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Small Boutique Hotel Resorts in Magical Ubud
Since the Julia Roberts movie Eat, Prey, Love the already growing popularity, as a vacation favourite, of Ubud in Bali has accelerated out of control.
What is about Ubud that attracts so many visitors? I think that ultimately it is the juxtaposition of the ultra-modern luxury accommodation next to the ultra-traditional almost Indiana Jones like surroundings. From the wonderfully designed boutique hotels to the ancient moss covered temples.
In Ubud you have the stunning panorama of the Ayung River valley and the rice field terraces. You have the long culture in art, design, sculpture and dance. This Hindu-animist culture has been infused with European art, in wonderful play-off between European expressionism and Balinese traditionalism. Each style has played a hand in unlocking the talent of both parties. Ubud also has traditional markets next-door to modern shops making it a great pace to go shopping when on vacation.
As you leave hot, noisy Denpasar you can instantly see the sharp contrast between the urban and rural. Outside of the city you are surrounded by tranquil green rice paddies. The Rice Goddess (Dewi Sri) guards over the rice crops and protects the farmers who seek shade in all the small thatched huts that dot the rice fields. The multitude of temples and small shrines are constantly be decorated by Balinese women with offerings of flowers, rice, incense and holy water to placate evil spirits and to make Krishna happy. As tourism grows and grows, village life in Bali continues without much change, only in places like Seminyak and Kuta, with their endless hotel resorts, has tourism really affected local life. The situation with Ubud villa rental is that it has been better handled which stops it from becoming too touristy.
Lining the roads that lead up to your accommodation in Ubud town are different types of art work, each village specialises in a different type of art.
When on vacation, Ubud serves as a great base-camp for exploring the whole central region of Bali. If you wake up early enough to take advantage of the cool weather, just a few steps out of your hotel resort, you can go for beautiful walks through the rice terraces and really escape civilisation. The route to Tegalalang offers wonderful views of the rice terraces and art studios. Mas, Penestanan and Peliatan are the centres of wood carving and painting. Sayan has a great view of the Ayung River valley with its gorges covered in palms. In the village of Campuhan, where three rivers meet, is a very holy place for Balinese, on this site sits a temple called Pura Gunung Lebah.
If you head out north to the village of Petulu you can see the kokokan or white herons. Each morning at dawn and in the afternoon around three or four o’clock you can see the kokokan circling the trees in their hundreds, something very magical to see. If you head out South you can explore the Monkey Forest, a small entrance fee is required but it’s worth the money. It is incredible just how many monkeys there are, literally hundreds of tame monkeys, if you want to befriend a monkey this is the place to go. Make sure you don’t bring one back to your boutique hotel or Ubud villa rental as the owners might not be too happy.
The centre of Ubud also has many places of interest. Why not check out the Puri which is the court palace of former kings, every Sunday morning many young girls learn traditional Balinese dance. Situated opposite the Puri is Ubud’s main market, here you can buy linens, dry goods, paintings, wood carvings, traditional medicine. Just a short distance away is the Puri Lukisan (Museum of Paintings), established in 1954 you can see the paintings of many local painters, here you can see how paintings styles have developed and diversified themselves. All of this can be reached from the number of boutique hotels, hotels resorts and Ubud villa rentals that are situated in around the town centre. I stayed at a place called The Purist and had a fantastic time exploring the town centre and its outer regions.
Shops line the street from the Monkey Forest to the Puri Lukisan so be prepared to say ‘tidak mau, terima kasih’ many times, if you do decide to buy something remember to bargain. I think for many visitors from countries where they are not used to bargaining it can seem rude but this totally normal and accepted in all of Indonesia. If shopping is not your cup of tea and you are visiting for the art, in Ubud, Mas and Peliatan, you can study dance, music, painting and many more forms of art. You can even choose a guru, by frequenting the galleries and shows you can find the style you like and then approach an artist of this style directly (if you are lucky maybe you can get some lessons).
As you can see Ubud is a wonderful place with lots to offer the traveller or family on vacation. The other nice thing about Ubud is that it has such a diversity of tourists, people coming from all four corners of the world. If you are travelling on a ‘shoe-string’ or ‘money is not an issue’ the range of accommodation in Ubud caters for everybody, from the Ubud boutique hotels and luxury villas to backpacker hostels and home-stays. All visitors are welcome in Ubud.
About the Author
The Purist villas Ubud Bali by Yvonne and Alberto succeeded in creating yet another home away from home, which has become their trademark signature. The Purist offers only seven private villas, making it the smallest boutique hotel in Bali. In this way, we can meet any of your personal and specific needs. The Purist: sophisticated hospitality stripped to the essence.
Robert Indiana Hard Edge at PAUL KASMIN Gallery