Ubud (Bali)

My husband and I visited Ubud while we were in Bali on our honeymoon, and I really loved it. The streets are lined with little shops selling jewelry, wood work (we got some beautiful little teak bowls), textiles, etc, and it was chock full of people.

I really enjoyed the fast pace of it - compared to rural Bali, where time seems to exist differently than in the West, Ubud was full of action. However, this blessing was also, in some ways, a curse, because the high density of tourists meant that there were young Balinese men on every corner asking whether you needed transport, and wouldn't you like to hire a motorbike?

Geographically, Ubud is pretty much right in the middle of Bali - therefore there are no beaches. Inland Bali is mountainous (Volcanic, really) and gorgeous, though; our villa overlooked a valley with a stream in it, with rice paddies decorating the slopes of the hills.

Ubud is the arts and crafts capital of Bali, so in addition to tourist wares, there are a number of different galleries and museums to visit. The city is home to one of the four styles of Balinese painting (Ubud Style), which is very modern and abstract. However, a twenty minute drive from Ubud takes one to the traditional village of Keliki, another seat of Balinese art, where more traditional paintings can be found and bought in the village Brahmin's house.

My husband and I did some shopping while in Ubud (it was a wonderful place to find presents!), and we also went to the Sacred Monkey Forest, which was one of my favourite places we visited during our four-week stay in Bali. It is very accessible, within walking distance of most hotels in downtown Ubud, and easy to visit with a car, as we did.

There are over two hundred macaques in the forest, and it seems like we probably saw nearly all of them when we visited. Many of them were lounging near a small pond in the centre of the main intersection of paths, bathing and playing and teasing tourists.

Bananas are for sale at the entrance, so if you'd like to feed the macaques, supplies are readily available. But watch out! If you leave bananas unattended, the monkeys will come and steal them! We saw two disappointed human faces fall upon the realization that their ownings had been quickly stolen away... One woman nearly lost her camera, too!

My advice would be not to buy anything - the monkeys can tell who has the goods and who doesn't, and they can be fairly aggressive when you have something they want. A sign at the entrance warns vistors not to try to take anything from the monkeys, nor to put up a fight if they take things from you...

In addition to the monkeys, The Sacred Monkey Forest also boasts three of Bali's oldest temples, all of which are beautiful. The main temple, Pura Dalem Agung, is located in the southwestern portion of the main forest area. It is the village temple of Padangtegal, and is the most prominent one in the forest. The craftsmanship with which its wooden doors were carved was amazing, and the statues were really something.

To the northwest, down a long flight of steps and next to the stream, is the Holy Bathing Temple, structured by the "Three Mandala Concept." The Utama Mandala, in the most northern portion, is the area of the Gods. The Madia Mandala, for disciples of the deities, located at the centre and contains the holy pool. The Nista Mandala, on the south side of the bridge, is the bathing place for normal people.

The third temple, Pura Prajapati (funerary of cremation temple), is located on the eastern edge of the main forest alongside a graveyard and statues reflecting the sacred monkeys. The temple statues were, to my western mind, kind of grotesque; gods (or demons) devouring screaming human beings, etc.

Add to that that the forest itself was stunningly beautiful, and it made for an incredible experience. Also, it's extremely budget-friendly, costing 10,000 Indonesian Rupees (approximately 50p) for adults, and half that for children.

I really enjoyed watching the monkeys play, and seeing all of the temples - it felt quintessentially Balinese, and very unique.

After visiting the Monkey Forest, we went to Cafe Wayan (which another Ciao reviewer also mentioned...), where I had some much-needed Western food - a great Greek salad and a piece of 'death by chocolate' cake. It was really good.

We didn't see any of the Legong or Barong dances, as we'd arranged transport with our hotel which made that impossible, but there are a lot of 'traditional' Balinese cultural opportunities in Ubud, too. The dances were accompanied by traditional Balinese music, to which I wasn't really accustomed... they play a xylophone-like instrument made of hollow bamboo poles, which had a scale unlike any I've ever heard before.

In short, if I'm ever in Indonesia again, Ubud is a place I'd be happy to return to! Even though we were there for a few days, there's still a lot we could have seen...