Accommodations: Bisma Eight, Ubud

Our first full day on the beautiful island of Bali began with a morning walking tour through the center of Ubud. After a very quick car ride to the city center, our guide led us to a small road that allowed us to see an urban rural prescriptive of Ubud.

When coming from an area of the US that features corn fields as far as the eye can see, it shouldn’t be surprising seeing terrace after terrace of rice being grown but it truly is remarkable about how every piece of land is utilized to either support a building or a rice paddy. Rice is such an integral part of the culture here that there is an irrigation systems integrated within the infrastructure of the island. Alongside every road, walkway or path is a trench that carries water from the mountains all the way to the ocean specifically to irrigate the rice paddies.

Once the walking tour concluded, were able to see two additional sites at the heart of Ubud, Ubud Palace and the local market. Ubud Palace is home to the royal family of Ubud and was originally used as the central hub for all political activity in the area. While most of the living sections of the compound were closed off, we were able to see the rest of the royal compound.

Once the tour of the Palace was complete we walked across the street to wonder through the market. This market consists of hundreds of vendors selling a wide variety of clothing, crafts, souvenirs and beverages. The spreads across many city blocks and winds in and out of multiple buildings between two floors. The intensity of the market is hard to describe but imagine it as leaving a sports venue crowded but with five or six people trying to grab your attention to buy their stuff (we didn’t).

The afternoon was met with a quick nap as the heat of the day can really wear one out. Upon awaking, Lauren and I grabbed a predinner latte at the local coffee shop Senimen Coffee Studio. They use local beans an roast the coffee right across the street. Afterwards we settled at Terazo for dinner; a must eat location for anybody visiting Ubud. They had a devilish fish dish, cooked with local spices inside a banana leaf. Definitely the best meal I’ve had the entire trip.