Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

jewelry store & weaving shop

monkey forest

alas harum - coffee, swings and rice fields

tegenungan waterfall

Ubud is a popular multi-dimensional destination in Bali, offering a broad spectrum of attractions such as waterfalls, monkey forest, rice fields, Bali swings, coffee plantation, street markets and more. Located further inland at higher elevation, it’s a good change of scenery from all the beaches.

Voyagers Tip: Ubud is a must-do in Bali, but the traffic from the beaches to Ubud is horrendous. There’s enough to do in Ubud to justify spending a night or two here. If you choose to just do a day-trip up here, start your day early (~6am) to avoid the horrendous traffic. We left at 8am and it took us an hour and a half to get to Ubud and another hour to get to the waterfall. Don’t make this mistake.

jewelry factory & weaving shop

We visited a shop/factory of gold and silver jewelry. Everything is handmade and labor intensive. The visit to their factory got Ivan's operations brain churning. (Copy) (Copy) (Copy) (Copy)

It was nice to walk the factory floor and see the operations first hand. (Copy) (Copy) (Copy) (Copy)

No! You may not kiss! (Copy) (Copy) (Copy) (Copy)

A prince in disguise? Or just a frog? (Copy) (Copy) (Copy) (Copy)

Blending into the sculptures. (Copy) (Copy) (Copy) (Copy)

Hand-painted pieces require a steady hand and a lot of patience. (Copy) (Copy) (Copy) (Copy)

Weaving, the traditional way. (Copy) (Copy) (Copy) (Copy)

It was fun walking the jewelry factory and seeing how the gold and silver jewelry were made. The process was very intricate. The weaving shop was also interesting, everything is done by hand and a traditional weaving machine. No high-pressure selling here, which is nice. Each place is a worthwhile 15-minute stop.

monkey forest

Entering the famous Monkey Forest. (Copy) (Copy) (Copy) (Copy)

The monkey forest is a nice forest even without the monkey. (Copy) (Copy) (Copy) (Copy)

These two monkeys were... uh... getting busy... (Copy) (Copy) (Copy) (Copy)

This lady was brave, approached the monkeys and enticed them to climb on her. She definitely got her wish. (Copy) (Copy) (Copy) (Copy)

Ivan got a monkey to come to him, only to find out the monkey just wanted the water. He was actually able to get the lid off without twisting. Now that is impressive. (Copy) (Copy) (Copy) (Copy)

The monkey came back for Ivan's wallet in his pocket. When Ivan pressed down on his pocket to protect the wallet, the monkey hissed and scratched his back. Bad monkey! (Copy) (Copy) (Copy) (Copy)

Waiting for our driver, we imitated the sculpture to stay busy. (Copy) (Copy) (Copy) (Copy)

The Monkey Forest is a beautiful setting with countless monkeys roaming around, it is quite an unique experience. The monkeys here can get aggressive, heed the warnings about not carrying anything loose that you don’t want to lose, and you’ll be fine. If you want to let them climb on you, be sure to also guard your pocket as they will likely reach in to grab things and run away.

alas harum

Coffee tasting was the first stop before the Bali swings and rice fields. (Copy) (Copy) (Copy) (Copy)

We got hands-on learning of the coffee process. (Copy) (Copy) (Copy) (Copy)

The girls got to grind the spices that go with coffee. (Copy) (Copy) (Copy) (Copy)

Alas Harum is a great tourist attraction, combining the coffee plantation experience, Bali swings and rice fields, with plenty of Instagram-worthy spots. Just don’t expect an authentic experience, as this place is built purely for tourists. You see a sample of the coffee growing experience but not the actual fields, and the rice fields are mainly for show.

Voyagers tip: The experience starts with someone leading you from the entrance to the coffee plantation area, where you get hands-on learning about the coffee-making process and do coffee tasting. Basic tasting is included in ticket price, whereas Kopi Luwak costs extra. After that, you’re free to roam around and do Bali swings (for extra charge). They even have many dresses with long tails for rent that make for dramatic pictures on the Bali swings. Be sure to walk around and take plenty of pictures.

tegenungan waterfall

Tegenungan Waterfall is the most popular waterfall near Ubud. (Copy) (Copy) (Copy) (Copy)

It is usually extremely crowded. The rain drove away some of the crowd when we were there. It's easily accessible through a short downhill walk from the parking lot. (Copy) (Copy) (Copy) (Copy)

There is a rope fencing off the waterfall, can only walk up to the rope. (Copy) (Copy) (Copy) (Copy)

It was raining when we got here, but we still had fun. (Copy) (Copy) (Copy) (Copy)

This lady was carrying a 5-gallon jug of spring water back up hundreds of flights of stairs. This requires a strong neck and strong legs! (Copy) (Copy) (Copy) (Copy)

There is a weekly religious ceremony at the temple where people dress up. We saw this as we drove by a temple. Bali is the only place in Indonesia where Hindu is the main religion. (Copy) (Co (Copy)

There are several beautiful waterfalls within driving distance of Ubud, this is the most popular one due to the beautiful surroundings and the close proximity to Ubud city center. It is indeed beautiful, but extremely overcrowded. We wish we had gone to other less popular waterfalls, but those are further inland and aren’t feasible in a day-trip from the beaches. For the day trip, this popular waterfall is a must-do.