Beautiful Ubud, Bali

Oh Ubud... the photographer's dream...

We left the beaches of Kuta to head north to Ubud, one of the most beautiful Asian towns I've been to yet.  The architecture here all seemed so sacred, with Hindu temples built into peoples homes, ancient carvings everywhere, and rice fields tucked in behind even the busy (but not busy compared to Kuta!) tourist streets.  With an abundant amount of local crafts, healthy food, and relaxed atmosphere, we definitely felt at home here.  We stayed in a beautiful Eco Home which Zack had found on Airbnb which was nestled in one of Ubud's cleanest neighbourhoods (it was nice to actually be staying among a local community), ate amazing food, and had bicycles to ride into town.  It was possibly the most ideal three days in Ubud.

First, let me introduce to you to our Bamboo Eco Home....

Front Entryway. The house was surrounded by water which acted as a grey water system. 

We instantly fell in love with Indonesian food.  This food was made by the housekeeper's cousin, who we ordered food from every single day we were there.

The bathroom was nothing less of amazing, complete with bamboo toilet paper roll.

One ingredient we particularly loved in Indonesia was tempe.  Tempe is a fermented soybean product that is similar to tofu but SO much better!  It has a bit of a nutty flavour, is firm in texture, and takes on the flavour of whatever you're cooking it with.  I've tried tempe before in Canada but it did not compare.  We found out it actually originated in Indonesia, hence why it can be found in almost any restaurant in Bali!  It is packed full of protein, so it is a healthy meat substitute.  Zack was up early one morning (like usual) and found one of our neighbours selling her own homemade tempe.  He used it to cook me a fantastic breakfast... he really is the best. :)

Here's a photo of sauteed tempe with peanut sauce that we ordered at one restuarant:

Along with loving every meal we ate in Ubud, taking in the architecture of the town was like a dream.  Here are just a few snap shots.  You can probably expect a few of these to go up as prints in my shop.

 

Lastly, another fun experience we had there was watching all the monkeys!  Our Airbnb was located just on the other side of a large "Monkey Forest", which we had to bike past every time we went into town.  We did spend a couple hours wandering the forest, but I'd have to say I loved even more just riding past the forest, because they all liked hanging out along the outskirts ...possibly to see if they can steal food from humans.  There was one occasion where a monkey swiped a grocery bag out of Zack's hands and we all screamed like little girls, which turned out to be really funny.  I don't think the monkey was very impressed to find that there was no food in the bag!  They are such funny animals to observe.  I loved watching them interact with each other and especially loved when they would help clean each others fur, picking burrs out one by one so meticulously.

In the evenings we lounged in our beautiful temporary home and ordered Indonesian food from the house keeper's cousin.  By the end of our time in Ubud, I felt rejuvenated and inspired.  This is definitely a place I wouldn't mind spending a longer period of time in, but more adventures were calling!