Bali: Exploring Ubud and Surroundings

Bali had never been on our list of places to visit. But when our children returned from their scuba diving holiday to Bali and shared their experiences, we knew we had to do a trip there. And we made one 3 months later.

Travel for us is not just about ticking off the main tourist attractions. While seeing the key attractions is important, it is also about taking in the environment, experience some of the local culture, doing some physical activities and experimenting with food. So we did not want the trip to be hectic and cramp a lot of things into it. And we wanted to avoid going to the usual tourist places as much as possible. Instead, our plan was to base ourselves in an area of interest and then spend time exploring its surroundings at a slow pace over several days. So we did a 2 weeks long trip 🙂.

As far as the main areas we wanted to do, we decided to skip the “party-scene” areas (Kuta, Seminyak and Canggu) completely. The four areas that we decided to base ourselves and explore the areas around where Ubud, Amed, Nusa Penida and Uluwatu. At each of these places, we stayed for several days thus allowing us to pace the exploration as per our likely.

Trying to covere the highlights of all these places into one blog post would be too much. And trying to shorten the content would be an injustice to them. So I am going to have separate blog posts for each of them. Finally, I am also going to recommend an itinerary based on our experience, which I hope will help you, in case you decide to do a trip to Bali.

This particular post is going to cover Ubud and the places and things that we did while based in Ubud. By the way, Ubud was not the first place we visited in Bali. Instead it was a small village called Blimbingsari around the north west part of Bali. We spent two nights there. You may be wondering what were doing there and why I am not including it in the post. Well, the primary purpose of that was for birding, something I do on all my trips. I will cover it in a separate post later.

Well, back to Ubud. Ubud is considered the vibrant cultural heart of Bali. Imagine dense rainforests, waterfalls, terraced rice fields and ancient hindu temples. And that is what Ubud is and more! There were lots of things that we wanted to do around Ubud. And some of them involved travelling a reasonably long distance. So we spent 5 nights in Ubud to help us to do all of them at an easy pace. Here are the highlights of the places that we chose to visit.

Ubud Palace

The first place we visited in Ubud was the Ubud Palace. We reached pretty earlier in the morning. In fact, a little too early; it was not yet open when we got there. So we “got” to spend time exploring the outside of the palace for some time 😁.

When you hear the world “palace”, you may imagine a huge structure and sprawling grounds around it. Well, it is not like that at all. It was small. But it was well maintained and aesthetic. Well worth a short visit. Take a look at some pictures from inside the palace complex.

Saraswati Temple or Water Palace

This is very close to the Ubud Palace. Here is the entrance to the palace.

To enter the place, you need to wear a sarong and head gear. They give them both at the entrance after you have bought the ticket. And since it was early in the morning, there were hardly any visitors beside us; just the way we like it 😊.

Taman Ayun Temple

This temple served as a place for the royal family to pray and conduct important rituals. And hence it has real cultural and historical importance for Bali. We combined the visit to it on our way to catch the sunset at Tana Lot. And it was worth the visit. At this temple, you will need to wear the sarong. You get this once you have purchased the ticket. Here are some pictures from our visit:

Tana Lot

This is a temple at the coast. The temple itself is located on a large offshore rock And it becomes accessible at low tide. Our main interest was however the area on the main island and the famed sunsets. So we timed our arrival to match with this expectation. And boy were we rewarded to a stunning one! Here are some photos just after the entrance:

Here is the Tana Lot temple shot from a distance.

And here is the spot that we chose to wait for the sunset from.

Here is how the sunset began:

It was then time to “play around with the sun” 😁.

And finally we got the views that we had hoped to catch 😍

And the sun finally said goodbye for the day.

Git Git Waterfall

Nobody visits Ubud and misses going out to waterfalls. And there are plenty of them around Ubud. But one can expect plenty of people if you go to the ones near Ubud. And that is why decided to skip the “usual suspects” and instead head to ones somewhat far away. The first one we went to was Git Git. You will need to hire a vehicle for this. The advantage of going here is that there will be hardly any people at the waterfall. Plus you also get to do a bit of a hike to reach it from the main parking. Here are some photos from our visit:

Handara Gate

It is actually an entrance to a golf course and a resort. But it is a very “instagram-worthy” location. And once we went to it on our way back from Git Git waterfall, we could see why. It has the iconic gate structure and is set against lush greenery. But there were already a lot of people.

When inquiring at the ticket counter, we were told that the wait for our turn to get photos would be atleast 1.5 hours. We had not mentally prepared for this long a wait. Hence we decided to skip it. But if you have the time, I think it will be worth it.

Ulun Danu Beratan Temple

This is major temple set on the shores of a lake. The setting is grand with an large expansive garden and ground around it. But tt is also a very popular spot with tourists. So be prepared for lots of visitors; bus loads actually. That is what we met with it. But given the expanse of the place, it does not feel that crowded. Here are some photos from there.

Leke Leke Waterfall

Now this waterfall takes some effort to get to. From the parking, you have to trek down to it. And remember, the way that goes down must come up on the return 😁. The waterfall itself was not majestic. I am guessing it might have more water post the rains.

Jatiluwih Rice Terraces

Vising a rice terrace field is one of the key activities that most tourists do in Bali. And when in Ubud, most people do so by visiting the Tegalalang Rice Terraces as it is not far from Ubud. But we chose not to do. I mean, why do so when one has the opportunity to visit the “mother of rice terraces”, Jatiluwih! It is massive and sprawling in size. It goes on till your eyes can see, almost! If you are not short of time and do not mind the extra travel, we would recommend going here instead. Here are some pictures from our visit:

Campuhan Ridge Walk

This is a nice walking trail in the town itself. It is easy to do for all people. There were a reasonable number of people who were walking and jogging. We went there on two mornings. It is a good way to start the day 🙂.

Walking Around Town

Just walking around town is also a good way to explore. This is something that we always try and do when visiting new places. Walking was what we chose to do to get around to places of interest within the town itself. I would strongly recommend it. The roads and food paths are nicely paved and easy to walk on. And many a times, especially at night when the roads can pretty packed, walking is the best way to get around. One can also get to see and take some cute pictures, like the one below:

Some Restaurants We Liked

We love trying out the local cuisine as well as different restaurants in our travels. And Ubud has plenty of good ones for everyone, including vegans. Here are a few that stood out for us among the ones we went to.

Sun Sun Warung

We went here without reservation for dinner. We had to wait for roughly 15 minutes. But their queue system is well organised. The place is quite big and set in a traditional setting. The dishes we had were outstanding. Just thinking of the Crispy Duck gets my mouth watering even now. Not to be missed!

This is Bali

This was a very popular place when we went. Reservation is a must here. You may need to make one a day in advance. And the experience was worth it. They also give some card game to play while you wait for your order to arrive.

Murni’s Warung

A place with good food and a view! We went here for lunch on a weekday. Hence getting in was easy. It is pretty old establishment. It has several floors. We went decided to go down a couple of floors. And the views were great. I recommend you do the same too. And their main dishes were excellent. The Pork Spare Ribs and the Nasi Campur were excellent.

Layana Warung

Another restaurant with good food and great views; this one had the view of a waterfall.

Blend Cafe

If Smoothie Bowls are your thing, then this is an excellent place to visit. Be warned. The Smoothie Bowls look so pretty that you would not want to mess it up by eating them 😁.

Where We Stayed

There are lots of options to stay in and around Ubud. This includes hotel as well as villas that you can rent. We stayed at a hotel. But one that was not in the busy tourist part. Instead we chose one which was still in town but not in the thick of the action. This meant that we got the best of both worlds; easy access to the happening places as well as peace and quite in the evenings. The happening places were all at a walking distance. This also meant we got access to good facilities and a good view. They even serve you a floating breakfast in the pool, if that is something you want to try 😃. Here are some pictures from our room balcony: