Two Days in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

This series of ten posts comes from a three week trip to Indonesia. I traveled to the islands of Java, Bali and Lombok with G-adventures. Along the way, I saw incredible cultural sites, enjoyed delicious foods, met great people, and took in beautiful views. Here’s the story…

Champlung Sari Hotel 

Travelers from around the world flock to Ubud for the beautiful scenery, the Hindu temples, the unique activities and for some time to relax. Our group had two days to explore Ubud and the freedom to enjoy it at our own pace. 

Our fascinating hotel was located on Monkey Forest Road. Just a stone’s throw from the Monkey Forest, the hotel grounds were filled with macaque monkeys. They climbed onto the hotel balconies, hung out on the roof and tried to sneak food by the pools. Bebez highly recommended to close doors securely, avoid plastic bags and water bottles, and not to leave anything on the balconies. Those sneaky monkeys found a way to get into everything! 

The hotel had two beautiful pools surrounded by tall palm trees and tropical flowering plants. We lounged by the pool. Here I finally tried some Balinese white wine called “Arak.” It was a rice wine but was much stronger than I expected; more of a spirit than a wine. Also while around the pool, one of the staff members constantly patrolled the area with a long stick to shoo the monkeys away from the guests. 

The Champlung Sari Hotel had an excellent breakfast buffet. There were tons of options for eggs, pancakes, sausages, cheese, pastries, juices and coffee. Most of the hotels we visited had amazing spreads of breakfast and lunch options. However this hotel was unique because of the monkeys. One staff member stood guard at the door to keep the monkeys out. When they were denied at the door, they sat on the nearby roof and on the windowsills hoping to find a way in.

Balienese Cooking Class

When I’m traveling, trying the local foods is an important part of learning about a culture. Even though I’m usually a picky eater, I try to be more adventurous on the road. So for our “free-day” with the G-adventures, I signed up to take a Balienese Cooking Class. I’ll never be able to recreate these foods but I love to see the ingredients that go into traditional dishes and to learn how they’re made. 

My day started when Putu, our guide and chef, picked me up at the hotel. I joined a family of four from New Zealand and we headed to the local market. 

Local Market – Pasar Desa Peliatan

We started our cooking class at the local market so we could see where the food comes from. Many Baliense shop at the market daily for fresh fruits, vegetables and meats. The market we visited had two stories and formed a U-shape around a central parking lot area filled with motorbikes. 

Some of the stalls only sold materials for making offerings and altars. They had banana leaves, marigolds and other flowers with purple, white, pink and blue petals. Some stalls had just veggies; carrots, potatoes, garlic, onions, bok choy and chiles. Others had fruits, processed pantry items and plastic homegoods. 

A few vendors sold prepared food and people could purchase a mixed plate or entrees by the kilo to take home. They sold tuna, tempeh, eggs, and chicken. 

Cooking Time

We drove another ten minutes to the home of Madde, Putu’s father in law. Their family owns a huge complex with guest rooms and a huge kitchen patio outfitted for cooking classes.

When we arrived, they served a welcome drink, something tropical and fruity. The main table had all the meal’s ingredients neatly laid out. Every plate setting was perfectly proportioned and beautifully displayed, just like on a cooking show. 

Putu reviewed the essentials for all the dishes. Basically everything in Baliense culinary includes garlic, shallots, lemon grass and onion. Next, we made chicken stock and vegetable stock. We boiled water, veggies and chicken and let it simmer. The stock would be used in dishes throughout the day.

Curry

We made curry with tofu and soy beans. Each dish started with the basics of garlic, onions, shallots and lemon grass. Then we added salt, pepper, chicken powder, shrimp paste, tomato and chiles. Next we added tofu, tempeh and vegetables into the eight skillets lined up in a row for the cooking class. Once all the ingredients were added and the ladies combined (and maybe fixed up) all the dishes behind the scenes. 

Peanut Sauce

Next, we prepared peanut sauce. We used a mortar and pestle to grind up the tomatoes, grilled peanuts and other basics. Putu and Madde then added water and chicken stock to help thin out the peanut paste and lastly we added sweet soy sauce to the mix. Later we made chicken and veggie kabobs marinated with tomato, pepper and turmeric. We cooked them on the grill and dipped them in our homemade peanut sauce. 

Banana Dumplings – Pisang Rai

My favorite is always dessert so I loved making the banana dumplings, pisang rai. We mixed up the batter with corn flour, rice flour, wheat flour, sugar, salt and yeast and added the green coloring from the pandan leaf to some of the dumplings. Then we dumped banana slices into the batter. Finally we dropped the batter-covered bananas into boiling water. Once they were cooked, we let them cool. To serve the dumplings, we sprinkled coconut shavings and drizzled them with palm sugar syrup. 

Fried Rice and Fried Noodles

Our last dishes were fried rice and fried noodles. These were prepared much the same way, except for the rice and noodles. We started with chopped veggies, the basics, and added a few more spices. For the fried rice, we also had an egg or two. Once everything was fried up together in the skillet, we also added a bit of ketchup and soy sauce. 

The Meal

After all the cooking fun, the best part was eating all the food we prepared. While we were busy cooking, the ladies behind the scenes gathered and laid out all the plates together into an impressive buffet. After a few photos, we each grabbed a plate and sampled eight to ten different Baliense dishes. Everyone ate together on the kitchen balcony; friends from the US, a family from France, another family New Zealand and a couple of solo travelers as well. 

At the end, we each said “thank you” and “good-bye” to our culinary hosts. Putu dropped us each at our hotels with full bellies and happy hearts from the outstanding experience.

Monkey Forest

To preface this whole monkey forest section, I was feeling a bit skittish about all these monkeys since we arrived. As cute as they are, monkeys are wild animals and could carry diseases. Even though, while in Ubud, I did learn how much research has been conducted with the monkeys in the area and they’re quite safe. But anyway…

One afternoon, I went to the Monkey Forest with Carina, Nathan and Chloe. First we met at the hotel and left our backpacks and bags in the room instead of bringing them to the monkey area. We were under strict recommendations: no plastic bags or water bottles, no sunglasses, no eye contact and certainly, no teasing the monkeys.

We entered at the main gate and paid our entry fee. The ticket was 80.000 rupiah, or about $6.00 USD. The park contains about 27 acres and several Hindu temples. The park was very well staffed and clean. Around the park, there were several feeding stations. The metal cages contained food and staff periodically would open the cage, chop up the veggies and fling them out to the monkeys. The staff did a specific yelp or hollar that called the monkeys over to the feeding station. The monkeys seemed to prefer the corn, followed by the sweet potatoes. Watching the monkeys feeding was fascinating and we wandered from one feeding station to the next. 

The whole Monkey Forest was amazing to wander around. Over 900 monkeys belong to five different clans or family groups, each in their own region of the park. The park rangers said that they usually live peacefully but sometimes have small conflicts. One monkey, Nelson, had a personal caged area. He was blind and needed a protected home. A few other monkeys played near him outside his cage. 

Many of the female monkeys carried their small babies on their chest or back. These monkeys stay with their mothers for ten months before they are fully independent. One baby monkey came up and sat on Chloe’s lap. She stayed calm while the baby repeatedly, and unsuccessfully, attempted to bury a peanut in the folds of her dress. It was really cute and gentle. Eventually the baby tried to pull itself up her hair, gave up and ran off.

Certainly, some tourists didn’t respect the rules. They purposefully fed the monkeys their human food. They carried plastic bags. One monkey reached for something plastic on a woman and her friend started beating the monkey with her purse. So the monkey reenacted and showed its teeth. She’s lucky she didn’t get bitten. The staff monitored the humans as best they could but some disrespectful tourists insisted on breaking the rules.

The Monkey Forest closed at 6:00pm and they started moving us towards the door after 5:30. I might still be there admiring the monkeys but my camera battery was dwindling after 500 monkey pictures. 

Dinner Show at Laka Leke

We took a long walk on the pedestrian path around the Monkey Forest to the Laka Leke restaurant. The name, “Laka Leke,” means “Hideaway,” which perfectly describes the place. Once past the entryway, the gardens open up to paths, ponds, pavilions, and tons of beautiful statues. 

First, we had dinner. I chose a delicious Indonesian curry chicken. It was mild and even had some apples in the dish. Our seats were front and center for the performance of the evening, “Barong and Keris.”

The story of “Barong and Keris” depicts two warring kingdoms and a beautiful goddess sent to distract them. It ends with both kings acquiring some good and some bad, a Baliense desire to seek balance.

Eight musicians played gongs, flutes, and bamboo percussion through the various scenes. Scenes featured just female dancers, just male, and others mixed. Masked men performed another dance, and finally, a man dressed as the lion danced with four bare-chested warriors. Each dance was impressive with beautifully detailed and dramatic costumes.

Around Ubud

Ubud is a huge tourist destination and around the town center, almost every entryway contained a souvenir shop, restaurant, salon or guesthouse. One morning, I took a walk around the neighborhood. I finally found a patch of the Indonesian flag. Collecting patches in each place I visit used to be fairly easy but now fewer tourist shops stock them. 

Every street had a few salon for massages, manicures and pedicures. A basic hour-long massage costs about $6 USD. In one massage, the small lady actually climbed up on top of my back while I laid on the table. Some massages were relaxing, others painful as the ladies work out every knotted muscle.

Ubud had tons of options for dining, local and international. One evening I separated from the group for an Italian dinner at “Mamma Mia.” I’m not usually much for going out to eat alone but I enjoyed the quiet time after many busy days with the group. I ordered a plate of spaghetti and meatballs and a delicious panna cotta with chocolate for dessert. Afterwards, I walked home, by myself, which would not be safe in México. Ubud is known for being fairly safe for tourists, even solo females. 

The last morning, I enjoyed breakfast, a walk around town and some quiet time at a coffee shop. I picked a table on the back patio with a view overlooking the rice paddies. I caught up on my journal and reflected on the fun two days in Ubud. 

Next stop, Candidasa!