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The
Bali Handara Kosaido Country Club is an excellent base to explore
Bedugul and the surrounding areas. Bedugul is a small lakeside
village over looking Lake Bratan. It gets quite chilly in Bedugul
so bring a sweater. It can get so cool at night that every room
in Bedugul is reputed to have a fireplace.
At Lake Bratan you can hire motorboats and canoes. Parasailing
and water skiing are also available. If you paddle across the
lake you can see some caves used by the Japanese in WWII. From
there you can also follow a path to the top of Mt. Catur, which
has an old temple at the top Watch out for the
The
Botanical Gardens (Kebun Raya) are located near Bedugul-look for
a huge corn cob which marks the road leading to an entrance to
the gardens. Encompassing 120 hectares the gardens were established
in 1959 as a branch of the Bogor National Botanical Gardens. There
is a large collection of native plants and over 500 specimens
of orchids.
While
in the area you can also visit the Pura Ulun Danu in the town
of Candi Kuning, a Muslim town a few kilometers north of Bedugul.
This lakeside temple is a Hindu/Buddhist temple dedicated to Dewi
Danau, the goddess of water. The gardens are beautifully landscaped
with an abundance of colorful flowers.
Lake Bratan offers water skiing and boating, but is better known
for the Pura Ulun Danu temple. Built on the shores of the lake
at Candikuning, it has eleven tiers of thatched-roof meru as well
as an adjoining Buddhist stupa.
Also perched on the slopes of Mount Batukaru is the small village
of Jatiluwih. Its name means "truly marvelous" and the
view truly is, encompassing a huge region of southern Bali. A
hot spring, Yeh Panes, is located on the road northwards from
Tabanan
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