Mads Lange’s Tomb: Kuta Bali

One of the smaller places of interest in Bali is the tomb of Danish trader Mads Lange. For people not familiar with the Kuta / Tuban area, this monument takes a bit of finding. This afternoon I typed the co ordinates from my map book into the GPS and ended up at Supernova supermarket. Frustrated with the result, I asked a local who directed my in Bahasa Indonesia, south down Jl. Blambangan, hanging a left at Jl. Tuanlangga. Just around the corner was Mads Lange’s tomb. The reason my GPS was off was the symbol for the tomb was miss-located in the map book. It actually lies next to the river.

The shady cemetery is all home to a dozen or so other graves, most with Chinese names. The tomb of Mads Lange looks like some kind of Javanese dessert, a black and white stone pyramid, dominating the area.

Entry to the tomb is via a side gate, there is no admission fee, no guide or other information. It takes only 10 minutes to check the place out, and was cool for me as Mads Lange was one of the very first westerners to live in Bali and one who had a huge impact. To mark the 200th anniversary of his birth which will be September 18th 2007, an organizing committee has been arranged consisting of representatives from Malaysia, Singapore, Brasil and Denmark. There will no doubt be a special ceremony at the site on this date. If you want to visit Mads Lange’s tomb and really can’t find it, here’s an easy way. Driving north on the Bypass from Nusa Dua to Kuta, about 1.5km north of the airport on the left side you’ll see a huge red and yellow sign saying SURF FACTORY OUTLET. If you pull in there and park, the tomb is a 200 meter walk from there, heading back 100 meters and going into the small lane 100 meters. The co ords for Mads Lange’s tomb are:

08 43 42S
115 10 45E