Ubud
I found it impossible not to fall in love with Ubud. Surely, this is partially because I left Java in such harsh conditions. By the time I got to Ubud, I hadn’t showered or really slept in 3 days and my skin and hair were covered by a thick layer of dust from Bromo, sulfur smoke from Ijen and sea salt from the ferry crossing. So getting to a super touristy place like Ubud that has all the comfort tourists might want (hot showers!!) was a blessing.
But there is more to Ubud than that. Ubud is a charismatic town surrounded by rice fields. The entrance to every home is framed with little statues and ornamented with flowers. So every household in the city looks like a temple. In fact, the interior courtyard of every home in Ubud has a temple. The streets smell like incense and people put flower offerings on the sidewalk, the food is fantastic as usual, and massages are being offered at every street corner. Ubud is also a very cultural and creative town. There are countless art galleries and every night there are 5-6 performances of Balinese singing and dancing.
My favorite pastime in Ubud was to take a walk through the rice fields just outside of Ubud. It was my first time to really see rice fields and it was hard to believe how intense their greenness is. I spent hours just walking through them and observing the farmers. And because Ubud is such a touristy place, people have started building cafes in the middle of the rice fields. So I just sat there on the veranda, read a book on a lounge chair, and stared out into the green. Very relaxing! (and nothing like the hectic traffic in Java…)
One day I also took a bike ride outside of Ubud. I stopped at a place where one could do coffee tastings. I enjoyed the experience and really liked their coconut coffee. It’s there that I also tried the famous kopi luwak coffee. The beans of this coffee were eaten by luwaks (cat like animals) and people collect them from their feces. They then process them and make luwak coffee out of it. It is apparently a very exclusive coffee and a delicacy. As a coffee lover, I had to try it! It was very strong and smooth coffee that tasted a bit earthy. It was worth the try but it wasn’t my favorite.
There is also a monkey forest in Ubud. It’s a forest where there are temples and hundreds of monkeys. The monkeys are very friendly to humans, but fearing that they would steal something from me, I kept a respectful distance. The forest by itself is like a place in a fairy tale. There are overgrown statues, carved stone bridges and shrines all over the forest. The monkeys jump from statue to statue or sit on top of them to watch tourists.
Finally, I also went to see a performance in Ubud. It took place in a temple and the setting was very intimate. About fifty men were sitting on the ground around a fire chanting. Various performers then danced around the fire. When watching the performance one really felt part of a tribe in some mystic place. For the second part of the performance, they lit a fire in the middle of the stage and a man performed some kind of trance like dance and kept kicking the fire. The atmosphere was really intense as everyone in the audience watched this man getting burnt over and over again. Although I was already pleased with the Ramanaya ballet in Yogya, this one was at a totally different level. It felt truly magical.
It was hard to leave Ubud. I could have easily stayed a month there. Ubud is mainly a Hindu place and the religion is very much present. I loved how much attention people payed to every little detail and all the ornaments they added to their daily life. It’s definitely a place I will return to.
View more images here.
Practical Info:
I payed 150,000 for a taxi from Densapar to Ubud. I first stayed at the Lecuk Inn for 200,000 a night. Although the place was fine and got many amazing reviews from others (including the lonely planet), I felt that it had gotten too popular. It was more expensive than other places and people weren’t that friendly. I then moved to the Arjana home stay just across the street. The setting was similar, slightly nicer, but the people were so friendly. They brought us coffee every time we sat on the veranda. I payed 150,000 including breakfast. Various agencies will be happy to book you a fast boot from Ubud to Gili Meno including the transportation to the boat. I payed 400,000 for one way.