Buddy Adventures in Ubud

Spending two and half weeks holidaying in Bali we racked up quite the experiences and accompanying photo album. First, we hit up Seminyak, and next, we headed into the rice fields and forests of Ubud and beyond.

Driving into Ubud, we stop in Bedulu Village to see Goa Gajah, or Elephant Cave. A UNESCO World Heritage site, it’s a unique spiritual relic for both Hindus and Buddists that features an 11th century cave and bathing temple, that latter only just excavated in the 1950s.

One of the best ways to explore Ubud and its surrounding areas is by scooter. It may seem chaotic, but the rules of the road are very straightforward and surprisingly well followed. You’ll use your horn routinely, and it’s not considered rude, rather it’s a cheery “Hi, I’m just going to let you know I’m about to pass you” sort of thing.

We came across a number of interesting creatures, most popular are the monkeys that inhabit the aptly-named Monkey Forest. They’re entertaining to watch, but also extremely spoiled and cheeky. Be sure to keep a close eye on your belongings.

The critter I was most excited to see was the preying mantis. It joined us for dinner once—which is apparently a very good omen—feasting on its own smorgasbord of moths while hanging out on a chandelier.

Ubud is an ideal place to immerse yourself in Balinese culture. Attending one of the shows is worth it to get a sense of their secular and Hinduism-hybrid legends, and the fire dance wherein a man under a trance repeatedly stomps on burning coals is mesmerizing.

While we were there, the villages were preparing for Nyepi, a day of silence just before their New Year which includes a monster parade. All the villages design and built crazy looking statues for it, and after the big parade, they burn them (they represent evil spirits).

Every day, Balinese leave out offerings for the gods, these include flowers, food and incense, placed inside a woven basket made of bamboo leaves. One of our hosts, Sunami, showed us how it’s done. She made it look speedy and simple, but it’s hella elaborate.

Kopi Luwak is a popular export. For the unfamiliar, it’s a method of coffee production that involves a cat-like creature called a civet eating the beans and defecating them (which is why we simply nicknamed it “poop coffee”). We tried it along with eight other coffees and teas at a local plantation, Madu Pertiwi.

Whenever I travel, if possible, I like to get a more bird’s eye view of the place, and that usually means hiking a mountain. An hour’s drive from Ubud is Mount Batur. There, the thing to do is a sunrise hike, which starts in the dark, wee hours of the morning. The day we did it, the clouds obscured the sun (no guarantees), but it was still worth it for that fresh mountain air and a closer look at the steaming volcano.