A TRAVEL GUIDE TO UBUD

Abbie Smith
Dec 22, 2017
8 min read

Leaving the Aussies & smoothie bowls in Canggu we got a taxi to Ubud for our next adventure 👫

We stayed at 'Sayong guesthouse'. This was one of our favourite guesthouses in in Asia. The room had a beautiful wooden carved door and a huge king size wooden four poster bed with mozzy nets.

It was £13.00 per night on hotels.com and you were served a complimentary breakfast to your balcony outside your room every morning with a choice of eggs/pancakes and juice/coffee.

Where to eat First things first and most importantly; eateries we found in Ubud. We were here for four days so had our fair share of lunches/dinners/coffees here. Warung biah biah

I had my usual; Vermicelli noodles for 22k (£1.20). These weren't the best noodles I've had but we ate here a few times due to the price. Josh had the nasi Goreng which was chicken, pork,prawns and veggies with crackers and rice for 24k (£1.35). We also had a bintang for 25k (£1.40); me trying to sound cool I had a sip lol.

We ate here about 3 times because it was cheap and cheerful and the staff were lovely.

Warung lokal

We decided to try another 'Warung' place down the road, there's tons in Bali. It means 'shop' in Balinese. I chose the steamed tuna with veggies & rice for 37k (£2.00) and Josh had stir fried chicken & rice for 37k (£2.00). Both super tasty!

Clear cafe

This place doesn't look like much from the sign outside (they need to change this). Inside it is absolutely beautiful. It has a large revolving door with a stream with fishes in, gardens and a huge wooden staircase.

They also had these flowers laid out when we went for lunch, how cute!

After sitting down Josh realised there was no meat on the menu but he was pleasantly surprised with his veggie burrito. I chose the tuna dragon bowl and this was probably my favourite meal I've had in Bali. The tuna was perfectly cooked and it was a huge portion for 90k (£5.00).

The Elephant

The setting here is beautiful and the food quality is brill.

I had a build your own salad with tempe, avocado, pumpkin, egg, tomato (basically everything) for 70k (£3.80). Josh had a carbonara (80k -£4.40) and sweet potato fries (40k - £2.20) double carbing. The juices and smoothies also looked delicious - deffinatley worth a visit. Bolero

This was just at the end of our road and we walked past it so many times but never went in until we were waiting for our airport transfer on the last day. We paid 27k (£1.50) for a cappucino and 38k (£2.10) for eggs Benedict with coffee and fruit . Such good value for their breakfast deal.

Senimans

We went here everyday LOL. They make such good coffee, have nut milks and good wifi 🤗. We would spend a few hours here blogging, reading while getting highly caffeinated for the day. The coffees were around 50k (£2.70) - and came with an AH-mazing shortbread.

I also had a Kombucha the day I fell over and they served it in a wine glass - it's like they knew I'd had a bad day.

They also had these chairs they had made into rocking chairs!

Things to do

We were only in Ubud for 3/4 days but wanted to cram a lot in. We rented a moped for a couple of days but we could of got away with not having one for where our guesthouse was. We just liked to drive to get coffee 🤷🏼‍♀️ - it was 60k (£3.30) per day. Howerver Josh told me after the brakes weren't great so we were basically driving a death trap so try them out before you hire one 🤘🏻 Hire a driver

We were a little hesitant to spend the money on a driver as it is quite a lot in comparison to hiring a bike but we decided to invest and see some of the sights in Ubud. We found Mr. Bedu on tripadvisor and sent him a message via whatsapp (his number is +62 813-5323-0219 If anyone does want to book him!). Bedu called us to ask a few questions on what we wanted and his English is so good he legit sounded English. We've paid slightly more than other drivers we found but we definitely got our money's worth in knowledge about Indonesian culture. The difference in the lower priced drivers we would of probably tipped him anyway. Josh and I asked him about 45 questions during the car ride. Did you know Balinese people can't sell their house. You move into the mans house after marriage. And you can't have a baby without marriage - kids are the ultimate goal! We went to see the following places: Tegalalang rice paddy This rice paddy is where you see the 'I love Bali' shot. We headed there early morning so were the only people there. The views are incredible.

Tirta Empul tampaksiring

This is the temple where you can get in the water and wash away your sins. It was 15k each to get in. They give you a sarong for a cover up for free and then if you want to go in the water you can pay 10k and get another sarong.

Just a heads up if you're a female menstruating you can't go in... I believe in karma way too much to risk it. Josh took one for the team and took his top off and had a little photo shoot in the water.

Coffee plantation We then headed to the coffee plantation where they make coffee out of Luwak poo. Sounds minging but they take you round a tour of how they make it and the difference between regular coffee beans and Luwak coffee beans.

We had such a lovely Balienese lady show us round and them bring us our tea and coffee tasters. The teas were amazing.

I bought some ginger tea in the end - good for digestion. Josh got two packs of the Luwak coffee and then we were given a pack of rosella tea for free as she knew we liked it (cute). They don't expect you to buy anything and she was so grateful that we did - and they make great gifts! ‘Here’s some poo I brought back for you mum’ 💩.

Gunung Kawi Our driver added this onto our trip we had never heard of it. It was incredible. There were ALOT of steps to get down just FYI but jus don't go in the heat of the day. We were dripping walking back up to the car 😅

At the entrance where you pay to get in (around 20/30k) there will be women selling sarongs telling you you need to cover up with this sarong but it's not true - they give you free ones inside.

Here’s Josh sporting his 💃🏼 also, can we just take a second to appreciate the candid shot took. 3 months in and he actually took a photo all by himself with my head and scenery.

Waterfall Tegenungan There had been quite a lot of rain in the night before we took this trip so unfortunately the water was quite brown and we couldn't swim in it (story of our life #chasingwetseasons) but it was still really cool to see.

They also have a really nice Spring you can go in (not if your menstruating though the water is from a temple - and as I shared my cycle with you all earlier in this blog post I just stood all sweaty and watched Josh).

We got picked up at 9am and got dropped home at 4pm (full of knowledge). It was my favourite day in Ubud and so glad we booked Mr. Bedu!

Monkey forest

This was a little scary but once you get past the initial entrance where they all hang around the banana lady they are just playing with each other. There are SO many and all different ages (baby ones are SO cute).

One stole Joshes water bottle like 5 seconds into us being there so travel light 😂. It's 50k (£2.70) for entry and deffinatley worth a visit but make sure you wear mozzy spray. I was eaten alive!! Markets Unfortunately due to the volcano eruption a lot of tourists have not come over to Bali during December which meant the locals were really quiet. I think I got things a little cheaper as they were so desperate for the sale so I didn't haggle too much!

I got my round rattan bag from here (the one in 95% of my posts lol) I was quite fussy and wanted a white one but with a brown strap and a nice pattern inside which seemed impossible to find. Josh was going crazy watching me go to 20 different stalls, opening up the bags and inspecting them. LOL. I paid 200k (£11.00) for the medium size white rattan - I absolutely love it! Kind of want it in brown now too but trying to discipline myself.

I also picked up some trousers that you tie onto yourself (sounds weird). But they fit any size. I got them in lilac at the market for 130k (£7.20) and another pair in black for 75k (£4.20) at a Gunung Kawi temple we visited - they were SUPER quiet there and she just wanted a sale.

Also got some sunglasses to replace the ones I lost in the waves in Canggu. I paid 80k (£4.40) for these. I'm wearing both in the pic above. Spa There was a spa at the end of our road from Sayong guesthouse that had the best prices I've seen all over Asia. 40k for manicure 45k pedicure and 70k for hour Balinese massage and 40k for 30 min foot massage. We planned to get one after trekking Mt Batur but due to me having to go sit in a hospital and get stitches we had to skip this expense. Full ordeal below. Hiking Mount Batur This was top of my list of must things to do in Bali. We paid 300k (£16.60) each which included pick up at 2.30am, 'breakfast' of a fried banana at 4am, a guide, and then on the way back you have the option to stop at the rice paddies and coffee plantation. This hike was actually a lot more intense than I thought it would be. It's vertical. We were quite unfortunate with the weather, it was blowing a gale and raining pretty bad and this meant it was so cloudy we only saw the sunrise for about 20 seconds. It was FREEZING at the top.

However I felt very accomplished when I realised I’d climbed 1700+m and you're above the clouds. It was still an amazing experience even though you couldn't see much! But then.... the descent down is pretty hard as it's very slippy and your legs are a little wobbly. I was the only person to not slip.. Until we got off the volcano. So as we were walking back to the car on a FLAT piece of road I slipped on some gravel and landed on my knee forcing my skin to completely rip back 🙃. After 2 hours I made it to a hospital and ended up having to get 4 stiches in my knee.

I've never been more annoyed at myself in my whole life when they told me that for the next 10-14 days I have to keep my leg straight, not walk a lot and can't get it wet at all. Just ideal for when you're off to Gilis where the only transport are push bikes and snorkelling and scuba diving is amazing 😫 I know I sound negative but it was VERY frustrating. However as I'm writing this I'm lay on the beach being told today I can go in water again - HOORAY. Never been so grateful for my knee to bend in my life!