After our first day of lazing at our private villa, we were keen to begin exploring the town of Ubud and the surrounding areas. I particularly wanted to get out and cycle amongst the paddy fields, and to that end Kayumanis Villas provided us with an excellent guide named Agus, and so off we went before the heat of the day began to build. I prefer a simple but padded Lowe Pro rucksack for carrying my gear on this type of adventure, and stripped my kit down to a minimum of body and the 50mm f1.2L and a 24-105 f4 L. There is always going to be that ‘I wish I had another lens with me’ moment, however there is also a certain satisfying discipline in working within the constraints of one or two lenses that makes you look, and then look again at each subject, searching for that perfect image.

After our morning of cycling it was time to head into Ubud (our villa was approximately 10 minutes out of town by car), as we wanted to visit the sacred Monkey Forest sanctuary where the long-tailed macaques roam freely, ready to grab food from the tourists, or indeed anything that piques their interest. Visitors to the Forest do need to exercise caution as the Monkeys can and frequently do bite; Hepatitis B and rabies being potentially a very definitely unwanted parting gift…

The first image from my previous post was of Tegalalang terrace paddy field, which is located only minutes from Ubud, and was our next destination for the day as I was naturally keen to get some good images. The next shot is another multi row panorama taken as we walked further down into the fields.

In the evening we headed to Swept Away, a restaurant at the nearby Samaya Villas for a quite superb meal; once again the food and service proved to be flawless. As we were being led to our table, I noticed the staff setting up a large number of candles around a spot on the riverbank, whereupon a couple arrived to enjoy a romantic meal away from the rest of the diners.

The following day we headed back into Ubud and decided to try a long circular walk from the town centre around the local area until we finally came upon Café Pomegranate located in the middle of several rice paddies. Escaping the heat we had several cool drinks with some excellent food while gazing at the beauty surrounding us.

I certainly enjoyed my time in Ubud, and would definitely return; it is interesting to note that while it seems like one small town, it is in fact comprised of 14 separate villages. It is the perfect place to visit if you are looking for a quieter holiday, as it most definitely is not a party town. There are many yoga retreats in the area, and while not my thing, combined with the number of artists workshops and craft vendors it does lend a sense of spirituality to the region.