Listening people speak English in Ubud market is a common thing. Every day visitors from Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and many other countries visit the market and bargain for souvenirs with the local traders using English language. Ubud is a small international town.

I have been traveling around Ubud for one week and I will still spend 2 months of my time in this town. I explore Ubud on foot to see and experience every corner of this town in a more relaxed way. One thing that I like about Ubud and Bali in general is the greens on both sides of the streets. In Ubud, shop owners and town dwellers still provide spaces for green trees, shrubs and flower plants. I hope that the town dwellers of Ubud will continue to preserve their green environment forever even though the temptation of commercialization of open spaces is great due to the increasing number of tourists who come to this culture center of Bali every year.

Staying in Ubud

There are a lot of places tourists can choose to stay in Ubud, from clustered lodgings inside the courtyard of Balinese families to hotels and luxurious villas in secluded slopes one or two kilometers away from main streets. I stayed in one of the many guesthouses in Ubud town around one kilometer from the Ubud market. It has a big bed for two, with private toilet/shower room and a kitchen. The clustered lodging with a verandah is only Rp. 50,000/day if you pay the owner for one month rent which is equivalent to 1.5 million rupiahs per month. Because it is very cheap, breakfast is not served in the mornings. Fortunately, there are plenty of eating houses near the lodging that provide Indonesian and Western foods to budget travelers like me. Stay in Tepi Sawah Villas if you want to have a room with a view of rice field on Goa Gajah street of Peliatan village. If the villa is too expensive for you, you can try staying in a room of the guesthouses on Jalan Sugriwa, Jalan Tirta Tawar or on Jalan Sukma. As a matter of fact, there are a lot of villas or spa resorts that have views of rice paddy field around them. The peaceful environment of Ubud town makes it as an ideal place for visitors who want to have some private time doing meditation, getting massage and full body treatment at one of the resort spas of the town or take a (batik) painting or dance lesson from local artists.

Eating in Ubud

There are eating houses that sell traditional Balinese food, Padang restaurants that provide food from West Sumatra and restaurants that sell Indonesian, Chinese and Western food. Vegans can go to Bali Buddha restaurant located on Jalan Jembawan. I personally recommend Murni's Warung on Jalan Raya Campuan if you want to eat delicious Balinese and Western cuisines. A starbuck café can be found near Museum Puri Lukisan on the main street of Ubud. Try coffee latte and some bread roll after visiting the museum and you will be refreshed again for your next adventure in the art town.

Dance Performance in Ubud

As the center of art and culture of the Balinese people, Ubud is your destination for watching traditional Balinese dance. You can watch Legong dance on Jalan Raya Ubud nearly every day. A famous Kecak dance performance is held on Monday, Friday and Saturday on Jalan Hanoman. Most of the dance performances were conducted in Pura.

Buying Souvernirs at Ubud Market

Thousands of visitors go to the Ubud market every day. They come from Australia, Europe, North America and several other countries in Asia such as Japan and Korea. In Ubud market, we can buy fruits, and Balinese food and souvenirs. Paintings from small up to big size depicting beautiful Balinese girls in traditional dance costumes to panoramic views of rice fields are displayed in numerous of the art shops of the market. Don't forget to bargain when you want to buy some Balinese artworks from a local vendor in the market. In addition to Ubud Market, the shops on both sides of Jalan Hanoman offer high quality artworks from wood carvings, silver goods to fine clothing.

Bookshops in Ubud

I like reading and writing. Therefore, every time I go to a new town or city, I will try to find bookstores there. When I walk along the main street of Ubud, I found 3 bookshops, Ganesha bookshop, Ary's bookshop and Periplus bookstore. The smallest is the Ganesha whereas the biggest is Periplus. In Ganesha bookstore, the books that are offered to customers are mostly about Bali and Indonesia. Novels and travel guide books can also be seen here. The number of visitors of Ganesha bookshop is quite high due to its strategic location that is close to Bali Buddha café and restaurant. Periplus bookshop sells a wide range of books from travel guide to management. When I was inside the bookshop, I saw that it has got a lot of titles that are not related to Bali or Indonesia. There was only one person handling the Periplus bookshop that afternoon. He sat on the cashier desk. Perhaps it is the main causal factor for its lack of visitors. As a comparison, for example, the Ganesha bookstore that is much smaller than Periplus bookstore, located relatively on the same Ubud main street, has got more visitors and is handled by 2 staff. by Charles Roring