THE GUIDE - The Rough Guide to Bali and Lombok - page 309

Toya Bungkah and around
The main tourist village on Danau Batur is TOYA BUNGKAH ; though fairly shabby, it
has the most accommodation around the lake and is the starting point for climbs up Gunung
Batur , as well as a base of the Association of Mount Batur Trekking Guides. It also has a
couple of hot springs for soaking stiff limbs after a walk. About 4km south of Toya Bun-
gkah, Pura Jati , dedicated to the god Wisnu, has some fine carvings. One of the routes up
the mountain starts near here.
Songan and around
At the northwestern end of the lake, 4km beyond Toya Bungkah, the village of SONGAN
is the location of Pura Ulun Danu Batur , not to be confused with the bigger, newer temple
on the crater rim. A ceremony is held here every ten years to honour the goddess of the lake,
involving the ritual drowning of buffaloes, pigs, goats, chickens and geese, all adorned with
gold ornaments. Locals speculate that the floor of the lake is littered with riches from hun-
dreds of years of ceremonies - possibly more, since this is said to be built on the site of a
pre-Majapahit temple. Not many bemos serve Songan and you may end up walking to or
from Toya Bungkah, either along the road or a lakeside track.
Directly behind the temple in Songan, a footpath winds up onto the rim of the outer crater -
you can follow tracks to explore farming villages of bamboo huts. There are some fine views
down to the north coast and back to Abang, Agung and even Rinjani on Lombok. With a good
supply of food and water (it gets hotter the further down you go), the more intrepid should be
able to pick a route down to Bali's north coast to pick up public transport west to Air Sanih
or east to Tulamben - a mini-adventure that's quicker than the long return via Singaraja.
From the junction in central Songan, a scenic road runs for 26km around the base of
Gunung Batur to Penelokan via the small village of Yehmampeh . It takes you past Pura
Bukit Mentik , known as Lucky Temple because lava from the 1974 eruption surrounded it
but caused no damage. By serendipity, the lava fields are now mined as building stone and
sand, ferried from the area by a steady procession of trucks.