Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
GETTING AROUND: NORTH BALI AND THE CENTRAL VOLCANOES
By bemo or bus
Public transport runs regularly along the Singaraja-Gilimanuk road along
the north coast, taking in Lovina, and also the three main southbound roads through the
mountains to Denpasar - from Seririt via Pupuan, Singaraja via Bedugul and Kubutambahan
via Batur. This makes many of the sights in the north accessible by bus or bemo.
By car
You'll need a your own vehicle to explore the scenic back roads.
Gunung Batur and around
Entry to the Batur area is Rp10,000/person, payable at booths on the access roads from Bangli and Ubud -
you'll only pay once, so keep your ticket
On a clear day, no scenery in Bali can match that of the
Batur
area. With its volcanic peaks
and silver-turquoise crater lake, the scale and spectacle of this landscape is unrivalled; so
much so that UNESCO listed it as a geopark in 2012. It was formed thirty thousand years
ago when the eruption of a gigantic volcano created a vast outer caldera that spans 13.5km.
Gunung Batur
(Mount Batur; 1717m) at its heart is still active - wisps of sulphurous smoke
still drift from smaller cones on its slopes. A major trans-Bali road runs along the west side
of the crater rim, affording magnificent high-level views and a side road gives access to the
crater lake,
Danau Batur
, on its floor.
Given the scenery, it's no surprise that this is one of Bali's most popular tourist destinations.
Hundreds of day-trippers come for lunch in the village of
Penelokan
and leave having exper-
ienced little except a wraparound panorama and a sloppy buffet lunch in the many coach-tour
restaurants. Only by stopping overnight in one of the
villages by the lake
can you drink in
the magic of this scenery. It's essential in any case if you want to make the fairly straightfor-
ward sunrise trek up Gunung Batur, Bali's most climbed mountain. Most people stop at
Toya
Bungkah
then recover in one of the nearby hot springs. Nearby
Kedisan
has accommodation
too, and is the departure point for morally questionable boat trips to a Bali Aga cemetery at
Trunyan
. South of Kedisan,
Buahan
is the quietest spot of all, while
Songan
, at the northern
end of the lake, is the start of other hikes up the crater rim.
The one downside to the awesome scenery is that the Batur area has a reputation for
hassle
.
Persistent
hawkers
in Penelokan and aggressive hotel touts make those in Kuta seem re-
laxed, while a local trekking guide cartel makes it almost impossible to climb the mountain
unguided (see
Planning a Gunung Batur trek
)
. Trust us: the remarkable views are worth it.
