Bali Ubud Area Guide
For more information see the main Ubud page.
Ubud: The perfect base for a peaceful Bali trip
Visitors to Bali looking for an alternative to Kuta, Seminyak, Sanur or Nusa Dua, need look no further. Ubud is close by, but on an entirely different direction than those other places. The temple dances, upacara and costumes are taken more seriously in Ubud than anywhere else in Bali. For the visitor interested in culture, this makes Ubud an irresistible location.
Date: February 19th, 2007 |
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Museum Blanco: Campuhan Bali
Last night Ika was telling me her mother wanted to visit Ubud, because there was a place on Indonesian TV, that a celebrity couple had been married. She had described it to Ika, but neither was 100% sure of where it was. “I will know the name of the place if I hear it,” said Ika, “I think it might be a museum.” After going through my mental list of Ubud museums (Neka, ARMA etc.) I said “Antonio Blanco.” and she said “Yes that’s the one.” We drove west along Jl. Raya Ubud, through to Campuhan and hung a left at the entrance to Museum Blanco. I must admit, I never actually expected to end up there, especially with my mother-in-law. The entrance fee was 20,000rp each and we quickly shuffled through to the garden area. Museum Blanco has a lovely site, with the extravagant museum, surrounded by manicured gardens and many exotic birds, including large parrots.
Date: January 16th, 2007 |
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Casa Luna: Dessert & a drink in Ubud Bali
Sometimes in the afternoon, you get those short falls of energy, and a little boost is in order. Today while checking out the villages of Peliatan and Tegallalang, I felt like a small dessert was the ticket. Back in Ubud I knew just where to go. Casa Luna on Jl. Raya Ubud, has a dessert menu and does good arak madu’s. This afternoon I was well wrapped up, sporting a black polo-neck running shirt, long pants, helmet and gloves. I must of looked quite odd, climbing off the bike and heading to the top deck of Casa Luna for an arak madu and a lime tart, but that’s okay, I’m an odd guy.
Date: January 13th, 2007 |
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Putna Sari - Carved jewelry display in Tegallalang Bali
Tegallalang can be a one-stop-shop place for gifts, to take home. The locals make carved goods, some of which end up in Ubud, some go straight on sale here. Putna Sari is a small shop on the main street, that passes through town. The solo staff member couldn’t speak English and seemed afraid to make contact at all, quickly calling her boss on the phone and leaving the shop. He arrived and offered me a few prices. The predominant theme of all the goods in this shop, is they are jewelry display equipment. I saw racks for necklaces going for 17,000rp-23,000rp, carved hands a foot high, that were for ring displays. These cost 20,000rp and the foot tall carved cones, also for rings, cost 13,000rp
Date: January 13th, 2007 |
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Jepun Bali: Stoner carver in Sukawati Bali
Taking one of the creative routes to Ubud, via a turnoff on Jl. Gatut Subroto, north of Denpasar, you pass through the village of Sukawati. Actually Sukawati seems like an endless line of stonecarving places, lined up along the street, in typical ribbon-development style. One of the many places in Jepun Bali, who’ sign says it is a wood / stone carver. Jepun Bali is run by Wayan Sudiana, who chatted to me briefly. Wayan showed me various items he had made, including stone buddhas, intricate wall decoration and coffee tables, statues, and smaller figures. Batubulan, to the SW, is also known for it stone carvings and the subject matter is much the same. Amazing how many skilled craftsmen are living in this tight area, with Celuk, the silver & gold jewelry center, equidistant.
Date: January 13th, 2007 |
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Cafe Lotus: Ubud Bali
Returning to downtown Ubud from Museum Blanco, we pulled over and parked across from Cafe Lotus, on Jl. Raya Ubud. This restaurant has the most amazing view. Pura Saraswati backs on to it and guests can sit under the elongated ‘bale’ structure and admire the temple across the lotus pond. This afternoon Ika ordered a strawberry lassi, her mother a strawberry milkshake, myself a small water and an arak madu. The bill was around 75,000rp, quite a bit more than lunch, but this is one of the choice spots in Ubud. All the drinks were good, the lassi was less sweet than the milkshake.
Date: January 16th, 2007 |
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Warung Nasi Pak Sedan: Ubud Bali
Ika’s mother requested a visit to Ubud, for reasons I’ll get to later. Ubud is one of my favourite areas, because of the density of artists, great Balinese ceremonies, great places to eat and lovely scenery. On the way into Ubud I asked them where they wanted to eat. Ika has been to Ubud before and likes Casa Luna. They said they wanted nasi campur (mixed rice), which is harder than you’d imagine in Ubud. Downtown is loaded with restaurants, aimed at tourists. They often serve good food, but its a million miles away from the ‘point and get’ nasi campur shop. Ika remembered us passing a place before, and directed me to it. Located at the very southern end of Jl. Hanuman and around the corner, the Warung Nasi Pak Sedan, was busy with Balinese locals.
Date: January 16th, 2007 |
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Suena Handicraft: Carved faces in Tegallalang Bali
Riding back down the main street in Tegallalang, towards Denpasar, after visiting Putna Sari, I saw a unique shop, selling faces carved out of tree trunks. Most of the carvings in Bali, seem to be complete faces / figures, but these ones were carved out of the bark of a tree, which was still visible. The owner of the shop, Suena from Bali, told me her husband did all the carving and she looked after the shop. She said business was good, with many orders from America and Australia. The wood is all pine and a large carved face, 3ft tall costs 90,000rp. A smaller 2ft tall carving is 40,000rp and a 1ft carving of a horse, cat, person etc, is 10,000rp.
Date: January 13th, 2007 |
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Mustique: Carved bowls in Peliatan Bali
Peliatan is another Balinese village lined with shops selling similar type goods, this time carved items. Along the main street, Jl. Raya Andong, I stopped into one place at random, to check out their goods. Mustique is a cute little shop, with stuff I’d actually like, if I had a bigger house. I met the owner, Kadek, who told me about his products, which include massive carved bowls, plates, sushi trays, Japanese soup bowls and other attractive stuff. Kadek told me his cousin makes the items locally and he runs the shop. The business card carries the name ‘Araya’ but the shop is called Mustique, opening daily from 8.30am-5pm.
Date: January 13th, 2007 |
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Exploring Bali by car
After getting back from the road trip to East Bali, I was frazzled as usual, after several hours of swinging an SUV through Balinese mountain roads and hairpin corners. As mentioned before, there are several factors that will affect every trip, anywhere in the world. Among these factors are number of people, weather, budget, mode of transport, time frame. In a sense I felt I was trying to ram a square peg through a round hole (hey, maybe I’m becoming Balinese!). We had a short time frame due to my web site commitments, people from a cold climate who need AC, 2 Indonesians, who’s diet is considerably different than other people in the group, and quite long periods in a car, due to traffic and the road system.
Date: December 31st, 2006 |
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