Situ Patenggang

Situ Patenggang lies at around fifteen hundred metres in the Ciwidey highlands south of Bandung, set among the Rancabali tea estate so that the plantation runs right down to the water on every side, which is what makes the setting distinctive rather than the lake itself. The name comes from a Sundanese legend: a prince and a commoner girl, separated and searching - pateangan, to look for one another - who found each other at a stone in the lake, Batu Cinta, and whose tears are said to have made the water. A small island, Pulau Sasuka, sits in it, boats and swan pedalos run out, and the tea gardens are walked. The Kawah Putih crater lake and the Rancabali estate are on the same road, and the three are normally done together.

What you actually see

• Tea running to the waterline - the Rancabali estate on every side of the lake.
• Batu Cinta - the stone in the Sundanese love story the lake is named for.
• Boats and pedalos - the local way of using the water.
• Highland cool - fifteen hundred metres, noticeably cold for West Java.

When to go

May to September; mornings before the cloud. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Weekends bring heavy Bandung traffic and the road jams. Entry pricing is tiered and higher for foreigners. Cloud and drizzle are common at this altitude. It is developed with stalls and photo props.

Nearby

Kawah Putih is on the same road; Ciwidey and Bandung are north.