Top 7 Things to Do in Ubud, Bali

These are my top seven things to do in Ubud, Bali. Located in the dense rainforests and vast rice terraces of central Bali, Ubud is a place that certainly lives up to its reputation and has some unbelievable things to see, do, and experience. Starting off with number one, the Kajang rice fields. Now these rice fields are actually less known than some more famous ones we'll talk about later on in the video, and the Kajang rice fields are honestly a bit of a gem in the town of Ubud because they're located right in town. You can actually walk to them taking the Sweet Orange Trail, which leads from the town and takes you into these beautiful rice terraces, which you can actually see rice farmers working in and have plenty of area to wander around and explore and little side paths to deviate from. It's a great way to escape the crowds and scooters in Ubud, which you'll be dying to do as I was myself. But one of my ultimate recommendations is make sure you check out Sweet Orange Warung, which is a small little warung, which means like small restaurant or family business in Indonesia or Bali. And this warung has some unbelievable coffee, it's so delicious, it's Indonesian dark coffee, it's so delicious, and some amazing food like tempeh seteh, and just great vibes and peace and tranquility, and these cool little coconut heads that hanging, that give it a little bit of a eccentric sort of vibe and feel. But I cannot recommend this enough everybody, definitely check out the Kajang rice fields, it is one of my things to do in all of Ubud for good reason. Number two is going to be go chasing waterfalls, and that is waterfalls, because there are a plethora of waterfalls only about 30 minutes to an hour away from Ubud, and they each offer something different and amazing. So I'll tell you about a few that I recommend you visit. One of them is Tuka Jepong waterfall, it's about 50 minutes from Ubud town center, and it's really beautiful, it's best to go more in the early morning or like early afternoon time period, because this waterfall is actually located in a bit of a cave-like setting. You go through this canyon, which is a really cool sort of natural setting, and the waterfall at the end will have light shining through. It's so beautiful, but it's definitely gotten a little bit more popular in recent times, so make sure you go early, and be wary that there'll be some crowds, and you might not be able to have the whole place to yourself, but it's very beautiful and worth visiting nonetheless. Another waterfall is Tibu Mana, it's located about 30 minutes from Ubud, and it is beautiful. It's also a little bit popular, not as popular as Tuka Jepong, and this waterfall is incredibly beautiful, in this like lush, dense, like green rainforest-y setting, and the waterfall is so straight and picturesque, and you can swim in the pool as well, so definitely cannot recommend Tibu Mana waterfall enough. Another waterfall, actually pretty close to Tibu Mana, is Kanto Lampo waterfall, so it's about 30 minutes from Ubud as well, and this one's very different than the other two, because this waterfall is like cascading upon many rocks, giving this like brilliant, beautiful, like bright white lights that make it really good for photos, but if you go late morning, early afternoon, you will be waiting in line like it's an attraction to get your photo, so definitely come here earlier in the morning, or maybe don't consider going if this kind of thing turns you off, which it kind of turns me off a little bit, and I'm sure you want to avoid the crowds while being in Ubud and Bali, because this is a place of like more authentic Balinese beauty and nature and culture, so being, making you feel like you're at a bit of an Instagram shoot, or like an attraction kind of takes away the beauty and peace that you probably want to get in Ubud. And of course, there are even more besides these three, you have Tegen Nugang, you have Belang Singa, and just countless waterfalls, just look at Google Maps and choose one that looks interesting to you, maybe you want to visit one that's a little bit different, maybe a little bit off the beaten path, these are three essential ones I think will be really beautiful and offer you something different, because waterfalls in central Bali are so beautiful and amazing, make sure to visit them, visit them early to escape the crowds of course. And number three, of course, is going to be eat some delicious, but healthy food. In case you didn't know, you probably do, Ubud is a place that's known for its like spiritual and like wellness, healthful, mindful community, and this results in some delicious, healthy food that is also located in some beautiful like zen sort of restaurants that have a great design, a great atmosphere and vibe, and some delicious food, so I'll tell you about a couple that I recommend you visit. My first recommendation is going to be a restaurant called Sage, they are all vegan actually, and they have international slash like Indonesian, so it's kind of like a wide variety of foods, and they're all delicious and amazing and healthy, maybe except for the Mexican food, to be honest, that's because I've been in Mexico, and my threshold for good Mexican food is very high, also being American, so close to Mexico, but anyway, they have delicious Indonesian food, international food, breakfast, and dessert. I went to this place countless times, and it's just a beautiful restaurant with amazing food as well. Who's that? My main other place I recommend you eat at is Dapur Usada. Now this is a vegetarian place actually, and they offer what's called Indo-Vedic food, or Indo-Vedic food, which is essentially like Indonesian cuisine, which hey, we want to eat while being in Bali, and especially in Ubud, and it is mixed with like Ayurveda sort of principles, which is like Indonesian sort of like holistic natural medicine and treatment for the body and health, so this one's pretty good to me, and the food is actually amazing. You would never guess that it's like cooked to only be healthy. It is so delicious, especially some of the curries, and they even have some really good sweet treat stuff here for you, so I just love the quality of food for your body and like taste buds here in Ubud, and there's actually so many more restaurants I would recommend that you eat at while being in Ubud, so I'll actually make a comprehensive food video coming pretty soon. Let me know if you're interested in the comments below, but stay tuned for that if you are a foodie like me. Number four is to visit some temples. Bali is actually a Hindu island, which makes it different from most of the islands in areas in Indonesia, so visiting a Hindu temple is one of the best ways to experience local culture, and similar to waterfalls, there are a variety of different temples where you can do this. One of these temples is Pura Taman Kemudasaraswati. Now this pretty good pronunciation, right? Probably not, but let me know. It is actually located right in the town center of Ubud, and this is a beautiful Hindu temple with a really scenic and picturesque lotus pond around it. It's a little bit small, but it's definitely a little bit quaint. It's not going to be packed full of people if you go earlier in the day, and it is a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Saraswati, who's like the god or goddess, I should say, of like literature and knowledge and all that sort of thing. One of the most famous ones is Pura Terta Empul, which is sort of like another water Hindu temple, and this is a place that's about 25 minutes from the town center of Ubud, and it is famous for its like water bathing ceremony that you can actually take place in. I didn't go myself, but it was definitely high on my list, and I would recommend you check it out. And another one is Goa Gaja, which is about eight minutes or so from the town center. It actually dates back to the 8th or 9th century, and it has stone carvings that are really beautiful, as well as like a cave entrance to the temple. So those are three that you should definitely check out. You need to visit a Hindu temple while being in Ubud for sure. Number five is a beautiful place, which is the Champuhan Ridge Walk. This is a stunning setting that's located just a little bit from the town center of Ubud, and it's actually like a ridge of not quite a mountain, but going along the valley, and it gives you a great area to walk around, taking some views away from the busy scooters zooming past you on the main streets, presumably. And it's a great place to walk around for sunset and just to escape a little bit of the city. You definitely won't be alone. There'll be lots of tourists and people walking there too, but it just will give you different view of the beautiful natural setting of Ubud, where you can see the valley and like green dense rainforest surrounding you. And it's just a really beautiful place as well that you should visit while being in Ubud. Now number six is probably the most famous attraction in all of Ubud, which is to visit the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary. Now unfortunately I did not go to this one, so I do feel a little bit silly putting this on my list, but it definitely was something that seemed really interesting to me. I did not visit myself because I actually saw plenty of monkeys while driving and exploring the rest of Bali, which you should definitely do too, including going to the Uluwatu Temple in the south, that is Uluwatu area, where there's the temple, where there's lots of monkeys chilling there that you can interact with. And there were plenty, naughty enough for me already. Which leads me to my number two point, is that I heard the monkeys here are a little bit crazy. They're a little bit mischievous to put it lightly. They might like jump on you, and people have actually gotten like bit by these monkeys because they're incredibly poorly behaved. But I definitely think you should still go. Look at me selling this place. But I think you should go if you are going to have some good etiquette. Probably try and give the monkeys a little bit more space. Don't feed them because they might come to you and harass you for food. Don't make eye contact, and just kind of try and peacefully interact with them if that's even possible. Just be careful and be safe, and best of luck to you. Number seven, finally, is the ultimate rice fields near Ubud, the Tegelulung Rice Fields. Now these are located about 30 minutes from the town of Ubud, and they are very famous, probably one of the most famous places on the entire island. But it is not overrated at all for many reasons. Number one, it is so beautiful. It is famous for good reason because it is gorgeous. You have this like deep valley with these cascading rice terraces going around that makes it feel like it's layer after layer after layer of green beautiful natural scenery in central Bali. This is the kind of Bali that you would love to see and probably hoped to see while playing a trip here. Number two, in addition to being beautiful, it is vast. So there are plenty of areas for you to explore where you can escape the crowds, where you can get lost a little bit. Definitely lost because we actually had to like have a local person help us escape the rice terraces. There'll be a lot of people there. There'll be some gimmicky kind of like attraction sort of stuff you'll want to stay away from, or maybe you want to partake in. But if you want beautiful rice fields, untouched, relatively untouched, this is still going to be an amazing place for you to explore and take in the beautiful green lush scenery that we talked about that you can of course find in Ubud, Bali. And while you're here, I do recommend going to TIS Cafe. It's a beautiful restaurant with amazing views of the rice terraces and you can also get some food and drink here to cool off or you know fill up your belly after taking an hour or two to really get lost and explore these rice terraces. But that's all everybody. Those are my top seven things to do in Ubud. What do you think? Do any of these look really cool and interesting to you? I guess technically it's more than seven because some of these things had multiple options. So let me know down in the comments below. Are you going to go to Ubud soon? Also are you going to explore the rest of Bali? I would love to hear from you. Thanks for watching everybody and make sure to check out my next video because I have so much more to cover and talk about regarding the island of the gods, Bali, Indonesia. Thanks for watching everybody. Peace.