The best-known Bali Aga village in Bali, inhabited by the original people of Bali who rejected the changes brought about by the Majapahit invasion in 1343, the village of Trunyan and its nearby cemetery at Kuban have now become rather too much of a tourist attraction. Situated in a dramatic position right beside Lake Batur with Gunung Abang rising up sheer behind, there are two main routes to the village: by boat from Kedisan or by footpath from Abang.

The origin of the name of Trunyan is open to some dispute. Some say it derives from taru meaning wood and munyan meaning perfume. refering to the Banyan tree in the cemetery; others claim it derives from turun hyang meaning descendants from heaven. There's no doubt that Trunyan was inhabited in ancient times - ninth-century copper inscriptions refer to the foundations of a temple here and a statue of Bhatara Da Tonta that must be bathed, painted and decorated with jewellery. It's possible this is the four-metre-high statue of Dewi Ratu Gede Pancering Jagat that stands in the village temple today, referred to as Da Tonta by the people of Trunyan.

The village keeps many of the ancient Bali Aga customs, the most notorious being the traditonal way of disposing of the dead, which involves neither burial nor cremation. Bodies are placed in open pits covered only by a cloth and a rough bamboo roof and left to decompose in the air. The banyan tree in the cemetery supposedly prevents the exposed corpes from smelling. Trunyan's tiny cemetery is at Kuban, just north of the actual village, and is accessible only by boat. For many tourists, this is the reason for their visit, but you'll be disappointed if you are expecting mountain of rotting human remains, as the bodies are totally covered by the bamboo roofs and only moved into the open when the pits are full. All you're likely to see are a few artfully arranged bones and skulls, the towering banyan tree and the covered graves.