Ubud is a beautiful traditional town within the Gianyar region, with its bustling streets, sacred temples, surrounding rice fields and monkey forest, it’s a perfect slice of Bali!
Like most travellers, I started off in Ubud as it is close to some of the most famous attractions and hosts a range of amazing places to stay, eat and drink. I stayed here for 4 days and 3 nights at the Pillow Inn - a gorgeous hostel that is a short walk from the main part of Ubud. It cost about £4 a night & the staff were so sweet and helpful: replacing towels and making our beds daily! The hostel also provided three meals a day but we tended to eat out as it was similar pricing & we wanted to see the area! It also had a lovely pool, hammocks and rooftop bar!
During the time I spent in Ubud, my friends and I took short drives (luckily one of my the people who I travelled with had a driver contact from a friend who has visited before but you could get a taxi or rent bikes) to visit the Tegalalang Rice Fields and Tirta Empul.
Rice Fields - what a sight! An amazing experience, the natural beauty of the area was enough! With locally-run fresh juice bars, photo swings and the rice fields themselves, you’re never too far from a gram moment! Photographers get your cameras ready because you’re going to be snapping at every corner.
Cost : 10,000 = 50p
Recommended time spent here : 2hrs
Tips :
🌾 Bring comfy shoes, a lot of walking / steps!
🌾 Little donations are requested for the general running of the fields, so small cash is handy to have.
Tirtu Empul - one of the most spiritual and famous sites in Bali, a must do! Wondering around the ornate temples, plunging into the holy water and listening to group meditations was certainly an experience. So tie on a sarong & get visiting Tirta Empul!
Cost : 15,000 = 75p
Recommended time spent here : 1hr
Tips :
💧 Bring sarong to cover legs, however you can rent from a stall outside the temple. You don’t need to cover your shoulders. However, bring a hair tie as you have to tie your hair up in some parts of the temple!
💧 Bring a change of underwear, just in case you decide to wash yourself in the holy water. Special silk outfits are provided for entering the water but a spare pair of underwear / bikini will save a soggy rest of the day!
Finally, some of my favourite things we did within Ubud town was visit the Sacred Monkey Forest & wander around the markets, sampling and buying the produce and goods!
Monkey Forest - never realised how cute monkeys are before I entered this forest. Now, before I came I knew these monkeys had some bad press but luckily when we went, they were very docile and sleepy. However I did keep an eye out for sneaky grabs at my sunglasses or bag! The forest is stunning, with view platforms, bridges and treetop walkways, amongst statues, hundreds of monkeys and a small gorge walk.
Cost : 50,000 = 2.50
Recommended time spent here : 1.5hrs
Tips :
🙊 I personally wore longer sleeved items of clothing, because if you want those classic ‘monkey on my shoulder’ pictures, it’s safer to stay scratch free if you are covered up a bit more.
🙊 watch out for the rogue monkeys bringing the overall impression down, keep a hand on your bag or wear it on your front, just in case! They’re intelligent creatures & will steal some on trend sunglasses if they want them!
🙊 Refrain from wearing or using metallic items (e.g - drinks can / metallic clothing) , the reflection causes aggressive reactions from the monkeys!
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