After Tampaksiring, the road branches. The left fork runs up to the grand palace once used by sukarno while the right fork leads to the temple at Tirta Empul and continues up to Penelokan. You can look back along the valley and see Gunung Kawi from this road, just before yuo turn into Tirta Empul. The holy springs at Tirta Empul are belived to have magical powers so the temple here is an important one. The springs are a source of the Pakerisan River, which rushes by Gunung Kawi only a km or so away.

Each year an inscribed stone is brought from a nearby village to be ceremonially washed in the spring. The inscription on the stone has been deciphered and indicates that the springs were founded in 962 AD. The actual springs bubble up into a large, crystal clear tank within the temple and gush out through waterspouts into a bathing pool. According to legend, the springs were created by the god indra who pierced the earth to tap the elixir of immortality or amerta. Despite its antiquity, the temple is glossy and gleamingly new it was totally restored in the late 60s

Over looking Tirta Empul is the Sukarno Palace, A grandiose structure built in 1954 on the site of a dutch rest house. Sukarno whose mother was Balinese, was a frequent visitor to the island.