We had chosen Bali as destination for this ester holiday, but chose to go beyond the big cities and the beaches and in to the charming area of Ubud. Also known as the culture heart of Bali. Ubud is surrounded by beauty, all from the Jungle, the rice fields, the smiling faces of the local people & temples. And you find some nice spots for chilling out when the sun gets to strong, with some great restaurants, bars and cafes.

 

Our choice of hotel was a new built resort close to the city center so easy walking distance to most attractions with Money forest being one of them.

 

 

Surrounded by nature we felt the tranquility as soon as we stept inside the resort. Our room was overlooking the Jungle with some rice paddies down below.

 

We spent a day strolling the streets, visiting some of the market places, stopped for lunch and some refreshing drinks and a visit to the Monkey forest.

 

We took a shortcut down to Monkey forest from the hotel and it’s a lot of new development in progress in the area. It’s an area with rice paddies mingled in between the different hotels and restaurants along the way.

 

We did not spend too much time at the Monkey forest as none of us like the monkeys to much. We are both a bit scared of them jumping on us. It has happened to me a few times and I can’t say I like the feeling very much. But I do like to capture them with my camera.

 

One advice I got when walking in the Nature reserve in Singapore is to never make eye contact with the monkeys.

 

After a stroll around the forest we wanted to try out the Locavore restaurant for lunch but it only had a set testing menu available so we headed over to “Loca Vore to go”. They serve modern cuisine with local products and the food is very tasty.

 

 

As the weather in Bali was quite hot at the time some chilling out at the pool just before sunset was just the perfect spot to be. Nothing better than a dip in the pool with a drink looking at the sunset.

 

As the hotel was newly opened they only served beer, but on a hot day it was not a bad substitute for wine and coctails that would have been our preferred drinks.

 

Our evenings was spent trying out different restaurants and one of them being the Blanco par mandif. The restaurant was difficult to find and it has an interesting touch to it with a different dining experience. It serves Indonesian cuisine with very creative presentation and very tasty.

 

We also got it paired with the drinks and we tried a lot of interesting combinations.

 

 

We also tried out Pica for dinner and again another great choice of restaurant. The food tasted amazing. It’s serves South American cuisine.

We signed up for a bike ride one of the days and started our bike tour at the top of Mt Batur,  From there it was mostly downhill back in to town.

 

 

Our guide explained us to keep the gear in 2 and 7, like non off us had ever been on a bike before. He kept repeating this to us a few times to make sure everyone understood, also pointing out that if facing a uphill we should change gear. At the time we faced a steep uphill slope it was just to jump off the bike and push it as the gear was stuck for most of us. It had probably not been changed that often.

 

The ride down the mountain went through local villages and rice fields with some information from the guide along the way.

 

We got picked up for our bike ride after breakfast and on the way to our starting point we has a stop at a coffee plantation where they informed us about the process of the luwak coffee and some tasting was offered as well.

 

Another stop along the way was in the village of Tegallalang.

 

A great place to stop for an amazing view of the beautiful rice terrace that the village is known for.

 

Well back in Ubud we headed over to the 3 monkeys cafe for some refreshment

  

and a stroll around the city center visiting some temples along the way.

 

 

A group of school kids was passing by enjoying the time in the city before heading back to the different villages they come from.

 

 

On our search for the Blanco par mandif restaurant we found a nice wine bar to hang out for a few drinks before dinner. DIVINE is bridges wine and cocktail bar with view overlooking the river.

 

We did not have time to try out the Bridges restaurant so will put it on the bucket list for our next visit to Ubud.

Our flight was with Garuda Indonesia direct from Singapore

We stayed at Goya Boutique Resort

Recommended places to eat and drink: Blanco par Mandif, Cafe Lotus, Cafe Wayan & Bakery, 3 Monkeys cafe, Pica, Loca Vore to go, DIVINE wine and cocktail bar.