Travel Guide Iseh

The picturesque village of Iseh has become world-famous, largely thanks to Anna Matthews' fascinating account in her book The Night of Purnama, translated as "The Night of the Full Moon". The book painstakingly details the night of the cataclysmic eruption of Gunung Agung on March 17, 1963. But there's more to Iseh's story than its place in literature. The village was also home to Walter Spies, a renowned German painter who chose to settle here in 1932. Bathed in the enveloping morning light, he masterfully captured Iseh's sublime landscapes, particularly the enchanting views across the rice paddies. The village's artistic legacy was later perpetuated by the Swiss painter Théo Meier, who took over, living in the same house as Spies.