With its comfortable accommodations, wonderful fresh fruit and vegetables, lakeside views, blankets of fog, beautiful mystical quality, and an average temperature of 18-24° Centigrade, Bedugul has been a popular weekend retreat since Dutch times. It's a welcome change from Bali's tropical humidity.
Serene Lake Bratan fills the ancient crater of long-inactive volcano Gunung Catur, which towers over the lake. Over 1,200 meters above sea level, Bedugul is nearly as cool as the Gunung Batur region only 20 impassable kilometers directly to the east. The cool ride up to this valley through terraced mountain vegetable gardens of cabbage, onion, and papaya is even more scenic than the ride to Penelokan.
Across the lake are three 25-meter-deep caves (Goa Jepang) dug out by Indonesian slave laborers for the Japanese during the war. It is said that after the caves were constructed the workers were all shot. The caves are accessible from the rim trail to Gunung Catur. You can walk there from Taman Rekreasi in about 45 minutes.
Don't pass up the beautiful hikes along the exquisitely cultivated lakeshore and through the steep, jungle-covered rolling hills and pine forests surrounding the lake. Bedugul and the mountains around it start to cloud over in the afternoon. Overcast skies or rain cause the area to become severely cold (down to 11° C at night), so bring a sweater.
It's really crowded here on holidays and weekends and during the vacation season, 20 December to 5 January. At other times, the lake is a quiet refuge nearly devoid of tourists both domestic and foreign. Along the pier in front of Hotel Bedugul are moored boats of every size and description. Powerboats stand ready to pull water-skiers and parasailors around the lake, or you may hire a small 'perahu' and paddle around the placid waters under shady trees, and glide through reflections of steep mountain slopes and fleecy clouds. Lake swimming is chilly, but early in the day when the sun's out the waterskiing on the lake's glassy surface is enough to attract international competitions. |
