Why this ride
From Mangupura it runs 109 km to Mangupura; allow about 1 h 36 of riding. It goes by way of Subak Landscape of Pekerisan Watershed, Supreme Water Temple Pura Ulun Danu Batur and back through Subak Landscape of Pekerisan Watershed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Royal Water Temple Pura Taman Ayun and Supreme Water Temple Pura Ulun Danu Batur
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 109 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 36
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Bali Volcano and Rice Terrace Loop
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 30 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
- 30 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.
Read the complete Royal Water Temple Pura Taman Ayun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
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.
Read the complete Subak Landscape of Pekerisan Watershed write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Subak Landscape of Pekerisan Watershed comes up about 30 km into the recorded legs. 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.
Read the complete Supreme Water Temple Pura Ulun Danu Batur write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 54 km into the recorded legs you reach Supreme Water Temple Pura Ulun Danu Batur. Next is back through Subak Landscape of Pekerisan Watershed.
4. back through Subak Landscape of Pekerisan Watershed
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Subak Landscape of Pekerisan Watershed write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Subak Landscape of Pekerisan Watershed, late in the day. Next is Royal Water Temple Pura Taman Ayun.
5. Royal Water Temple Pura Taman Ayun
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Royal Water Temple Pura Taman Ayun write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Royal Water Temple Pura Taman Ayun. That is the ride.
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 30 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 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Supreme Water Temple Pura Ulun Danu Batur to back through Subak Landscape of Pekerisan Watershed
Supreme Water Temple Pura Ulun Danu Batur → back through Subak Landscape of Pekerisan Watershed is 25 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 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.