Land with a wealth of culture

UBUD

November 23rd, 2015

UBUD

Seer Oon Hor & Shu Li Tan

Not too long ago, we celebrated a significant event of our lives. It took us many months of preparation building up to it. We decided that we deserved a relaxing holiday after and chose Ubud as our getaway destination. After some deliberation, we decided on the Viceroy Bali. We experienced outstanding hospitality from this award winning small boutique resort. The vibes we received were nothing short of impressive right from the moment we met our polite, informative and good driver provided by them. Located a few minutes' drive away from Ubud town centre, this resort was located amongst picturesque paddy fields. Upon arrival, we were greeted by Yann, the Operations Manager. The resort's decor was tasteful and not over the top.

We dined at their CasCades Restaurant for dinner and selected their Indonesia Degustation menu. We were very impressed by the food with its presentation and taste worthy of a Michelin star. The breakfast selection was also fantastic, done to an extremely high standard. We had a variety to choose from and each unlimited selection were done à la carte! See below for food photos!

The weather in Ubud was kind to us. It did not rain but we had to accustomise ourselves with the scorching sun and humidity. Nonetheless, nothing stopped us from walking around Ubud and to absorb the Balinese culture. The Ubud Market was busy and rather crowded with mass-produced tourist items. Amongst the influence of tourism, there was opportunity to observe religious practises with the Balinese Hindus holding bantens praying in local temples. It was a joy to watch that people are still devoted to religion in such peaceful way.

During our trip what was supposed to be a relaxing holiday had deviated slightly. We decided to have a little adventure and woke up at 2am for a trek up Gunung Batur for a sunrise view of Gunung Agung. Gunung Batur is an active volcano with an altitude of 1,717m above sea level. The journey started pitch-black in the wee hours of the morning. We were provided with a torch (flashlight) each but the extra layer of clothing we were advised to bring along was not necessary. The temperature and exertion up the rocky terrain kept us fairly hot and sweaty throughout. As we reached close to the summit, the view was simply magnificent. Oh boy, sunrise at Gunung Agung was jaw-dropping! The sky was clear with vivid colours as the soft and fluffy clouds beneath us floated through part of the woods creating a serene view of Balinese hill side. Breakfast was supposed to be a banana sandwich and a hard-boiled egg cooked with heat from the volcano. I was curious and I asked if I could watch. The entire trek group, including us, were so gullible! They used gas stoves to make our breakfast! Haha. The descend was equally thrilling as we took a different route. We did not linger long at the base and had hope to arrive back at the resort to enjoy the sumptuous breakfast, and we did just that!

On our last day, we received a message from the airline that our flight has been delayed. Thus, we ventured out to the town centre again with the aim to enter a few of the temples. There is a dress code to enter these temples and we were in luck and surprised when we asked the Viceroy if we could borrow two sarongs and selendangs and were provided with them.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Bali and it is certainly teeming with culture as what has been described despite it being very touristy.

UBUD

UBUD

Food!