Published
The royal water garden inland from the north-east coast, why the first hour after opening is the only one worth having, and what Mount Agung left behind in 1963.
Almost everything that draws people to this coast faces the sea. Tirta Gangga runs the other way, inland and uphill, where the water comes out of the ground instead of onto the sand. It sits just north of Amlapura, past Amed, where the land starts to climb.
What it actually is
Tirta Gangga is a water garden rather than a palace, whatever the name suggests. The last raja of Karangasem built it in the 1940s around a spring the villages still draw from. What stands now is a set of terraced pools, a tiered stone fountain, carved figures in the water, and paths that run out across the ponds.
Go at opening
By mid-morning the car park is full and the stepping stones across the koi pond become a queue. Arrive when the gates open and the first hour is close to empty. The light is better then too, low and sideways across the water, before the heat flattens the colour out of everything.
The stones and the carp
The stepping stones sit barely above the surface and stay wet in places, so take them slowly. The pond underneath is thick with carp that rise wherever someone stops. Beyond the ponds the garden climbs in terraces, and most people turn back before the top, which is where the quiet is.
Mount Agung is part of it
The gardens were wrecked when Mount Agung erupted in 1963, and much of what you walk through is a rebuild. It is worth knowing as you go round. The same mountain that sits on the horizon from the black sand at Tianyar shaped this place as well, and the rice terraces above the garden still run up towards it.
Making a morning of it
This is a half day, not a quick stop. The road inland winds through rice terraces, and there are warungs near the entrance for a late breakfast on the way back. We do not run tours ourselves, but a driver for the morning can be arranged through us if you would rather not ride.
VELA Tianyar is a small oceanfront tented camp on the north coast, and a quiet base for the trips east along it.
