Ubud Bali
This is the second part of my Bali blog post! The first post was all about where we stayed and what we did in Seminyak. I'm going to talk about Ubud in this post! Christian and I booked our transport from Seminyak to Ubud through our first resort. It probably would have been cheaper to take a taxi, but we did this because of convenience since we knew the driver. It took us about an hour to get to Ubud, but that was because there was a lot of traffic at that time.
Ubud is often known to be the cultural heart of Bali: with museums, markets, and shops selling wood carvings, antiques, paintings, jewelry and so much more. There are amazing cafes and restaurants, with rice terraces all over the place! Ubud has gotten a lot more popular over the years, and has become quite touristy. Even though Ubud was packed with tourists, it was one of my favorite places in Bali and had so many amazing things to do, eat and see!
Where We Stayed:
Christian and I booked through airbnb and our villa was FABULOUS! We stayed at Villa Pecatu which is in a very central location in Ubud. Our villa was absolutely breathtaking with a beautiful bathroom, canopy bed and a pool we only shared with a couple other guests. We were immediately welcomed with fruity drinks and had breakfast brought to us every morning! This was my favorite place we stayed, and it only cost us $45 a night!
Where We Ate:
Christian and I ate out for every single meal, besides breakfast while in Ubud. We found so many amazing restaurants, and these were some of our favorites:
WHAT WE DID:
Monkey Forest- The first day we arrived in Ubud we decided to relax- so we swam, ate and explored locally. The second day was very exciting because we went to the Monkey Forest! I had seen so much about the Monkey Forest online, and knew it was something we had to visit while we were in Bali. It cost us around $7 for both of us to get in, and it was well worth the cheap ticket price. There were monkeys everywhere! They are very soft and will jump and climb on you which I was very excited for, but Christian was not. Beware, the monkeys will try to steal things right off of you. Two monkeys tried to get in my bag, and while I tried to shoo one off it bit my arm! Luckily it was just a little nibble and it didn't break skin.
The Yoga Barn- Yoga was one of the main things I wanted to do while I was in Bali, but with the moped accident, I only got to go to one class since I was very sore the rest of the days. I took a vinyasa class at The Yoga Barn and it was such an amazing experience. The class was held at the main building, and it felt like you were in a tree house in the middle of the jungle. In the middle of our practice a thunderstorm came rolling in and it was one of the coolest experiences I've ever had!
Campuhan Ridge Walk- Christian and I also walked the Campuhan Ridge Walk, which we highly recommend because the views are spectacular! There are trees, hills and rice terraces everywhere, and if you walk long enough you will end up at some restaurants and huts to grab a refreshment. We also found a cute swing tied to a tree, which in pictures can make it look like you're high up in the air! After the walk, we shopped at all the shops on the main road right there and made our way to the Ubud Art Market. There were so many cute things at the market, but I definitely felt that it was more expensive than some of the other shops because it is a tourist destination.
Tegallalang Rice Terrace- I knew we had to go to the Tegallalang Rice Terrace because of the amazing pictures I had seen. The views are a million time better than I had ever imagined! The rice terrace is HUGE and so fun to explore and walk through. I decided to ride one of the swings which cost 50,ooo rupiah (around $3.50 U.S.). It was a pinch me moment when I realized I was swinging in a beautiful rice terrace in BALI! There are also amazing shops and restaurant all around the terrace, and I bought my favorite dress for only 100,000 rupiah ($7.00 U.S.)! The rice terrace isn't far from the center of Ubud, and we ended up taking a cheap taxi there.
Hiking Mount Batur & Natural Hot Springs- The last day we were in Bali, Christian and I decided to hike Mount Batur which is an active volcano on the northeast side of the island. We woke up at 1 a.m. to catch our driver at 2 a.m. and it took us about an hour and a half to get there. We hiked the volcano which was quite a workout, and got to watch the sunrise from the top! After we watched the sunrise and hiked to the crater, we climbed to the bottom and took a shuttle to the Mt. Batur Natural Hot Springs. The hot springs felt like bath water, and we had such an amazing view of Danau Batur lake.
