Babi Guling Ubud
If you’re looking for peace and quiet, then Ubud is the place to be. Steeped in culture and enhanced by magnificent vistas, Ubud offers a respite from the humdrum of your busy life. In the past, Ubud was just a small village, but now it has grown into a thriving yet laid back cosmopolitan community. Ubud pampers visitors in body and soul. Fine dining restaurants and spas here will delight and relax the senses. A walk through the lush paddy fields, watching colourful processions of women gracefully balancing piles of fruit offerings on their way to the temple, are lasting impressions and simply breathtaking.
The best way to observe Bali’s traditions and culture is through mingling with the locals and watching their daily routine. In this town, you can visit the temples and villages that have remained relatively unchanged through the years. Art galleries are also abundant. Masterful paintings and sculptures are waiting to be admired and appreciated, for who knows you may find the perfect painting or statue to grace your own living room?
This region is steeped in history and culture. Many remains from the old kingdoms of Bali can be found here, and unique arts and crafts are just waiting to be discovered. Known for its tranquillity, Ubud offers several natural retreats. The lush, green views and cool atmosphere makes morning and afternoon strolls most pleasant.
It’s no surprise that many people come to Ubud for a day or two and end up staing longer, drawn in by the culture and activities on offer. Ubud is where famed Elizabeth Gilbert found peace and her love as written in her best selling memoir “ Eat, Pray, Love”, which is now made into a film featuring Julia Roberts. Indonesia’s ownn celebrity Christine Hakim plays Wayan, the local alternative healer. You can find the famous Babi Guling Ubud too in Ubud.
Ubud is located 35 km northeast of Bali’s International Airport. It is attractive to tourists for a variety of reasons. On a relatively small island with a horde of attractions, Ubud is centrally located, There are plenty reasons why Ubud was voted in recently as the most fascinating city of Asia by Condé Nast Traveler. The Ubud area is around two- to three hundred meters above sea level and surrounded by rice fields, which makes it noticeably cooler than then other tourist destinations in Bali. Neighbouring villages are well known for unique bamboo crafts and furniture, wood- and stone carving and many other crafts.
Ubud is famous for it’s regularly nightly traditional dance performances, which are part of the traditional culture and are arranged for tourists on a regular schedule. Hindu-Balinese ceremonies take place on a nearly daily basis, especially in the European summer, which is the driest and coolest season here. Ubud is popular in part today because it is the best place in Bali to break out of the tourist mode and get off the beaten path, although far from undiscovered. Hotels are plentiful; home stays and Indonesian guesthouses (losmen) are easily available to the foreign tourist. Many tourists simply base their entire stay in the city and travel to other destinations from Ubud.
Accommodations in Ubud are also somewhat more reasonably priced than in the beach towns of Bali. But atmosphere is perhaps the major attractions. One visitor summed it up this way: Kuta is madness, Sanur is sterile, and Nusa Dua is culturally isolated; Ubud is the place to go. Don’t forget to eat the famous Babi Guling Ubud here.
Bali is definitely heaven for any pork lover. Babi Guling or Roasted Suckling Pig sees a whole pig rubbed down and stuffed with bumbu bali or a mixture of chopped Balinese spices including shallots, garlic, ginger, turmeric, galangal, pepper coriander, candlenuts, chilies, and lemongrass before being roasted over an open fire for up to 5 hours. The pig is continuously turned slowly to ensure even cooking so that the meat ends up tender and juicy.
And our usual babi guling ubud place in Bali is Ibu Oka’s in Ubud. I have never failed to go there if I’m in the area as it’s rated best in Bali, based on word-of-mouth reviews. Even the locals flock there to get their hands on some porky goodness. in fact, when asked, most of the balinese folks will mention Ibu OkaBabi Guling Ubud as being the best there. But Balinese friends have also suggested Pak Malen’s in Seminyak, Warung Babi Guling in Sanur and Babi Guling Chandra in Denpasar.
