Blissful Ubud in Bali

Ubud in Bali was a destination we were really excited about. It is regarded as the cultural center of Bali as well as a destination with many health and wellness focused restaurants, spas, and yoga studios. While the population of Indonesia is predominantly Muslim, Bali is an exception where the majority of people identify as Hindu.

Our time in Ubud was unfortunately cut short from the get go by the delay of our tour of Ijen prior to coming to Ubud. After we arrived a day late, I woke up in the morning with a bad stomach bug. Luckily it passed after a day but we missed a day of exploring because of it. Unfortunately Rob then came down with the same bug about 36 hours later so we both had the pleasure of experiencing the infamous “Bali Belly.” We may have actually had contaminated food or drinks before we arrived in Bali – who knows.  Below are some of the things we did enjoy in Ubud once we were both feeling well. 

The Monkey Forest

The Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary is located in bustling downtown Ubud. About 1,060 wild Balinese long-tailed monkeys live in the 27-acre protected forest area, which is also home to three Hindu temples. When visiting you can see the temples but access inside is reserved for those entering to pray. The philosophy of the forest is to promote harmonization of humans’ relationship with the Supreme God, harmonization of humans’ relationship with humans, and harmonizing the relationship between humans and their environment.  

The forest has a network of walking trails and foot bridges that meander through the lush property and you can see monkeys playfully enjoying their forest and freely climbing all over the trees and temples. The monkeys are fed sweet potatoes, bananas, and corn by their caretakers. Visitors can also purchase bananas to feed the monkeys directly but are not supposed to feed them anything else.

The monkeys are well fed and seem quite happy in this environment and at peace with the huge amounts of people who visit their home each day. We saw monkeys climb on a few people’s heads but they mostly keep their distance unless you have food. Their distinctive facial fur gives them a resemblance to little old men. Rob thought they looked like Bob Weir. The forest was crowded when we were there as I imagine it usually is, but it is definitely worth the time and admission fee to visit. The monkeys are highly entertaining to watch.

Tegalalang Rice Terrace

We rented a scooter from our hotel and drove to the Tegalalang Rice Terrace, a hillside with lush greenery and rice paddies that was probably once a true farming area but is now a popular spot for tourists to walk around taking photos among the beautiful scenery. There are paths that wind up and down the terraced landscape just off the main highway. Along the paths there are many staged photo-opp spots and numerous big swings you can ride for a small fee to capture that perfect photo or video swinging above the terraces.

There are also small cafes selling food and snacks along the paths run by the local land owners. We did see some actual farming happening in a few spots within this area but not much. It seemed to be more of a tourist attraction than anything else but it was pretty scenery and good exercise to climb up and down the terraces for a few hours.

Directly across the street from Tegalaland Rice Terrace we discovered a wonderful vegetarian restaurant named by Cafe where we had the most amazing lunch. Their outdoor upstairs patio overlooking the rice terraces was a perfect lunch spot. Rob tried their vegan lasagna, which was made with tofu, eggplant, zucchini, pesto sauce, curry mayo, cashew cream, and vegan cheese. I had their tofu scramble, which was served with delicious sauteed mushrooms and fresh avocado. We both had the Pink Panther smoothies made with passion fruit, pineapple, guava, banana, dragon fruit, strawberry, and moringa. They also had dark chocolate gelato on the menu so we of course had to try that as well. All of the food was heavenly and we were thrilled to just stumble upon such a fantastic restaurant. 

Yoga 

There are so many yoga studios and schools in Ubud. We decided to try out Yoga Saraswati’s beginners yoga class. I had not practiced yoga since we began traveling in late April and I was really missing it. This particular studio has only local Indonesian instructors, which I thought was pretty cool. The class was 90 minutes and with only six people in the class the instructor was able to give each of us a lot of personal attention. It was a great experience and I look forward to hopefully taking a few more yoga classes while in Bali.  

Temples and Waterfalls

We did some research and came up with a route that we wanted to explore to see some Hindu temples and waterfalls all over Bali. We hired a driver and private car for just 700,000 IDR (or around $49 USD) for a full day. The first stop on our temple tour was Tanah Lot Temple, located on the southwest coast of Bali. The 16th century temple is built on top of an outcropping of rocks just offshore. It is reachable by foot only at low tide.  If interested you can read the legend of the temple here.

Significant restoration work has been done to keep the temple from washing away due to erosion. As with most temples in Bali, the public is not allowed to enter Tanah Lot. It is a functioning Hindu temple reserved for those who wish to pray. You can visit to take in the beauty of the temple and its unique construction and setting.

Those who are at Tanah to pray and make offerings are very patient and tolerant of the many tourists around the temple area. This is a very popular temple to visit in Bali and arriving early is probably the best bet if you want to beat the crowds.

The second temple we visited was Taman Ayun Temple, which was built in the 1600’s. This temple has a distinctive style of Balinese architecture and is surrounded by a large fishpond. There is a walkway around the temple complex so visitors can view the temple and grounds since the public is not allowed to enter. We had the pleasure of watching a man go around and distribute little offerings at each of the temple structures inside the complex and he was followed by three curious cats.  

The third Hindu temple we visited was Ulun Danu Beratan Temple, which is located in central Bali in the mountains on the shores of Beratan Lake. This temple is iconic and quite popular to visit so there were of course many, many people there. There are boats you can hire to take you around the temple on the lake as well. The temple looks like it is floating from certain angles due to its position in the lake. The weather was cool and refreshing when we were there, which was a nice change from the southern part of the island where it was humid and quite warm during the day. 

Lastly, we had our driver take us to Nungnung Waterfall, which I had found on Google Maps by looking for waterfalls in the same general area as Ulun Danu Beratan Temple. Bali has many spectacular waterfalls, including Nungnung. To reach the falls we had to climb down around a thousand concrete steps. Once at the bottom a foot bridge led to the stunning waterfall shown in the photo below. There were some other people there but not too many, which was nice. The climb back up the steps to return to the car was a bit of a workout but entirely worth the effort. 

Balinese Farm Cooking School

We found the Balinese Farm Cooking School online and when we saw they offered a vegan option of their farm to table cooking class, we decided to give it a try. They picked us up along with a few other couples in town and drove us out to their organic farm and cooking school, which was located in a quiet village about 45 minutes outside of central Ubud. When we arrived we were given a tour of the farm where they grow all kinds of vegetables, herbs, and spices. We were also given baskets to gather ingredients right from the garden that we would use to prepare our dishes. 

Each pair was given a cooking station and an instructor to guide us in preparing five dishes and a dessert. The cooking school did some of the prep work for us to keep the class moving along. Most if not all the ingredients we used were fresh from their farm. The first dish we made was Gado Gado, a dish of vegetables, tofu, tempeh, and peanut sauce that we had already enjoyed often in Indonesia. The next dish we made was a tasty Sweet & Sour Tempeh. The sauce was made with fresh herbs and spices, including garlic, red chilies, lemongrass, lime juice, and spring onions. Everything was fresh, we used no dried spices at all. 

Next we made a batch of Bumbu Bali, a mixture of ingredients that is used in many traditional Balinese dishes. It involved a lot of chopping and then pounding everything into a paste with a mortar and pestle before cooking it with lemongrass, a salam leaf, and salt. We then used the Bumbu Bali to cook these dishes:

• Berkedel – Basically similar to a corn fritter, made Balinese style.
• Pepes – Mushrooms ground up with Bumbu Bali, coconut milk, and other spices then wrapped in a banana leaf and steamed. 
• Balinese Tempeh Tofu Curry – A rich curry in a coconut milk sauce with tofu, tempeh, carrots, and potatoes. 

For dessert we also had Black Rice Pudding, which the instructor showed us how to make but he actually did all the work. I am happy to report that everything we cooked was delicious and I definitely learned some great tips about the local Balinese cuisine. We made way more food than we could finish so even took some back with us to the hotel. Those in the class who were not vegetarian made a slightly different menu and everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy all the food that was prepared. I look forward to recreating some dishes once we return home.     

Impressions of Ubud

Ubud may be the place with the highest density of tourists we have been to yet on this trip. Ubud’s population is around 75,000 and more than 3 million foreign tourists visit every year. Most of the significant attractions in Bali we went to were quite crowded and the traffic can be highly congested. Somehow the city still maintains its allure. I think that is mostly due to the kindness and friendly culture of the local people in addition to the magnificent ancient temples and natural beauty of Bali. The little offerings that are an important part of Balinese Hindu-culture can be seen everywhere and they always made me smile.

We stayed at Uma Dawa Resort while in Ubud and they treated us like family and took amazing care of us. The hotel is located about a mile north of central downtown Ubud and the beautiful grounds were an oasis from the noise and traffic of the main downtown area.  

Another thing we noticed all over Indonesia but especially in Bali is that they are highly tuned in to Instagram culture and the desire to take travel photos for social media. If you look on Instagram there are a lot of photos of Bali and Ubud in particular. Many places we went to had staged photo-op spots available to use for a small fee and we often noticed people that were extra styled and dressed up just for a day of sightseeing having mini-photoshoots. Often their hired local guides would be the ones playing photographer. I have no idea if these were just regular people taking nice travel photos for themselves or actual Instagram “influencers” but we saw them all over Bali.

Even though it is usually crowded with many tourists, the positives of Ubud far outweigh the negatives in my opinion. I could see how it might not be everyone’s cup of tea but I wish we had had more time there. Ubud is a haven for vegans and vegetarians and we kept running into incredible vegan restaurants just by chance. When we didn’t have stomach ailments we ate very well in Ubud. I would have loved to explore more of the many nature hikes in the area and generally learn more about the Balinese culture, which hopefully we can still do in the near future. Their demeanor and attitude towards life makes me think the Balinese people are doing many things right. They do not seem to get bent out of shape about much. Perhaps someday we shall return to Ubud. I would not rule it out.