Thoughts on Ubud and a photo essay

We live 3 km from the centre of the town of Ubud in Central Bali.

Yesterday I shot a photo essay about how to get from our house to central Ubud. Click on the picture of the monkey to open a new page which will take you to the essay. The pictures are in order so the slideshow feature is recommended. For advanced users I've also mapped the photos on google maps ... you'll see a map on the right. (If you're wondering why the picture is of a monkey...you'll have to click on the monkey to see!).

From our house to the centre of Ubud

Here’s what Wikipedia says about Ubud:

“Ubud is located amongst rice paddies and steep ravines in the central foothills of Bali. One of Bali's major arts and culture centres, it has developed a large tourism industry. Ubud has a population of about 8,000 people, but it is becoming difficult to distinguish the town itself from the villages that surround it.”

All true.
Ubud is beautiful and there is lots going on.

But it’s also a total tourist trap... especially since part of the book (and the movie) Eat, Pray, Love is set here.
For us that is good and bad.

First the good:
*Lots of good food choices at decent prices. Most restaurants have a kids menu that offers western food, so Janet and I can eat more exotic fare while the kids have spaghetti (like last night).
*The two grocery stores are pretty good and have cereal, pasta, parmesan, even pesto!
*Most people speak a bit of English… which is good as our Bahasa Indonesia is not great yet, but slowly improving (especially Emmet).
*It’s very pretty. Lots of great views, especially in the ravines and heading North.
*Lots of yoga for Janet.
*Friends for the kids: lots of kids from their school live in the area.
*We are in the foothills so the weather is not as hot as the coast. It’s mostly been about 28 or 29, which has been nice. We sleep with light blankets on at night.
*Ubud is very central. The mountains are North, the beaches South-West and South-East. A good place to be based to explore Bali.

And now the bad:
*Traffic is bad, especially now in August. This is high season for tourism and the main roads are very busy.
*Walking with the kids is not possible. The roads are too busy and narrow. If we go out, we have to call a driver.
*There’s lots of tourists… though not around our house, mostly in central Ubud.
*It’s a fairly long drive to the beach. About 45 minutes when the traffic is good, can be an hour or more if the traffic is bad.
*There are snakes. No one is bothered by this, except me (Peter). I don’t like snakes. I’ve only seen one so far… and it was small. Oh well. Apparently they don’t bother people.

And that’s it.
Mostly good, some bad.

Come and visit and see for yourself!
The next post will be about where the kids go to school… the Green School.
(Unless I finish the “Digging” film first).

Bye for now,

Peter