Our bikes stand ready at the traditional market of Puncak Sari.

This is where locals do their daily shopping for fresh and tasty items as well as being the place to meet friends and neighbors and have a chat. It's the perfect spot to get to know the latest stories of the village.

It’s here that you will meet our friend Ayu, who will offer you the chance to taste all kinds of exotic and tropical fruits. After walking a little further into the market you can see many spices from Bali and the surrounding islands. An aromatic feast for your senses. Maybe you would like to bring back a small souvenir with you - this is an ideal place to browse and find a special keepsake - but don’t forget to bargain the price!

Once we get on the bikes, we'll follow the Buyan lake through strawberry fields and small villages. In these traditional villages the locals share the same spiritual belief: to maintain the sanctity of the lake. This is why the temples were established along the lake to honor the gods.

Step by step we enter more of the dense rainforest with beautiful orchids and macaques which cover the shoreline of Lake Buyan. Here you are surrounded by ancient crater walls, with magnificent trees that give us shade in the heat of the day. There are also ancient and significant temples and the archaeological remnants of the former 10th-century civilization.

At the end of Lake Buyan we are warmly welcomed to visit our fishermen friends that live by the shore of the lake. Every day they paddle out to their fish traps, to find the catch of the day. It is here that we enjoy and learn more about life by the lake, whilst we take a short break and listen to their stories.

At the small Pura Buyan, we stop to show our gratitude to Mother Earth.

At the end of Lake Buyan Bapak Santi and his friends stand ready to paddle us in their traditional Balinese dugout canoes. The stunningly clear lake is calm and almost perfectly still, apart from the soft breeze that sweeps across from time to time, creating tiny ripples upon its surface. A very meditative opportunity whilst appreciating nature and enjoying some rest.

Quite often, you'll see a thin mist rising from the lake which hangs in the air surrounding the temple, giving it a surreal appearance.

We take a short walk through the jungle and arrive at the narrow landstripe that separates the Twin lakes.

Here, our friends from Tamblingan are waiting for us to take us across to the mainland.

Look to the left, and you see the historical and very significant Blacksmith temple:- Pura Pande Catur Lepus.

Famous copper inscriptions from the 10th century keep the memory of a formerly flourishing civilization. From ancient times, the Tamblingan area was home to particularly wise craftsmen, called Pande, who produced the agricultural tools and daily equipment and weapons needed by the inhabitants.

We’ll arrive at Pura Dalem Tamblingan, located on the eastern shore of the lake. Once we are up on the ridge of the crater, a delicious meal is served at the Giri Putri cottages.