Ubud Bali

The Top 7 Sights to See Around Ubud Bali

Ubud Bali is an idyllic village in the heart of Bali. Once you stay here a couple of days you wish you could stay for weeks and then for months. There are so many things to do ranging from attending the gracious legong dance at Ubud palace or by following a course in Balinese painting or to go on a bird watching tour with an eccentric Englishman in the rice paddies.

But that's not all. When you're in Ubud you have to travel around a bit to really appreciate the surroundings which make Ubud without a doubt the cultural capital of Bali. Here are our top 7 sights to see around Ubud Bali.

1. Just northwest of Ubud you find on the outskirts of Bedulu an amazing temple sight called 'Goa Gajah', which means Elephant Cave. It was discovered by Dutch archeologists in 1923 after they heard locals describe a cave with a monstrous elephant head. The head turned out to represent a demon and not an elephant.

Two decades later in 1954 a bathing pool and fountains were discovered just in front of the cave. Today the bathing pool has been renovated into a section for men and one for woman where nymph statues are holding jugs which spew water into the pool.

2. Just around the corner of Goa Gajah, a 300m long walk through ricefields you find another ancient sight called 'Yeh Puluh', where yeh means 'holy spring' and pulu means 'stone vessel'. Here you find 25-metre long series of rock-cut panels said to originate from the fourteenth of fifteenth century.

Historians believe that the rock-cut panels tell a five-part story and while a lot of it has been lost you can still see some terrific statues of the Hindu god Khrishna and scenes depicting daily Balinese life such as a man carrying river water on a shoulder pole following a higher caste woman wearing jewelry.

3. The tiny village of Pejeng lies on the Bedulu-Tampaksiring road and has been inhabited since the Bronze Age and is considered a sacred site to the Balinese. At their Penataran Sasih temple you can find the Moon of Pejeng which is the biggest and oldest kettle drum ever cast believed to date from the third century BC. This bronze gong is almost two meter long and situated high in the tower at the back of the temple compound.

4. Continuing on the road to Tampaksiring you find the amazing setting of 'Gunung Kawi', ten royal tombs carved out in rocks set amidst its rice paddies, palm trees and the river Pakrisan. The ten tombs were built in the 11th century and are surprisingly well maintained considering the tropical weather conditions.

The story goes that the five tombs across the river are dedicated to King Udayana, his queen Mahendradatta, their oldest son Airlangga (who ruled Eastern Java) and their youngest son Anak Wungsu who ruled Bali from 1050 to 1077 AC and brother Marakata.

5. Just north of Gunung Kawi you find the impressive temple sight of Tirta Empul. 'Tirta' is derived from the Sanskrit word 'amrita' meaning 'nectar of life' and this is Bali's most sacred bathing place. The Balinese believe that the source provides holy water with magical powers.

Brahman priests from all over Bali come here to collect the holy water they use for offerings and purification ceremonies.

There is a bathing area for women and men but as a foreigner it is not allowed to take a dip here since the place is too sacred for the Balinese. Nonetheless you can stroll around the temple complex and see the Balinese taking a bath.

6. On the road from Ubud to Tabenan you find the impressive 'Margarana memorial' in Marga, built in honor to those fallen against the Dutch in 1949. Here several Balinese warriors under leadership of Gusti Ngurah Rai fought a bloody battle ending in a puputan, which means a fight to deaths even with suicide instead of the prospect of ending up as a prisoner of the colonial Dutch.

The 17 m high Margaran Memorial was built in 1954 and has eight roofs in Javanese style, symbolising the unity of those fallen warriors.

7. On the road from Ubud to Lovina you run into the stunning temple complex of 'Taman Ayun' in Mengwi village and is one of Bali's most beautiful temples because it looks like it is set on an island. Taman Ayun means 'beautiful flower garden' so you can imagine that it must be beautiful.

The temple was built in 1634 during the powerful Mengwi Kingdom and here the rajas (kings) and high priests conducted offerings in order to maintain the balance between the 'creator' and the 'destroyer'.

The temple consists of several courtyards but as a visitor you are only allowed to enter the first two courtyards and peek over the wall to see the other courtyard.

As you can see the area of Ubud Bali has some amazing travel sights to visit and is definitely something which should not be missed while staying at this idyllic village.

Map of Bali

Map of Bali

You will find Bali located three miles off the west coast of Java with a comparatively tiny land area of just over 5,000km; Bali could fit into Australia over 1,200 times. From the tip of Bali in the north to the end of the island in the south is only 55miles and east to west it's only ninety miles, so getting around the island is reasonably easy and the longest drive that you would need to do in order to get to any resort would be 2 hours at the most.

The most popular Bali hotel resorts are situated in the south of the island with a couple of others along the east and west coast. Nusa Dua is the most southern resort that's popular with visitors, although you will find other less known ones a bit further south. The roads round the coast of Bali are typically in good shape, it is when you leave the main stretch that you'll find that the roads are very seldom maintained to any standard and are typically just mud tracks regularly impassible by 2 vehicles and you want to be cautious about folk and animals that use not only these side roads but the main roads to walk on.

Heading along the west coast from Nusa Dua you will come to Jimbaran another very popular and busy tourist resort. Perhaps 10 minutes further along you will go by Ngurah Rai International airport that's used as a gateway for the rest of Indonesia. Kuta and South Kuta are maybe another twenty minutes drive from here and this is where you'll find the most commercialized area of Bali. Not only are the hotels built to accommodate many tourists, but the leisure facilities and the shopping areas very tourist orientated.

The drive from here to the tip of the west coast will take you past some of the more up market visitor destinations of Bali. Legian and Seminyak are situated along the west coast and offer more luxurious accommodation including private beaches, gardens and swimming pools. The rest of the drive up the west coast will take you past many places to remain, but they don't seem to be the best known or well-liked resorts or hotels. For the holiday maker who favors secluded areas there will be plenty of places to remain along this western section of Bali without all the trappings and crowds of the big tourist places.

From here you could head inland in an easterly direction and you will come to Ubud which is situated in the mountainous region of Bali. The landscape is worlds apart compared to the seaside resorts. Here you will be encircled by lush tropical rain forests with stunning views of the mountains and volcanoes. Driving further east you'll shortly come to the eastern shore, where there are some popular resorts. As with the resorts further up the west coast you'll find these are far more expensive than the southern areas because of the wonderful diving locations around this area. The widely recognized resorts on the east coast are Candi Dasa and Sanur. After you get to Sanur you can take a detour inland and come to Denspanar, the capital of Bali. Though this is not actually a well-liked tourist destination due to its lack of beaches, night life and shopping malls, it is still worth taking time out to explore.

From Denspanar you would drive south again and before you get to Nusa Dua where you started from, you'll pass Tanjung Benoa an an incredibly well liked, but very up market area. Tanjung Benoa is situated on the tip of the peninsula and has stunning views of the sea.

As far as the most visited and popular places in Bali go, those are the better known ones, but Bali offers so very much more. There are such a lot of more Bali hotels situated all round the island and on some of the smaller islands just round the coast. Bali is definitely an island to be explored and visiting one of the smaller know towns will give you a miles better comprehension of the genuine Balinese lifestyle.

Bali Accommodation

Accommodation Rental in Bali Island

Bali is an island that is 3.2 km east of Java, it is just about 8 degrees south of the equator. The Bali Strait separates the two islands and there are regular crossings by ferry between Java and Bali.

The tallest part of Bali is Mount Agung which is an active volcano that last erupted in 1963 and it is 3,142 m high. This stands towering higher than the clouds and can be observed from countless areas of the island.

Bali is circled by coral reefs which are equally stunning and hazardous. There are many beaches in the region of Bali a quantity of made up of white sand and others made of black sand which comes from the volcanic rock.

Bali has no main water way, although the river can be traveled by the small sampan boats. Though there are a number of rivers that are well-liked with the travelers for white water rafting a few of them stream through inaccessible valleys of sheer rock some of which are hand carved and are a view to observe.

There is a great deal of building for tourism in between Pasut and Klatingdukuh, but apart from the temple of Tanah Lot which is on the coast in the sea and can't be accessed at high tide, there is no major tourism in this area.

Denpasar is the Capital of Bali and has just about 200,000 residents followed by Singaraja located towards the North of the island.

Kuta is the foremost area for tourism and is situated next to the beach. There are many luxury villas to rent in Bali and Kuta also has a number of hotels as well as guest house style lodging. The ocean at Kuta beach can be extremely perilous people really have to be careful when swimming in the sea. Strong rip tides are common. You must take care particularly with children or weak swimmers and check it is out of harm's way before jumping the sea.

The south of Bali has a lot of resorts like the Bukit and Uluwatu which have some nice cliffside villas for rent and for sale.

Padang Padang is a excellent place for surfing and there are a lot of resorts and private luxury villas for rent in this region which looks out over the sea and the enormous waves, just right for the surf mad people which frequent Bali from across the globe. Padang Padang beach and Dreamlands are two recent developments where you will discover luxurious property in Bali as well as some terrific luxury hotel deals in Bali.

Sanur is popular with ex pats there is a number of long term rental luxury villas and residences available in the area. There are also a lot of beach front resorts in Sanur too.

There are lots of fine dining restaurants in Bali plenty of that can be seen in Seminyak as well as a lot of the top boutique hotels.

You will never run out of things to do in Bali whether you are into spa treatments or scuba-diving. Shopping or jogging. Water sports are also a major attraction and are much cheaper to do than in other tourist hotspots nearly the World.

Whilst in Bali a visit to the monkey forest is a must. The monekys are free to roam where they like and feeding them is all part of the experience. Other excursions include the bat temple, the fire dances and a great magic show.

Spas are a big part of Bali and people flock from all over the world for the latest spa treatments including a wide range of massages and treatments for numerous ailments or just to relax and feel good. Yoga is another big part of Bali and there are a lots of places for yoga and meditation with beautiful view and landscape, plus personal trainer if you request.

You can find cheap or luxury accommodation rental in Bali, beachfront villas, or some nice luxury hotels deals. So do not wait any longer, take the time to research Bali and visit as soon as you have the time and opportunity to do so. You will not be regret.