Where to stay in Amlapura

The east's royal seat — the water palaces of Tirta Gangga and Ujung, with the Jasri coast below and Mount Agung filling the sky behind.

Amlapura is the working capital of Karangasem, and travellers stay here for what is around it rather than for the town. The two water palaces are the draw — Tirta Gangga with its stepping stones and carp, and Ujung on the coast below — and Lempuyang, whose split gate frames Agung in every photograph you have seen of Bali, is up the hill to the north.

It suits people touring the east who want to be inside twenty minutes of all three, and anyone who would rather stay in a real town than a resort strip. It suits travellers looking for a beach or a scene not at all.

Lempuyang is the one to plan around: the queue for that photograph starts before dawn and runs for hours by mid-morning, and the temple itself is a long climb above the gate. Go first, then come down for the palaces.

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