Two crater lakes side by side in an old volcanic caldera, seen from the ridge.
From the ridge-top viewpoint, Lakes Buyan and Tamblingan sit side by side below you, split by a thin strip of jungle. Forested slopes fall away toward the water, and on a clear morning you can take both lakes in a single sweeping frame. It's a quick, easy stop right off the road as you climb into the north.
The lakes fill part of an ancient volcanic caldera, ringed by densely forested highland ridges. It's cool, quiet, and green up here - a different Bali from the coast, closer to cloud forest than beach. The scale of the basin only really lands once you're looking down into it from the rim.
This is highland Bali, so the air is noticeably cooler and the light changes fast. Come early and the view is at its clearest; as the day warms, mist rolls in off the water and softens everything to grey-green. A light layer is worth having - it's a beautiful, unhurried first stop on the way north.