Ubud is a beautiful town, found in the centre of Bali, around an hour and a half away from the Denpasar Airport. It is surrounded by rice fields and temples and has a relaxed vibe to it. We spent 3 nights in Ubud earlier this month and there was plenty to do to keep us occupied. Below is what we got up to and what we recommend you check out if you are in the area!
Alas Harum
Alas Harum really blew away our expectations. We thought it was just going to be a coffee plantation where you can do a tasting session, however it is so much more than that. You pay 20,000 per person to enter which gives you access to the coffee plantation, restaurant, and the infinity pools they had. We unfortunately didn’t know that there was a pool there so didn’t bring our swimming costumes! Once inside we got to learn how the coffee is made and try 14 different coffees and teas, all for the price of just 118,000 which is around £6.77. They also have big swings and a bicycle zip wire there and plenty of other photo opportunities.
Monkey Forest
Monkey Forest is just as the name says, a forest full of monkeys. We paid 40,000 each to get in, which is around £2.30. You get to see lots of monkeys just roaming around, swinging from trees, and playing with each other. As they are free to roam everywhere you do need to be careful to not get to close and don’t have things in loose pockets if you don’t want them stolen by a monkey. You can also pay to have your photo taken holding a monkey, which we didn’t do, mainly because we were too scared to get close to them, but it would make for a great photo memory.
Mount Batur
Mount Batur is a volcano found North of the Island and is about an hour away from Ubud. Tour operators offer a Sunrise Trek that we highly recommend going on. You can get the tour from multiple different areas around the island including Ubud and Sidemen, or you can go and stay in the Mt Batur area and make your own way to the starting point to meet your guide. We did the later option, but if you are going to get picked up from Ubud, they will probably want to come and get you at about 2am. So, a very early start, but it means you can get to Mt Batur and have plenty of time to make your way up to the top for the sunrise.
The trek itself will take you around an hour to an hour and a half, depending on your group’s fitness levels. On the side we went up there was no paved path or anything like that, so make sure you wear trainers and be prepared for them to be quite dirty afterwards. Your guide will provide you with torches and most tour operators include breakfast, which is usually a banana sandwich and fruit.
Most mornings there are hundreds of people who will also be doing the tour, so please don’t expect to be watching the sunrise alone. However, there is plenty of space and seating up there so don’t worry about that.
It is cold at the top whilst you wait for the sun to rise, so make sure you wear warm clothes and bring a jacket and a blanket or towel up with you to wrap up warm! Hopefully you will get to see one of the best sunrises you will ever see. We started to but unfortunately it clouded over, so we didn’t get to see the full effect, but it was still a great view and experience, nonetheless.
After you watch the sunrise, your guide will show you the hot springs. In all honesty these are not spectacular at all, it is mainly just hot steam coming from the earth, which was nice to gather around and get warm, however there will be a lot of people all trying to look at once. So, if you would like to try and avoid the crowd I would either ask your guide to show you whilst the sun is still rising or wait until the crowds start to make their way down the mountain.
Kanto Lampo Waterfall
Right, we are going to be honest with this one. If you search Kanto Lampo on Instagram, you will see hundreds of amazing photos of people standing in an enormous waterfall which looks amazing. However, when we got there, we were very disappointed. Not so much in the waterfall itself, but there was just so many people waiting in a long line to have their picture taken. If you want to visit and get a photo, I would suggest coming early in the morning or maybe just before sunset.
Campuhan Ridge Walk
Within walking distance of the town, you can find the Campuhan Ridge Walk, which is a 2km hike with some pretty spectacular views. It can be quite hot in the day up there, so try and go in the morning or at sunset and bring plenty of water!
Ubud Palace
Ubud Palace is found in the centre of town. You can go and have a look around in the day, but they also often have dance shows and other entertainment there at night, so we recommend going and checking that out!
Without A Paddle Travel 