Lake Tamblingan, situated in the Northern part of Bali, is one of three twin lakes formed in a large caldera. Its location in the valley makes it slightly cooler than an average Bali destination, yet incredibly beautiful, especially at sunrise. Lake Tamblingan is surrounded by dense rainforest and the settlements around are designated as a spiritual tourism area protected from modern development by the government. Lake Tamblingan is surrounded by many ancient Balinese temples. The many temples surrounding the lake are associated with the ancient Tamblingan civilization. We only looked at one during our trip here and it was Pura Hulun Danu Tamblingan.
What to do at Lake Tamblingan
Photography Enthusiasts
This spot is perfect especially for all of you who love taking your tripod out and capture beautiful landscape photographs. During our visit, there were several photography guides and tours there. Not many people, but you could tell they are getting some long exposure shots there. It is also a popular location for pre-wedding pictures, so don’t be surprised if you see several couples on a photoshoot there.
Trekking
There are a few tours available for treks in this area. We didn’t have the time to try any out, but the area is absolutely stunning. If you decide on a trek here don’t forget your hiking shoes and insect repellent.
How to Get There
We drove our motorcycle from Canggu to the lake. It was an almost 2-hour drive and if you plan on doing the same (to arrive at sunrise), don’t forget to dress warmly. It gets cold up there and you wouldn’t want to freeze as we did!
Set Google maps to take you from your destination to Camp Tamblingan. We set it only to the lake and it gave us a very different location, which made us waste 30 minutes trying to find the right road. There is parking just before the path leading to the lake.
Good to know
We saw a few images of the lake online and all of them with water surrounding the temple. To our surprise, there was no water around the temple so we initially thought we arrived at the wrong location! When, in fact, the water generally only surrounds the temple in December or when it has rained heavily for a few days. So if you have a preference on when you’d like to photograph this location – keep in mind the water levels change.
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