Royal Water Temple Pura Taman Ayun and Cultural Landscape of Bali Province: the S
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
417 km
Riding-time estimate
7 h 10
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
417 km from Mangupura to Mangupura, about 7 h 10 of riding. It goes by way of Subak Landscape of Pekerisan Watershed, Supreme Water Temple Pura Ulun Danu Batur, Subak Landscape of Catur Angga Batukaru and Cultural Landscape of Bali Province: the S. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 800 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Scenic road chapters
Bali Volcano and Rice Terrace Loop
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For 27 km this is Bali Volcano and Rice Terrace Loop, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
Length
27 km
Named road
Bali Volcano and Rice Terrace Loop
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Royal Water Temple Pura Taman Ayun
Pura Taman Ayun means the temple of the beautiful garden, and it is a royal temple surrounded by a wide moat. The rajas of Mengwi built it in 1634, as the main temple of their small kingdom, and the broad lawns, canals and pavilions give it the air of a palace garden as much as a shrine. Across the inner courtyard rise the merus, shrines with tiered thatched roofs of black ijuk fibre, some with as many as eleven levels, which represent mountains and the homes of the gods. The temple lies in the middle of a district of rice fields, and it is part of the Subak cultural landscape that UNESCO listed in 2012, because the water for those fields is managed by village irrigation societies, the subak, which have been sharing it for a thousand years.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Royal Water Temple Pura Taman Ayun is where the day begins. Next is Subak Landscape of Pekerisan Watershed.
2. Subak Landscape of Pekerisan Watershed
Bali's rice terraces look natural from a distance, but they are in fact a machine, an old and delicate piece of social engineering that shares water among thousands of farmers. The Pakerisan river runs south from the volcanic highlands near Tampaksiring, and along its length the fields, canals and temples form a landscape that UNESCO listed in 2012 as part of the cultural landscape of Bali, built on the subak system. Ubud, a sizeable town of twenty-eight thousand people, is about ten kilometres to the south-west.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Subak Landscape of Pekerisan Watershed comes up 33 km in. Next is Supreme Water Temple Pura Ulun Danu Batur.
3. Supreme Water Temple Pura Ulun Danu Batur
The temple stands on the rim of a caldera, and the caldera is vast. Mount Batur, in the north-east of Bali, sits inside a ring of cliffs some ten kilometres across, left by two huge eruptions tens of thousands of years ago, and in the bowl lies Lake Batur, a crescent of dark water. Pura Ulun Danu Batur is the second most important temple on the island, dedicated to Dewi Danu, the goddess of the lake, whose waters feed the springs and irrigation canals that run down the mountains and water the rice fields of the south. For Balinese farmers, this is where the water comes from, and offerings are made here to keep it flowing.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
66 km in you reach Supreme Water Temple Pura Ulun Danu Batur. Next is Subak Landscape of Catur Angga Batukaru.
4. Subak Landscape of Catur Angga Batukaru
Water is the organising principle of Bali, and the subak is how people organise water. A subak is a farmers' cooperative that manages irrigation for a group of rice fields, with its own rules, its own officials and its own temple, and the system has been working for roughly a thousand years. UNESCO listed the Subak Landscape in 2012, with the temple of Pura Luhur Batukaru on the slopes of Mount Batukaru, the terraced fields around Jatiluwih and the lake temple on Lake Batur among its elements. The philosophy behind it is called Tri Hita Karana, harmony among people, nature and the divine.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Subak Landscape of Catur Angga Batukaru, about halfway. Next is Cultural Landscape of Bali Province: the S.
5. Cultural Landscape of Bali Province: the S
Lake Batur lies in the bowl of an ancient volcanic caldera in the highlands of north-central Bali, and from the rim above it the view is unforgettable. The lake is crescent-shaped, with a young black cone, Mount Batur, rising from the caldera floor at about 1,700 metres, still steaming from vents on its flank. The road runs along the crater rim at Penelokan, a name that means the place to look, and on a clear morning the mist lies in the basin like milk in a bowl.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 417 km.
Leg by leg
Royal Water Temple Pura Taman Ayun to Subak Landscape of Pekerisan Watershed
Royal Water Temple Pura Taman Ayun → Subak Landscape of Pekerisan Watershed is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Subak Landscape of Pekerisan Watershed to Supreme Water Temple Pura Ulun Danu Batur
Subak Landscape of Pekerisan Watershed → Supreme Water Temple Pura Ulun Danu Batur is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Supreme Water Temple Pura Ulun Danu Batur to Subak Landscape of Catur Angga Batukaru
Supreme Water Temple Pura Ulun Danu Batur → Subak Landscape of Catur Angga Batukaru is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Subak Landscape of Catur Angga Batukaru to Cultural Landscape of Bali Province: the S
Subak Landscape of Catur Angga Batukaru → Cultural Landscape of Bali Province: the S is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cultural Landscape of Bali Province: the S to back through Subak Landscape of Catur Angga Batukaru
Cultural Landscape of Bali Province: the S → back through Subak Landscape of Catur Angga Batukaru is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Subak Landscape of Catur Angga Batukaru to back through Supreme Water Temple Pura Ulun Danu Batur
back through Subak Landscape of Catur Angga Batukaru → back through Supreme Water Temple Pura Ulun Danu Batur is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Supreme Water Temple Pura Ulun Danu Batur to back through Subak Landscape of Pekerisan Watershed
back through Supreme Water Temple Pura Ulun Danu Batur → back through Subak Landscape of Pekerisan Watershed is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Subak Landscape of Pekerisan Watershed to Royal Water Temple Pura Taman Ayun
back through Subak Landscape of Pekerisan Watershed → Royal Water Temple Pura Taman Ayun is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.