Four Days In Ubud, Bali — Indonesia

I’ve been wanting to come to Bali for three years now. Admittedly, I am one of the masses who discovered the famed Indonesian island through reading Eat, Pray, Love. In April of 2020 I was supposed to visit Bali for the first time on my second cruise job … but of course that didn’t pan out.

Like most travelers I’ve put Bali on a pedestal for a long time, but coming here I had to be realistic about one thing — the crowds. Over the past decade the island has “westernized” into one of Asia’s most popular locations for vacationers, influencers, and remote workers. For this reason I knew that Bali wouldn’t be my favorite stop in South East Asia, but I still wanted to make the most of it. I chose to allot four days of my 25-day Indonesia itinerary for Bali’s cultural capital — the city of Ubud.

My flight from Kuala Lumpur arrived at Ngurah Rai International Airport in the south of Bali shortly before midnight. With Ubud being nearly an hour long drive inland I booked a last minute hostel within walking distance from the airport. The place was really shabby, but it saved me from having to snooze in the airport as I often do.

Heading out In the morning I was surrounded by taxi drivers at the airport bus terminal. They tried to persuade me to buy a $23 taxi, but I knew I could do better. One of them pulled up the Grab app to compare prices. I saw that a Grab bike (motorcycle) cost 1/3 the price of the Grab car or the private taxi. So I left the airport and approached the first Grab bike I saw. “I like this price” I said, gesturing down to my phone. He matched the price, and we were off.

As we got close to Ubud the bad traffic got worse. It brought to mind congestion in much larger cities. Following the long ride I was dropped off at my hostel, Jero Di Bisma. Tucked along a quiet back street this hostel is more-so a homestay, with only one 6-bed dorm room. For $5/night the property was also perfect for my Indonesia budget, which I’m keeping at a conservative $20/day (not including tours — of which there will be at least two).

Jero Di Bisma was a unique setup and the host family was very welcoming, providing a free breakfast each morning. As a traditional Balinese home, the host’s wife set out Hindu Banten offerings each morning comprising of flowers, crackers, sugar, and other items as protection and to appease the gods. These offerings can be found all over on Bali, but primarily in front of shops and in the entryways and yards of homes. I basked in the smell of incense as I sat in the patio garden.

Thanks to its small size I quickly meet every person staying at the hostel. On my first afternoon I hopped on a motorbike with a new friend named Cameron and we ventured into the ungodly traffic to visit a couple nearby sights. Temples and holy sites in Bali differ from everywhere I’ve been in Vietnam/Thailand/Etc. — here you are required to wear a sarong around your waste rather than pants in order to enter. On our first stop I was almost sold on buying a sarong from a vendor, not knowing that the entrance fee to the site would include a borrowed sarong to wear.

On the morning of my second day in Ubud I woke up early to do the Campuhan Ridge Walk. The trail wasn’t long, but it was a nice place to go before the heat (and crowds) arrive. This walk was the only free things I would do in Ubud. Generally in SE Asia everything from notable hikes, to rice terraces, caves, and more require an entrance fee. They’re rarely more than a dollar or two, but it often feels like a hindrance — as if everything but walking the streets will cost you.

The next day I joined Cameron and two of his friends to hire a Grab car. For six hours the driver took us wherever we want, for just $6 each. This was our only real option to get out to the local waterfalls, as only one of us could drive a motorbike and bicycles aren’t practical given the distances between sights. Sadly we spent most of the day in the car, stuck in traffic — but we made it to two gorgeous waterfalls and one of the famous rice terraces before sunset.

Gradually the people in my dorm room began to move on with their journeys. Bali, like many places in SE Asia is a great place to explore with friends, as then transport costs can be shared. I was fortunate that my first couple days in Ubud were social, otherwise I would have had to pay a lot more to visit the same sights out of town.

By the time my third day arrived I was actually happy to have some alone time to explore the city. One could do some serious shopping here, with everything from your typical night market to boutique clothing and jewelry. I mostly window shopped, and I resisted the desire to add more to the trinket collection I’ve already amassed. For those looking for westernized food, well … there’s two Starbucks and all sorts of over the top eateries. To keep in line with my budget I stuck exclusively to the traditional “warung” restaurants which serve delicious local foods such as Nasi Campur and Nasi Goreng for cheap.

As an artist I simply couldn’t miss Bali’s most notable art museum — the Neka Museum Of Art. Considering how touristy Ubud is I counted less than 10 other guests in the museum. The Neka has multiple small buildings housing sculpture, paintings and photography primarily from the past 100 years. If it weren’t for the fact that art museums easily exhaust me I could have spent all day exploring the extensive exhibits.

My final day in Ubud included two must-do’s. The first was the Sacred Monkey Forest, which is of course full of monkeys. Signs instruct visitors not to look the monkeys in the eye to avoid aggression. Within minutes of my entry I had a monkey jump onto my backpack, I didn’t even realize that I had starred it down. It quickly jumped back off and snarled at me. I learned my lesson, and enjoyed observing these creatures for a couple of hours.

My final activity in Ubud was to see a traditional Balinese dance performance. There are numerous outdoor spaces around the city that offer the performances, and I would up buying my ticket from a vendor in the street. Balinese dance is fascinating to watch, particularly the hand movements of the female dancers. The fire-lit show was an ideal cap to what I consider a pretty successful first (and hopefully not last!) trip to Bali.

Next up: “The Lombok To Komodo Sailing Tour“