AmyHuang
Find the inner peace of Ubud
Link: www.ubud.com/
About an hour and a bit's drive north of Denpasar lies a once sleepy artists' town of Ubud. While it's no longer 'sleepy', as more and more visitors are venturing out of the beach areas to explore more of Bali's inner beauties, the charm of Ubud is still there.Ubud's reputation soared recently as it is one of the places that starred in Eat Pray Love. On the surface, you may not be able to comprehend how Elizabeth Gilbert (the book's author) would even find love in this hectic place. The main street of Ubud town centre is chokers with tourists and local traffic, crammed with souvenir shops and street side cafes and taxi drivers trying desperately to get a fare to earn their living. Food, as we have found everywhere in Bali, are good and cheap-ish and most cafes do have nice back gardens to provide you the little tranquillity to get away from the bustling main street.
The Ubud Central Market
And then, there is Monkey Forest. A sacred park dedicated to worship the cheeky buggers that will try to steal anything dangling from your hair and backpack. Do not venture into it with food in hand - it'll soon be monkey dinner if you are not careful. It's a delight however to watch the family groups in their environment and stroll through some old temple grounds and stone bridges. Just hold onto your cameras and sunglasses.
A monkey at the Monkey Forest cheekily grabs a banana on the run
The tourist hub of Ubud is busy. Thankfully it's easy to get away from it all, simply make a turn into a small lane and discover the real charm of it all. Take a walk up Jalan Kajeng beyond all the guest houses and street stalls. The road gets smaller and it starts to climb at a small angle. Follow the track as it gets narrower and soon, around the corner you'll be surprised with moist green rice fields dotted with the odd private villas here and there. This, is the Ubud Elizabeth Gilbert was talking about. This, is where you can really feel the energy and the spirit of the place.
Turn into a side alley to enjoy the famous 'tranquillity' of Ubud
These are the serene scenes of rice fields you find in brochures - they do exist and in the plenty - seek and you shall find!
