Ubud

Ubud is an amazing town in the middle of the island of Bali. For more than a century, it has been the island’s preeminent centre for fine arts, dance and music. Ubud is arguably the best place to use as a base if you’re visiting Bali; if you’re looking for culture, comfort, nature and inspiration. Ubud is surrounded by most of the things that bring people to Bali – scenic rice fields, small villages, art and craft communities, ancient temples, palaces, rivers, cheap accommodation and unique luxury hotels. And it’s central location makes it easy to get from Ubud to the mountains, beaches, and major towns.

I LOVE Ubud. It is really everything I love about Bali. I tried to talk Ben into staying here for a week of our trip but since it's an hour drive to the surf it was a tough sell! So I settled for 3-4 day trips instead.

We took Coco with us this first day and went to the Sacred Monkey Forest. It is an ancient temple in the village of Padangegal. It is really a beautiful forest but I find it a little creepy! There are HUNDREDS of monkeys (long-tailed macaques) running around. Old Grandpa monkeys, brand new baby monkeys, naughty teenage monkeys, so many! The village people sell you a bunch of bananas for a few cents when you enter and you better beware if you are holding them because the monkeys are not shy! They will climb you, look in your bag, take your hat, glasses etc until you give them the food! Ben thinks it's a great game and loves to tease them. When we visited 3 years ago we laughed so hard. This time was similar. I wasn't sure how Coco would react but she felt more like me and wanted to see the monkeys from a distance. Coco was a star here too and we were stopped a few times by some Chinese tourists and Indian tourists that all wanted to take her picture! So funny, but those blue eyes are pretty amazing!