Ubud, Bali

Om Swastiastu from Ubud, Bali!

After a 2 hour flight from Singapore, we arrived at the Bali DPS airport late at night. We hopped into a cab that took us to our first stop in Ubud, Bali. It was dark out when we were flying, and it is super dark now, so I have no idea what this place is going to look like when we wake up!

It was after midnight when we arrived at the Inata Hotel, and there was no one around. The hotel was indoor/outdoor, with the office being outside, but no one was in said office. We walked around and called out but no answer. So we decided we would just sleep on the outdoor furniture and deal with the situation in the morning. As soon as we were getting settled onto the couch, we heard movement, and realized the front desk person was sleeping out here too! I had Seth go wake him up and get us into our room. I hope this isn’t setting the tone for this trip!

Ubud Sacred Monkey Forest

We woke up early, ready to explore as much as we could! Later today we were moving to another city in Bali. We were a 2 minute walk from the Ubud Sacred Monkey Forest, so that’s where we were starting. It was about $6 to get in, and so worth it. There are trails and bridges through this big beautiful forest, and everywhere you look you can see monkeys jumping from tree to tree, or a family of monkeys sitting along a wall, also people watching. Big, beautiful, and intricate temples and shrines are dotted through the forest crawling with monkeys. There are rules posted throughout the forest, and the one that got me the most was the “do not look the monkeys in the eye” rule (it is a sign of aggression), and I swear every monkey was eyeballing me, just daring me to make eye contact!

To Trust or Not to Trust

After exploring the monkey forest, we made our way back to our hotel to check out. We were standing out front with all of our bags, trying to figure out if we could store our stuff somewhere, or if we would be exploring with said bags. As we were doing some research, a gentleman pulled up and asked if we needed some assistance. We told him our current debacle, and he offered to take us to see the sights, and we could throw our stuff in the trunk. After deciding on a price for our private tour, we were off! We were a little skeptical of trusting this man. Was he really going to show us the sights? Or take us somewhere and steal all of our stuff and sell us on the black market?!

This is where my mind usually goes. Normal. Turns out, this was one of the best decisions of our trip. Our tour guide was so nice, informative, and extremely trustworthy.

Rice Paddies

The first stop on our Ubud, Bali tour was the infamous rice patties! We stopped by the Tegalalang Rice Terrace. You can pay a small fee to go gallivant around them, but we were pressed for time today, so we stopped along the side of the road and got out to soak up the views. The rice patties are beautiful, and I highly recommend stopping to explore when you are here!

Save the Elephants!

Next up is an elephant sanctuary! Our driver told us that the people of Bali are actually trying to save and rescue all of the elephants in need, but there are some places in town that have been bought out from non-locals and they are offering lower prices to get more crowds in, but are not treating the elephants how they should be. The place he took us is known for their exceptional care of these magnificent creatures. It is called Mason Elephant Park and Lodge, and is Asia’s first certified park. This place is huge! As it should be. Walking in, we noticed lodging. You can sleep here with the elephants?! Definitely next time. 

We followed signs that said we could feed them, and came up to a line of elephants patiently waiting for a bowl of snacks. We picked up our bowl and fed them! It was such a cool experience. They wrap their trunks around your hand, and sniff all over your arms. It was a little scary at first. These are huge creatures! But looking in their eyes, you realize they are just big cuddle monsters. They gave me and Seth hugs and played with my hair. I could have stayed here all day. It was actually hard to say goodbye. We both got pretty emotional leaving here. I want to rescue and love them ALL!

Luwak Coffee

After our adventures with the monkeys and elephants, I was in serious need of a pick me up. Our driver recommended we try Luwak Coffee. What is that you ask? Oh it’s just a typical blend of POOP COFFEE. Yeah that’s right. Poop.

Basically, a civet (an Asian Palm Civet to be exact), which kind of looks like a ferret, eats these little cherry looking coffee beans and poops them out. Someone goes in and picks up their poop, collects the “berries” (of the dingle genus), then washes and roasts them. We were lucky enough to help with the whole process. Then, it was time to try it. I volunteered as tribute. It was surprisingly sweet, a bit nutty, and very mild. It was delicious. I am a cream and sugar coffee drinker, so having this black coffee not be too bitter was a pleasant surprise. Seth thoroughly enjoyed it as well, and we even bought some to bring home! Let it be known that no one we knew was brave enough to try it. Clearly they are missing out.

We were so surprised by Ubud. We only booked one night here because when we thought of Bali, we pictured the beach. Ubud is inland, and close to the airport, so we thought it would just be somewhere to sleep. Boy were we wrong! If (when*) we come back to Bali, we are staying in Ubud for a lot longer. There was so much more to see and explore! 

Come with us to the beach in Bali!..