Indonesia - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 272

EATING
Most of the hotels have decent restaurants, notably
Baruna Cottages.
Volcano Breeze Toya Bungkah. On a quiet track down to
the lake, Volcano Breeze offers a selection of Western and
Indonesian dishes from Rp25,000. Daily 8am-9/10pm.

Balinese, and its waters are believed to
percolate through the earth and reappear
as springs in other parts of the island.
Villages sit on the lake's shores - Kedisan
is at the junction where the road from
Penelokan reaches the lakeside and Toya
Bungkah is further north on the western
shore of the lake. Its hot springs, Toya
Devasa (daily 8am-8pm; Rp150,000
including lunch), are clean and attractive,
with a cold-water swimming pool and
smaller hot-water pools.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
By bemo The lakeside villages of Kedisan and Toya
Bungkah are linked by bemo to Ubud and Penelokan.
By bus The main road through Penelokan, Batur and
Kintamani is on the bus route between Singaraja
(Penarukan) and Denpasar (Batubulan). Buses pass
through every 30min-1hr.
Hotel transport Some of the Kedisan accommodation
offers free pick-ups in the area.
By shuttle bus A Perama ( T 0361 750808, W perama
tour.com) charter service (minmum two people) runs
from Ubud (daily; 1hr 30min), Sanur (daily; 2hr) or Kuta
(daily; 2hr 30min).

DIRECTORY
Banks and exchange There's an international ATM in
the car park of the Lakeview hotel, but otherwise it's
di cult to change money, so bring plenty of cash.
Post o ce Just off the main road 2km north of Penelokan.

DANAU BRATAN AND
CANDIKUNING
Neither as big nor as dramatic as the
Batur region, the Danau Bratan (Lake
Bratan) area, sometimes just known as
Bedugul, has impressive mountains,
beautiful lakes, quiet walks and attractive
and important temples. he area
generally caters for domestic rather than
foreign tourists, and is pleasantly cool
compared with the rest of Bali.
Situated at 1200m above sea level and
thought to be 35m deep in places, Danau
Bratan is surrounded by forested hills
and, like Danau Batur, is revered by
Balinese farmers as the source of
freshwater springs across a wide area of
the island. he lake (and its goddess) are
worshipped in the temple of Pura Ulun
Danu Bratan (daily 7am-5pm;
Rp30,000), one of the most
photographed temples in Bali, which
consists of several shrines, some
dramatically situated on small islands that
appear to float on the surface of the lake.
he lake nestles in the lee of Gunung
Catur, on the main Denpasar-Mengwi-
Singaraja road 53km north of Denpasar
and 30km south of Singaraja; no direct
route links it to Batur. here are the
smaller, quieter lakes of Buyan and
Tamblingan about 5km to the northwest,
both worth exploring if you have time.

4

INFORMATION
Tourist information Yayasan Bintang Danu, a local
organization, runs the tourist o ce in Penelokan (daily
10am-3pm; T 0366 51730), almost opposite the turning
down to Danau Batur.

ACCOMMODATION
ON THE RIM
Lakeview T 0366 51394. Right on the edge of the
crater rim in Penelokan, where the main road turns south
away from the rim. All t he rooms ha ve stunning views, hot
water and thick quilts. Rp610,000
Miranda Homestay 100m north of Kintamani market;
all public transport along the rim passes the door; T 0366
52022, W mirandahomestay.com. The rooms are clean
(though rather garish) and have attached mandi and squat
toilet. The owner, Made Senter, is an exper ienced trekk ing
guide. Good-value singles (Rp90,000) too. Rp175,000

BY THE LAKE
Baruna Cottages T 0366 51378, W barunacottages.com.
One of the better lakeside options with spacious, well-
furnished rooms in a quiet compound. Free pi ck-ups from
Ubud (and discounted ones from further afield). Rp400,000
Nyoman Mawar III (also known as Under the Volcano III)
T 0813 3860 0081. Simple, clean bungal ows close to the
lake in Toya Bungkah with fabulous views. Rp200,000

Candikuning
he small village of CANDIKUNING , which
sits above the southern shores of Danau
Bratan, is home to one of the gems of
central Bali, the Bali Botanical Gardens
(Kebun Raya Eka Karya Bali; daily