on foot-operated potter's wheels. The prices are good, but the ware is brittle because it is unglazed and not very well fired. The best ceramic shop is Jati Agung. Though small, it carries better stuff than even the government ceramics research center in Suwung near Nusa Dua. Find Chinese-style handmade plates, cups and pots-very original designs.

Kapal's numerous roadside shops are also the place to buy gray, volcanic-stone statuary of mythological demons, gnomes, deer, and religious figures such as a brightly painted Buddha statue, all used for embellishing family gardens and shrines. Also sold are such common architectural motifs as balustrades, wall capping, curlicues, and cornerstones.

While in Kapal, visit the unusually decorated and intricately carved Pura Sada, 200 meters south of the main road (turn in at sign near market). Dating from the Majapahit period, this originally was an old dynastic sanctuary for the Mengwi royalty.

Destroyed by the 1917 quake, the original building was restored in 1948-49 by the Archaeological Service with the help of the villagers. The split gateway and the 16-meter-high tiered tower inside the 'pura' are constructed much like the 'candi' of Java.

As on Javanese 'candi', there is a small niche in front for visiting deities during temple celebrations. A big tree stands in the center. Along with a few of the sculptures, only the restored 'candi bentar', with its finely carved decoration and detailed 'kala'-head, is truly ancient.

The split-gate leads to the main courtyard where you'll find another gate to the west leading to the inner court. Here are 16 shrines and 54 stone seats-similar to megalithic ancestral shrines-which commemorate followers of the king who died at sea. The temple is dedicated to Ratu Sakti Jayengrat, the 'Divine World Conqueror'.