Just a couple of days ago, I was in beautiful Bali for a short vacation. Ever since I got hooked on surfing, Bali has become one of my dream surfing destinations. For four days, I was in surfing paradise and it was indeed a dream come true. But apart from surfing, Bali has so much more to offer with its beautiful landscapes, breathtaking views, artistic temples and colorful culture that surfers and non-surfers alike will enjoy. And this is what I explored on my first day there.

Bali is an island and a province of Indonesia. It is located at the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands. To its west is Java and to the east is Lombok. Its two main sources of income are agriculture and tourism.

Day one, upon arrival in Bali, I went straight to a tour of the town of Ubud. My flight landed before 8am and I had arranged for a driver and tour guide to pick my friend up at his hotel and then pick me up at the airport before heading straight to Ubud. Ubud is known as the center of arts and culture in Indonesia, with its picturesque houses and buildings showcasing Balinese architecture. Also, the locals in Ubud thrive by creating and selling art in the form of paintings, furniture, sculpture, and house decorations.

From the airport in Denpasar, it was a 45-minute drive to Ubud. Our first stop was Batuan Temple, which is one of the busiest temples in Bali, located just before reaching Ubud. Batuan Temple is the oldest temple in Bali. To be able to enter, sarongs are required and are provided for tourists to borrow free of charge. There is just an entrance fee of 10000IDR.

Up next on our itinerary was the Tegenungan Waterfall, which took us a ten-minute drive from Batuan Temple. It is located at the Tegenungan Kemenuh village. The waterfall is roughly 25m in height. To get to the waterfall, one must first pay an entrance fee of 15000IDR and trek down a set of steep stairs going to the stream and the waterfalls. 

Afterwards, we headed to the Ubud Monkey Forest. Entrance fee is 50000IDR. When inside the attraction, one must always be mindful of their stuff as the monkeys tend to grab them. While they are generally used to interacting with people, they are still considered as wild animals so better be careful.

After about an hour in the Ubud Monkey Forest, we went to the town proper of Ubud for lunch. We also checked out the Ubud Market, the Ubud Palace and the Pura Taman Saraswati. We first went to the Ubud Market to check out some of the stuff being sold there. And it had pretty much everything from bags to clothes to accessories to souvenir items and food items. We then had lunch at a local restaurant, and continued our walking tour afterwards. There are no entrance fees for the Ubud Palace and the Pura Taman Saraswati.
 Ubud Market
 Ubud Palace
Pura Taman Saraswati

After our walking tour of Ubud, we then went to the Tegalalang Rice Terraces which is known for the breathtaking view of rice paddies. It was a good twenty-minute drive from the Ubud Palace. Entrance fee to the rice terraces costs 10000IDR and you can take all the photos that you want. There are also a few swings which you can ride for as long as you want for only 50000IDR.

The Tegalalag Rice Terraces concluded our Ubud tour. After that, we went to Agung Bali for some souvenir and pasalubong shopping. Agung Bali is where you'll find the same items in every souvenir shop in Bali, but only cheaper. In fact, they carry the very same items in the cheapest prices. 

The car rental with driver cost 500000IDR for the entire day, which can be divided by the number of people in the tour. In our case, it was just me and my friend. We added 100000IDR for the airport pickup. Overall including the entrance fees, the tour cost us 1612PHP each. It was a really good deal.

Ubud is truly worth the trip because of the amazing views of its landscape and architecture. Every corner is very Instragrammable. If I had more time, I would have loved to explore more of Ubud. That's it for now. Keep posted for more of my Bali adventures. :)