Ubud, Bali

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Ubud, Bali

Ubud is a remarkable town in the middle of the island of Bali. For more than a century, it has been the island's preeminent centre for fine arts, dance and music. Arriving in Bali at midnight, we spent one night near the airport in Kuta and then arranged for a shuttle to pick us up and take us to Ubud. Arriving at the Pita Maha, a hotel of lush vegetation, private secluded villas and an infinity pool that you could only dream of, Aaron and I were in heaven. Our private villa included a pool, lounge inside and out, an outdoor shower and bath and a bed fit for a king. We were walking distance from the central downtown markets and Ubud palace. Arriving around noon, we checked in had a look around the property and went for a walk to find some food. We ended up eating at Naughty Nuri's which was a hole in the wall restaurant with picnic style benches for seating, and had some of the best nasi goreng, ribs ( which were cooked on the sidewalk in front of you) and martinis. There was a framed New York Times article on the wall about the restaurant and the last paragraph stated Anthony Bourdain ate here, sucked down three martini's in 1/2 an hour and signed the guest book, "The best martini's in the world." Awesome. We walked a little bit further down the road after a few martinis and stumbled upon an outside art gallery that was just incredible. Ubud is known for its thriving art community and the art there is AMAZING. I could have easily purchased 10 pieces and loved them all the same. We met the artist of these paintings and ended up buying one - a few days later. He arranged for us to meet his brother the next day for a personal tour of northern bali. At 8 am sharp he arrived with his brother and took us to his brother in laws home to show us what a typical "middle class" balinese home looked like. We then went through the rice fields, hiked to Git Git waterfall and had lunch on the Lake Batur. The next morning circa 2 am we arranged for drivers to pick us up and had a guide who lead up on a hike up the volcano. With only flashlights for our light, we hiked up and made it to the top within a little over an hour, which our guide said was incredibly fast! With a bintang in our hands, the sun rose at 4:45 am and it was truly magical. After some much needed R&R by the pool we went to a traditional balinese dance show at Ubud palace and had a lovely night in the heart of Ubud's downtown.