Road Trip! Ubud Bound

Midway through our stay in Bali, we decided to take a road-trip and stay overnight in Ubud.

We booked a driver for this trip via Klook, which is a platform that most transportation companies in Bali use to sell you trips and tours and to facilitate payment. Often, you can book a driver for the very next day. The price for a driver for a six-hour day (you can also do 10 hours) is between $25 and $35 USD, depending on how far afield you planned on travelling.

We had a rough itinerary mapped out for our trip — we knew that we wanted to check out a waterfall, Ubud town, and the Tegallalang Rice Terraces — but we’d had a hard time figuring out which waterfall would be the best for us to visit. Some waterfalls require strenuous climbing, which our kids are not old enough for, or require you to get wet, which we didn’t want, since we’d have to get right back in the car afterwards. On consultation with our driver, he recommended the Tegenungan Waterfall based on our parameters. This stop worked out really well for us, with a staircase that enabled us to get right down in front of the waterfall without any climbing or a need to get wet. And the price was very affordable — only a few dollars — with almost nobody there yet when we arrived. Perfect. (Click here to read more about our visit to Tegenungan Waterfall.)

After finishing at the waterfall, our driver recommended that we check out the Kemenuh Butterfly Park, which was nearby. This was a neat park with a small zoo that included with various small animals and lizards. The butterfly section was cool, with a massive butterfly enclosure you could walk through. And the kids were even allowed to hold some of the largest butterflies, which were about the size of small dinner plates. The cost was around $6.50 USD for each adult and $5 USD per child.

We then went on to visit the Ceking Rice Terraces in Tegalalang, which were incredibly beautiful and definitely live up to what you’ve seen on social media. You truly have to stop and appreciate the beauty and harmony of humans and nature that is possible. It is unfortunate that this, like many tourist destinations in Bali and elsewhere, is now set up more as a playground for influencers — with swings, ziplines, and attractions set up for the sole purpose of getting the perfect “Instagrammable” shot. If you are able to ignore those elements, it is truly a remarkable place. Best to go before the masses descend, although if you venture far enough into the terraces, the crowds thin out. It cost us under 1 USD each, so very good value as well. (Click here to read more about our visit to the Ceking Rice Terraces.)

Finally our driver dropped us off in Ubud, where we stopped for lunch at a restaurant called In Da Compound Warung. The lunch was delicious and very affordable, and the ambiance was very unique. After lunch, we walked around Ubud’s main commercial area and up through the Ubud Art Market towards the Ubud Palace, which we also explored. We then picked up a Grab and headed back to our hotel (The Gantari Hotel) for some swimming with the kids in their massive pool.

It was an amazing day, but tiring for all!