A non-touristy holiday in Ubud, Bali

We bought a Zuji Exclusives Deal for $299 which entitled us to a 2-night stay in a one-bedroom pool villa at Bali Rich Luxury Villa Ubud. The package also came with:

- complimentary airport transfer both ways

- complimentary breakfast and afternoon tea

- complimentary shuttle to Ubud City Centre

- complimentary 1-hr massage for 2 persons

and other minor perks. 

The reservation process was painless - and done through email. The hotel was available for the dates we wanted (mainly because it was not super peak season). 

Having done no prior research, it was only after asking the driver did I realize that the drive from Airport to Ubud takes 1 1/2 hours!!! Don't expect a smooth highway ride - it's a narrow road (1 lane each way) through the many villages. Along the way the driver introduced the different activities you could do in Ubud - elephant ride, mountain trekking, cycling, white water rafting, dance performances, etc. He also brought to our attention that the rafting was on discount - only USD 45 instead of the usual USD 60. The rafting didn't interest us because a) we've experienced rafting in Queenstown b) the river water is brown. The husband, on the other hand, was very keen on the mountain trekking (which I casually ignored each time he talked about it).

The hotel was in a secluded area (if I had researched about it I would have known) so getting in and out would require a driver (which I later learnt was a common way to move around in Indonesia). Our villa was huge! Because of its surroundings, it wasn't unexpected to see different kinds of bugs and insects. The villa came equipped with mosquito coils, electric mosquito repellant, and bug spray.

Very huge tub	Room Service Breakfast

We took the shuttle to Ubud City Centre in the afternoon. On the way there, I chanced upon a sign which says "rice field 50m". We followed the sign and reached a vast rice field about 500m later (note: distances on signs are not that accurate in Ubud). It was sort of "off the beaten path" as it was totally non-commercialized and there was no one apart from us there (no rice field view cafe, no souvenir shops, etc). We wondered (with thankfulness) why the person bothered to put up the sign in the first place since there was nothing to profit from. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the city centre, and ate from a small warung selling satay and soto ayam. As you walk around the city centre, there will be a lot of people asking if you want to hire a taxi or join a tour or watch a show. They are usually friendly so nothing to be afraid of. 

The next day we joined a morning walk organized by the hotel. We walked through the village, saw different plants and trees, more insects and bugs, as well as a rice field. 

We went to the city centre again and explored the southern part including the monkey forest. We decided to give it a miss because we don't really like forests and had read online that the monkeys are trained swindlers. 

We visited ARMA (sorry, this is "touristy") because the reviews mentioned that this is not your typical museum. Museum tickets are priced at 60,000 Rp (inclusive of complimentary tea/coffee). True enough, the museum includes a restaurant, cafe, padi field, resort villa and spa. We would have spent the afternoon there just chilling if not because we had to catch our shuttle back to the hotel. 
We went back to the City Centre in the afternoon, but this time, we have asked the driver to drop us at Hotel Ibah instead. The Campuhan Ridge Walk starts from Hotel Ibah (you can refer to this site for a very detailed instructions on getting there). We started the walk at about 5:45pm and returned back to the starting point at about 6:20pm. Sunset starts at 6:40pm so make sure you are off the track by then.


There's not much to do in Ubud at night. Tourists would typically attend a dance performance or go to some bars with live jazz or acoustic music. I don't think there's a place to party either.

All in all, we spent about 1.5million Rupiah in Ubud, mainly on food, because we're really not into the arts & crafts items which are on sale. If you are planning for a non-touristy trip to Ubud, make sure you are prepared to chill in cafes or in the hotel, because otherwise, there's really not much to do.

P/S: if you are reading this from your phone, the photos will seem distorted. I had to put them within a html table and div if you know what I mean