If you were wondering where in the world you can find a place where you can just reset, relax, disconnect from everything and reconnect with yourself, wonder no more! Bali ticks all those boxes, and more!
Bali, one of the islands of Indonesia, is a place well known for it’s rice fields, hot surfing spots and volcanoes, temples and local culture, all mixed together in the most unique way for anyone’s delight to discover this little piece of heaven.
Our 10 days trip took us to Ubud, the town known as the arts and crafts capital of Bali. It is a peaceful place, surrounded by rice terraces waiting to be discovered, temples, and many more. It is found in the center of Bali, and it is a place mainly for people who would like to relax and don’t really like the beach – like me. There are so many things to do in Ubud, so many places to discover! I did not get bored of it, and I’ve spent all my 10 days there.
As far as I could see, the other travellers tend to spend their holidays in 2 or 3 of the islands’ regions, just to get a vibe of the full Bali experience. You could choose from South of Bali (Uluwatu), known for good surfing spots, and great beaches nearby (Kuta – well known for nightlife, parties, shopping, restaurants, then Seminyak and Canggu – also known for surf and fun). Another beautiful place is Nusa Dua, in the South East, known for great beaches and resorts, and of course,there are a lot of islands to visit nearby. There is a place for anyone in Bali, you just have to discover yours!
Mine for sure was Ubud!
My favourite thing in Ubud was getting lost, just to find little trails, little coffee places, little SPA’s where you could get a nice foot massage for 5 euros or so, little family run restaurants with all the local treats in the menu!
I tried to make a plan from home, but there were so many options I could not decide on what I want to do first and so I decided to see this holiday as my “cure” for over-planning any little city break to the smallest detail. I started just with an A4 printed map of Ubud taken from the hotel reception, and off I went to discover this crazy nice place.
The top highlights of the trip were (as if I didn’t mention it before :)) the rice terrace walk – not touristy, really peaceful, could easily spend all the day there having a coffee in all the cool places, going for yoga, massage, eating, seing the people work in the fields, Ubud Centre – here you can find Ubud Palace, a few nice temples to admire, the Monkey Forest, a lot of restaurants with all types of food, Tegalalang Rice Terraces, Pura Gunung Kawi Temple (a Hindu temple with carved stones into really tall niches in the cliff – amazing view, amazing entrance, peaceful),Penglipuran Village ( in the UNESCO patrimony, an amazing place to visit, and the road that leads to it goes through a bamboo forest, where it’s dark even in the middle of the day).
But more important than the places worth visiting were the lessons worth learning from the local balinese people: always smile, be grateful, enjoy the present moment and don’t use it just to think about the future and past. That’s why, I guess, everyone has their own trip to Bali!
rpt