Ubud situated in the central bali is the cultural capital of Bali island . In this area you can see unique balines art in the temple and also in some home . Balines are very polite but in case of religion they are very strict and don’t tolerate any disrespect . Certain portions of the temples are only accesible for the balines Hindus even we Hindus from India generally can not access that part . Bali terraced rice fields are worth to visit . Goa Gaja temple is one of the oldest temple in Bali . As the others island of Indonesia bali also has volcano Mt Agung . Most of the population in bali are Hindus . Ubud is too much touristy and in the roads there were always traffic jam . You can see such a amount of westerners coming here that it looks like the western coountry . Different dances about the stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata are very popular in bali
How to reach Ubud ?
Ubud is located in the central bali and the airport and the sea Harbour are both situated in the southern bali in Denpasar (Capital of bali ) . From any part of the denpasar city you will get public buses to reach to the Ubud . Most of the times you have to change buses but you will get direction in google maps for public buses . For solo travellers this is the best option.
Rather than this you can book a bike or cab through Grab , Go jek and max ride mobile application . You can also book the formal taxi in ubud . There is no rail network in the bali . Roads are mountainous so be careful if you hire a motorbike . In bali there is heavy rains so sometimes roads are slippery also .
How to travel in budget in Ubud ?
As Ubud is full of the Western tourist so everything here is expensive as compared to Denpasar . Foods are two to three times expensive than Denpasar . There is very rare street food options in Ubud . So the trick is wake up a little earlier and you see the local ladies selling balines food items at very cheap rate but this continues until 9 am . After that all will be finished , working class people take food from them . In the evening there will be some people selling the food on motorcycle . Their rates are good . Otherwise food in any Restaurant is super expensive .
Travel by bus or hire a bicycle or bike to save your money . I hire a bicycle as I don’t know bike but It will be very hard as roads in Bali are mountainous .
Monkey forest santuary :
Monkey forest is one of the sacred natural reserve and also temple inside the ubud area . In this forest there are all togeather 1260 long tail Macaques . According to the Balinese tradition this area is very sacred . There are all togeather three temples of the 14 th century named Pura Dalem Agung Padangtegal , spring temple and Pura prajapati temple . In this forest there is 186 species of plants . In 20 th century this area comes under the conservation area .
This temple is opened daily from 8:30 am – 5:30 pm . The entry fees for this temple is 40000 IDR .
Tirtha empul :
It is one of the holiest temple inside the Bali . Balines as well lots of foreigners also come here to take a sacred bath to get rid of sins . In the entrance of the temple there is a traditional balines gate and inside there are two water chambers where water is coming from those dragon shaped mouth . For entering this this temple sarong is must for all men and woman . In the gate there is stock pile of sarong , people can wear any of them .
This temple was build during the warmadewa dynasty in 10 th century by the king Indrajaya . This temple is dedicated to the Hindu god Indra who creates thunder and responsible for good rain . Inside the temple there is a sacred place where only balines are allowed , you can see it from a distance . There might be some special worship happens . This temple is a mixture of the both balines and Javanes culture . This temple is situated 14 km north of the main ubud city .
The temple is opened from the 7 am – 7 pm and entry fees for foreigners is 50000 INdonesian rupees .
Pura taman kemuda Saraswati :
Pura Taman saraswati is not the older but one of the most beautiful temple in Ubud . This temple is dedicated to Hindu godess Saraswati . She is the godess of knowledge and music and the wife of God Bhrambha . It is located centrally and it was made in between 1951 – 1952 by Gusti Nymon Lempad and was commissioned by the prince Cokorda Gede agung sukriti . It is also called the water palace of the Ubud .
After you just entered from the gate you can see a road and on the both side there is lotus pond and then after three gates to the sacred part of the temple . For going to the inner sanctum there is three gates among them middle one is the biggest . There is three empty chairs inside the temple , they are for the Hindu gods Bhrambha , Vishnu and Maheswar . Padmasana Shrine on tortoise is another important deity of this temple .
The temple is opened between the 7 am and 5 pm and the entry is free for the general people .
Balines art works and bamboo handicraft items :
Balines wood worked handicrafts and the house hold items made of bamboo are just wonderful . You can see this types of shops just beside the road . Though I will not buy , because this are house hold items but it looks stunning .
This are the artifacts what you can use as the souvenior . This wooden arts are wonderfull and worth to just have a look . The small faces made by the wood are also fascinating . This are the waste woods , by which they make this items .
Goa Gaja temple :
Goa Gaja temple is one of the oldest and build in the 11 th century . Inside the temple there is a elephant cave and a water pool where lotus flower is blossoming and in the two sacred pools , there are some sacred statues from which the sacred water is coming . There are all together statues of 7 devis(devine woman in hinduism ) . One is destroyed . This are the symbols of the 7 sacred rivers of India Ganga , Saraswati , yamuna , Godavari , sindhu , kaveri and Narmada . For going to the temple you have to down lots of stairs from the road side .
In the mouth of the cave there is a elephants face , somebody says it is the face of the child eating witch Rangda and somebody says it is hindu earth god Bhoma . Inside this cave there is a statue of Ganesha and some shiva lingas . People belived that the elephant cave was totally build by a monk by hand .
The whole place is burried under the mud and the dutch archeologist find it in 1923 but the water pools were found later in 1956 .
The temple is opened between 8 am – 6 pm and the entry fees is 15000 Indonesian rupees . It is six km from the main city . You also have to wear a sarong to enter the temple .
Museum puri Lukisan :
Bali is famous for it’s traditional painting and the wood curving . In the early 20 th century lots of balines art works were smuggled to the western countries . For preserving this art forms a dutch painter Rudolf Bonnet established this museum in 1930 .
This museum has mainly collection of the paintings and the wood curving .The famous artist Ida Bagus , Gusti Nyoman lempad’s art forms are collected in this museum . The famous art includes Wayang style painting between the 10 – 15 th century and 20 th century Death of Karna .
This museum opens daily between the 9 am – 5 pm and the entry fees is 50000 Indonesian rupiya.
Teallaenunga Waterfall :
This is a waterfall in this area and the water is crystal clear and also the water pool . This waterfall is situated 10 km from bali . In the sunrise and sunset time this waterfall looks wonderful. On the way to the waterfall there is a bird’s nest which is good place to take picture .
The entrance fees to this waterfall is 20000 Indonesian rupiah . This waterfall is opening from 6:30 to 18 :30 .
Campuhan Ridge walk :
Campuhan ridge walk is a beautiful walk among the rice fields . This ridge is a continious 9 km . It is near to the ubud city centre and best time to visit this place is is in the morning and in the evening . The insect and bird replant , human statues in the bali rice fields are just wonderful .
If you walk along the ridge walk you will reach to the Gunung Lebah Temple . best time to visit this rice field is between the morning 6 – 7 :30 am .
Tegallalang Rice terraces :
Tegallalang rice field is one of the UNESCO World Heritage site in the Ubud area . This rice terrace is just 10 km from the Ubud city . When you reach there you will see stepped rice terraced . This technique has been started in the 8 th century by the Rsi Markendeya . This technique of rice cultivation is called Sabuk . It is situated in the village of Pejeng and Campuhan . There is also lots of coconut , beetle nuts and other trees in this rice field . There is different entrance points for this rice terrace and some people give you free entrance by asking for the bike parking . You can see big swings between two coconut trees . It looks very amazing in this rice field . Lots of young woman enjoyed the swing here .
Opening time of this rice field is between 6 am – 7 pm . If you want to go to the another part of the rice terrace you have to pay more .
Neka art Museum :
Neka art Museum is a art museum which is inspired by the balines natural beauty . Lots of Balinese , foreigner and artists from the other parts of Indonesia has made this art forms . This museum was established by the famous art dealer JMK Suteja Neka . After he established this museum in 1982 this area becomes the Hub of the artist . His father was a famous wood curver and this museum has art collection from the 17 th century . It has multiple art pavillion llike Lempad pavillion , Affandi Pavillion and Arie Smit Pavillion and many more spread across six building in this area .
Opening time of the museum is from the 9 am – 5pm and the entry fees is 50000 IDR .
Kecak dance in Uluwatu temple :
Kecak dance is mainly storied upon the Ramayana and Mahabharata and there is lots of people involved in this dance . This is a type of rhythmic types of dance and they make unique sound in their mouth when this performance happens which makes unearthly atmosphere . After a little bit of time characters of Ramayana and Mahabharata enter in the middle of the stage one by one . They mostly talk in the sign language and there is a open air amphitheatre around the main performance area . There is a 50 -60 people in a group for making this dance performance . The Rythm and the synronization of the peole’s act is wonderfull as like the military parade .
After the main performance there will be a coconut fire and a person dance over it . It is called the fire dance .
Mostly this dance performances happens in the evening time and the place is uluwatu temple . This dance happens in two shift between 6 pm – 7 pm and 7 pm – 8 pm . price of the ticket I don’t confirm but mostly between 100000 – 150000 Indonesian rupees .
Gunung Lebah temple :
This temple is one of the oldest temple in ubud established in 8 th century by a hundu priest Rsi MarMarkendaya . The temple is situated just behind the Campuhan river bridge . In this temple there is three couteyard where only the first one is opened for the general public in normal time . This temple is situated in between lush green bamboo forest .This temple is situated just within 1.5 km from the ubud market . The main festival of this temple is Piodalan temple festival .
The temple isopened daily from the 8 am – 4 pm and the entry is free .
Pura Dalem bentuyung temple :
This is a sacred temple which is situated 2.5 km north of the Ubud palace . This temple has some mythological stories and balines people respect this temple very much .
But this temple is mostly famous for the fire shows in the evening time . Entry fees for this shows is 80000 IDR and you have to wear a sarong .
Summary :
Ubud is the cultural hub of the Bali . It has lots of old temples , handicraftt shops , rice fields , waterfall and Museum . In Bali most of the people are hindus and the Goa Gaja temple and the Tirtha Empul temple are two of the most important temples . Rather than the temple you can also enjoy the Ramayana , mahabharata kecak dance , traditional dance and the fire dance . Balines arts are magnificent and you can see it in some of the museums in ubud .
