Exits of Ubud

You'll need a base camp from which to co-ordinate activities whilst in Ubud and that naturally means a luxurious valley setting, spacious and refined villa, privacy amongst the serenity of Ubud's wildlife, a quality health spa for rebalancing the spirit and a top notch restaurant to rebalance the palate.


There's no point in scrimping and saving on accommodation when you're in one of the most beautiful parts of Bali. Bust the budget in style at the pick of Ubud's best resorts. Take a trip upstate (well, 5 minutes from Ubud centre) to the Ayung River and Alila (T: 0361 975 963, alilahotels ). Contemporary styled spacious villas and rooms, luxurious massage treatments at Spa Alila, world class dining in-house and a very attractive infinity pool make Alila a top spot for those wishing to detach from civilisation for a spell. White water rafting, cycling tours and quad biking are all at your disposal should days spent lounging around the pool not appeal. Daily shuttle buses to Ubud ferry guests into the heart of cultural action. Villas are US $450 per night published rate.

Keep on trucking up the road from Alila and after another ten minutes of winding hillside roads you will find Ubud Hanging Gardens (T: 0361 982 700, Ubudhanginggardens ) signposted off to the left in tiny rural Buahan Village also overlooking the Ayung river. There's a choice of five villas all nestling in a very natural environment linked by the inclinator that ferries guests around the resort. The Beduur Restaurant, terraced into the hillside serves a medley of French Asian inspired cuisine in classic fine dining surrounds. Rates start from an extremely affordable high season US $330 for the Valley View deluxe Pool Villa.
Back towards town the Royal Pita Maha (T: 0361 980 022, royalpitamaha-bali ) is set in another gorgeous Ubud location, this time towering over the rivers of Tjampuhan (Balinese for 'the meeting of two rivers') with a quaint and very spiritual atmosphere surrounding the villa environment. Expect to find traditional design methods, an extensive collection of artwork and an overwhelming sense of peace and harmony whilst staying here. Each villa has its own private pool and garden. Rates from US $400 per night for the Pool Villa to $1500 for the Royal House.

The Viceroy (T: 0361 971777, theviceroybali ) is perfectly situated just five minutes from all the action in Ubud central and far enough away to escape into total tranquillity in luxury surrounds. Set dramatically over the Petanu valley near the tiny village of Nagi the resort transfixes the visitor from the moment you enter the lobby and peer out over the jungle slopes of the river gorge. We elected to stay in one of the terrace Villas with a simply huge bedroom opening out dramatically onto your own veranda, perch view over the valley and private Bale (a perfect spot for breakfast) with adjoining plunge pool. The high alang-alang roofing of the villa, tasteful, traditional Balinese architecture both inside and outside the room and the sheer decadence of the bathroom to the rear make for a perfect combination of style, function and grace. It seems a shame, almost, to have to spend anytime outside in the real world and you may find it difficult if not impossible to muster up the energy to leave the premises after a couple of hours lounging in your Bale, sipping one of the unsurpassable Viceroy cocktails and soaking up the valley vibe.

Dinner at Cascades after a quick detour to The Lembah Spa yields a delightful foray into haute cuisine redefined. The Le Broc au Lit (broccoli cappuccino), freshly baked bread, Tartare of Tuna with butter-fried chips and Grand Marnier Souffle all perfectly compliment the atmosphere of the restaurant, chic sophistication of the cool valley climes matched effortlessly with one of Bali's most extensive wine cellars.


Waking up the next morning and fighting through a large stack of fresh croissants in the Bale it's time to dig out the maps and plan the morning's activities. The ever-enigmatic Victor Mason leads the charge up in Ubud when it comes to cavorting around the countryside with binoculars in search of birds, bees, butterflies and the flora and fauna of the spectacular rolling hills. What Victor and his assistant Sue don't know about the natural environment up here isn't worth consideration. We joined them at Bali Birdwalks (T: 0361 975 009, 0812 391 3801 (Sue), E: su_birdwalk@yahoo.com) for an amble through the undergrowth, foraging for new species on a crystal clear Friday morning spying all manner of beautiful swooping Egrets, White-breasted Waterhens and of course, the resident Java Kingfisher in all its iridescent beauty.

It's amazing how much you miss in Bali when you don't slow the pace down to a saunter and actually take time to appreciate the real world that lives and breathes behind the shop fronts and advertising billboards. Victor, who is a stalwart old-school 'birder' and his four-legged scout Nimrod lead you into a world largely unknown every Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. Starting at Beggar's Bush (just over the Tjampuhan bridge, opposite Antonio Blanco museum) at 9am the walk lasts around three hours culminating in a well-earned lunch and celebratory beer at Murni's open air restaurant to 'recapitulate the morning's discoveries' and to indulge in a little of Victors encyclopaedic ornithological knowledge. Walks are priced at US$33 including lunch and are a very rewarding and entertaining morning's excursion.

For more wildlife of a different kind head to Jl Monkey Forest where visitors can expect to stumble across plenty of Balinese long tail Macaques monkeys, three very holy temples dating back to mid 14th century during the Pejeng or early Gelgel Dynasty and two graveyards. Monkey Forest is a well up kept tourist attraction, tickets are IDR 10,000, bananas optional. Back onto the main Jl Raya Ubud and just opposite the Royal Palace is one of the real legends of Ubud. A vegetarian's nightmare realised on the shady streets of just to the side of the wantilan (local meeting hall) Ibu Oka's is an island phenomenon, a veritable pork fest on an unimaginable scale. There's no menu, no fussing around choosing dishes a la Padang cuisine, you walk in, chance your luck finding a stoop on the floor (it can get frighteningly crowded in here) and take what you're given, which is basically a woven basket full of piggy goodness with lawar (a mixture of shredded vegetables, coconut, chillies and if you're around during ceremonial times congealed pig's blood to transform the usual green colour to a disturbing brown red appearance), steamed white rice, some sausage (best not to look to closely whilst savouring this), a wedge of kulit (pig skin crackling) and the main ingredient, pork.

It's the quality of this succulent, tender, lean meat that has earned Oka's such praise on the island and into Java. The pigs are brought down the hill every morning and spit roasted to perfection over a wood fire whilst constantly being braised in coconut oil. The recipe is perfection and every plate I've ever consumed at Oka's has been packed full of local Balinese goodness and flavour, you really don't find Babi Guling like this anywhere else on the island.

Take a look around your lunch companions when dining here and you will see a mix and match of Chinese Javanese and local Balinese with the odd westerner thrown into the melting pot of classes and cultures. If you're lucky and are visiting Ubud in the build-up to a particularly large ceremony the location for Oka's may shift from next door to the wantilan to across the street and up a tiny lane to the right and Ibu Oka's home where a traditional garden setting, caged birds and a staff largely comprising of her family members will invite you to dine authentically in a Balinese setting.

You can't spend a short break in Ubud without partaking in some realignment of the body and soul and that means some spa attention. Recently my Chakras seem to have fallen out of sync with the rest of my genetic make up so I checked into rehab at Bali Botanica Day Spa on Jl Sanggingan (T: 0361 289 901, www.balibotanica.com) for an afternoon Ayurvedic treatment with one of their specially trained spiritual therapists. The Ayurvedic Chakra Dhara Massage was prescribed to channel my energies more effectively around my physical form, this is done with the aid of warm herbal oil dripped onto my chakra points, lower back, belly button and to conclude, third eye although this is the last stage after some serious massaging sent me drifting off to sleep punctuated by trips to the shower to spruce up between rub downs. The Botanica Spa is a tiny little affair tucked off Jl Sanggingan, just next to Mozaic specialising in many treatments from Ayurvedic massages to manicures, facials, tropical spa lunches and even yoga retreats for five nights at the newly opened Zen Bali Retreat. It's a highly recommended sign off for a trip to Ubud and will leave you completely at ease with the world as you descend the hill back to the south of the island. Ayurvedic treatment is priced at IDR 450,000 for two and a half hours.

Heading back up to Jl Raya Ubud at dusk we stop at Ary's Warung (T: 0361 975 053) - the perfect street side eatery for contemporary Asian cuisine and sundown cocktails overlooking Ubud's main street and all its lively happenings. The menu is designed as a six course tasting menu priced at IDR 200,000 with such delectable offerings as coconut king prawns, roasted goat cheese, tomato, kemangi terrine and a tataki of venison loin. People watch to your heart's content here and expect to play witness to regular ceremonial processions whilst you savour the sleek, minimal setting of the revamped warung. The perfect after dinner entertainment is to check out the traditional Balinese dances that take place every day of the week in a variety of locations in Ubud starting around 7pm, tickets average at IDR 50,000 per performance. More information available from the tourist information centre on Jl Ubud Raya. Every Full and New Moon is the Kecak Dance at Arma Resort & Museum, Jl Raya Pengosekan, tickets IDR 100,000.
If you've still got the energy then head back up to Sanggingan to Naughty Nuris for a nightcap and a late supper of their famous ribs then pass by Ozigo, one of the few places to remain open later than the 10.30pm Ubud curfew.

On the way back down the hill be sure to pay a visit to Horizon Glassworks (T: 0361 780 4014) on the main road from Sayan to catch local glass blower Ron Seivertson and his highly trained team create incredibly beautiful pieces of art. The viewing gallery in the hot shop allows visitors the chance to get right into the action whilst the adjoining gift shop features a selection of the artist's most creative pieces.