Lake Sarangan

Telaga Sarangan sits at around twelve hundred metres in a crater on the eastern side of Mount Lawu, a lake of about thirty hectares with a road running the whole way round it, and it was developed as a hill station in the Dutch period because the altitude gives a genuinely cold climate by Javanese standards - it drops to single figures at night. The circuit is walked or ridden on the horses kept for the purpose, speedboats run on the water, and the shore is lined with hotels, guesthouses and stalls selling grilled corn and sate kelinci. It functions as the weekend hill retreat for Madiun, Magetan and Surabaya and is busy accordingly. The pass road continues over Lawu to Tawangmangu on the Central Java side, a scenic and steep drive.

What you actually see

• A crater lake at 1,200 metres - about thirty hectares with a road right round it.
• Horses for hire - the traditional way round the circuit.
• A Dutch-era hill station - developed for the cold air above the plain.
• Stalls and hotels - the shore given over to the domestic weekend trade.

When to go

May to September; weekdays for space. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Weekends and holidays are extremely crowded. It is genuinely cold at night - bring a layer. The lakeside is fully commercialised. Horse welfare varies and is worth looking at before hiring.

Nearby

Mount Lawu is above; Tawangmangu is over the pass; Magetan is below.