I’ve also visited some non-touristy places while in Bali during my stay in Ubud. I walked along a very quiet nice area surrounded by rice fields where I didn’t see more than 2 foreigners.
Rice Fields walk in Ubud
As I stayed more than 1 week in Ubud, I had to find new places to explore and that’s why I ended up going to places where not many foreigners go because usually people don’t spend so long in one place only, everyone is moving fast. This walk is called Rice Fields Walk and it isn’t far from Ubud city center. I walked there and around only to find very peaceful streets and beautiful corners. There are so many nice places for a walk in Ubud! Love it.
As I walked around I found many cute spots including this cafe: Yellow Flower Café which looked lovely tucked in a quiet cozy atmosphere. Not far are the River Carvings, something I have never seen pictures of or heard about.
River Carvings in Ubud
I decided to walk there to check what is this River Carvings thing and I didn’t regret it! Found absolutely no one there!
As the name says, these are some carvings on the rocks along the small river that passes by. Oh my, what a stunning spot. So green, full of moss, mossy carvings everywhere, so mystical and magical. All that greenery and the sound of water, Amazing! Needless to say, I loved this spot even though it is not a place that would require a lot of time to be. This is a cool place to relax, and even meditate. So cool. Totally my vibe!
Public bus from Ubud to Denpasar
On another day in Bali, I decided to make a day trip a bit further from Ubud. I decided to go to Denpasar as there is a public bus connecting Ubud and Denpasar, so it would be a cheap trip.
I hopped on the bus near Ubud Palace. To ride this bus you need a card. A pre-charged card: I had no clue about it so I was lucky that a local offered to use his card to pay for my trip and I gave him cash. That was very nice of him otherwise the driver wouldn’t let me in and I would have to buy this card and then come back to the bus stop and wait for the next bus, which would suck.
The bus trip is quite long, more than 1 hour, but along the way I get to see beautiful architecture and non-touristy Bali. The bus is very comfy. This card that you have to buy to ride on the bus costs 50K rupees and this money will be discounted as you use the card. I left the bus at the last stop called Gor Ngurah Rai and from there I booked a grab motorbike to move around Bali and get where I wanted to.
Bajra Sandhi Monument
The main reason why I decided to go to Denpasar was to visit this temple called Bajra Sandhi Monument. Well, I thought it was a temple but it isn’t. It is some sort of monument with this very typical Balinese architecture that I find so charming. There is an entry fee but I thought the amount was acceptable.
I didn’t see any foreigners visiting this monument even though its architecture is stunning and the place is quite charming.
Inside, there is a small museum with Balinese history and how they got rid of the Dutch colonizers. Some of the paintings and 3d scenes created were really awesome! They created such beautiful tiny landscapes wow. Lovely.
The museum isn’t that big though.
From the top floor, you have a 360º view of the surroundings which is not bad. I had no idea that you could see Mount Agung from here WOW. It took me quite some time to realize I wasn’t making up an image in my mind and that what I was seeing was actually a peak of a mountain poking out of the cloud bed. I also noticed a standing-out spot in the distance. What in the world was that? It was standing much higher than everything else around and it was so far away. Looked like something absolutely massive. I couldn’t figure out what that was, but it was very intriguing. Later on, I found that there are some HUGE MASSIVE statues in Bali and that’s what I was looking at. They must be extremely tall because they clearly stand way taller than everything I saw on the island. After having enough of admiring this place. I went to another Bali beach to end the day.
Sanur beach
I booked another motorbike to go to Sanur Beach, closer to Sunrise Beach actually. Here I found a lot of Balinese people enjoying the beach. Swimming, hanging around, having fun. This is definitely the place where locals hang out. Not the beach in Canggu. I met some locals who asked for pictures, and enjoyed the ocean view, as well as Mount Agung standing in the distance. I left in time to hop on the last bus back to Ubud which was supposed to be at 6.30 pm.
Well, it wasn’t! Some miscommunication happened here because once I got to the bus station I was informed that there are no more buses going to Ubud that day! WHAAAAAT? I was honestly pissed. Someone informed me of the wrong bus schedule and I just missed the bus to go back!! And what was supposed to be a cheap trip ended up not so cheap any longer. Honestly!
I had no other option but to book a grab bike from Denpasar to Ubud which was way more expensive than the bus. I only came this far because there was a bus connection!! Oh My! The trip took so long with the crazy traffic in town. So tiring!! Anyway… I ended up enjoying the day in Bali and the things I have seen.