Ubud, Bali

We spent 3 days in Ubud on our trip and it was a nice getaway from the coast. Ubud is about 1.5 hours from Kuta depending on the traffic and whether your driver stops at various villages that specialise in different art and crafts. Choices include the silverware village, artists village and the wood carving village.
Ubud is Bali's art and cultural centre set in the rice paddies and foothills of the nearby mountains.
Ubud sees a lot of day trippers stopping off on their  way to the Kintamani volcano. Central Ubud has certainly gone ahead with accommodation and dining options but still maintaining a very large village feel although at times the traffic is extremely heavy in the narrow streets .
Art galleries are abundant in Ubud as well as interesting craft stores that don't stock the mass produced items that appear in the shops in Kuta. Ubud also has the Monkey Forest and the monkeys can be a little intimidating at times and can also be seen venturing into town to source food from the many sacred offerings put outside the shops.

Ubud has many great warungs (small family cafes ) and we enjoyed the Babi Guling (suckling pig ) at Ibu Oka. This was very crowded with locals getting takeaway and once they have run out of the Babi Guling they shut up shop. So most days it is not open for dinner.  
We also sampled the Barbecued Ribs at Naughty Nuri's Warung which is very popular also. The ribs were very tender and moreish and the Martinis which they are also known for are very very strong !

View from Hotel room

Rice paddie terraces

Monkey eating the offerings

The ribs at Naughty Nuri's Warung

Babi Guling

Best place for Babi Guling

Wood carving in the hotel

Part of the foyer in the Hotel