julies

I love the idea of the Alam group hotels, but I'll admit the monkey bit is a bit off-putting and it has been a concern. We know they can be really nasty creatures, and I really don't want to be bitten by one. I guess our trade-off for booking with the Alam group is that we'll need to deal with the monkey forest area.

How much extra walking time and/or block equivalents is there between Alam Indah and Alam Jiwa? I have a choice of either place but thought to choose Indah because it would be more walk-able without having to rely so much on the shuttle service.

Thanks for the tip about a cooking class and telling me it is more of a village experience; I'll do some research on these. We are not so much interested in learning how to cook Balinese dishes as in seeing the daily life and cultural aspects of Bali so the village part sounds good.

ms_go

All three of the hotels are probably only about 5 minutes apart, with Alam Jiwa being the farthest from central Ubud. We only used the shuttle once in six days, and that was because our daughter wasn't feeling well after dinner one evening. Otherwise we walked everywhere. Have you looked at that area on Google street view? I don't know if you can see the path adjacent to the monkey forest, but you can see the main street along which the Alam hotels are located (they are not right on that road but a block or so off it).

Re: the monkey forest, I never went into the actual site/temple, but there were usually some monkeys in the trees along the path next to it. Usually, they just watched us, but if we were carrying bags they could get a little aggressive. As marmot said above, there is motorbike traffic on that path, too.

kja

I walked the little stretch of Monkey Forest Road to the northeast of the Monkey Forest several times relatively late in the evening. Although I wasn't bothered by monkeys while on that road, I was disconcerted by how dark that short stretch was and by the number of motorcyclists who whipped around the bend with no apparent thought to the possibility that a pedestrian might be in the area. If you walk it, you might want to stay well to the side and have a flashlight handy.

marmot

I wouldn't worry about the Monkey Forest too much. You may not end up spending a lot of time in Ubud center (as defined by Ubud Palace, Ubud Market and the loop of Jl. Hanoman and Monkey Forest Road). Aside from Ubud Palace and a few museums, most of the cultural attractions are either outside of Ubud center or out of town, and your explorations will take you in all directions.

The town itself has spread out and incorporated all the once separate villages, like Nyuh Kuning, Penestanan, Sanggingan and the Jl. Bisma area. There are good restaurants -- humble and fancy -- in all areas.

Walking at night in Ubud can be challenging. Once you get out of Ubud center it's dark and the sidewalks are in miserable condition.

Balinese love to share information about their culture. All the guides will take you to their family compounds, give you Indonesian snacks, introduce you to their grandmother, and explain the symbolism of the compound layout and architecture. Same for the rice paddy/village walks. The guides will show you cocoa pods, clove leaves and turmeric roots. A farmer who looks to be about 80 will climb a palm tree and cut down coconuts for you. It's a lot of fun and I learn something every time.

Another program that is very well liked are the Victor Mason bird walks.
http://www.balibirdwalk.com

/I'm a walker, and find most of Bali wonderful for walks on the beach, in the forest, through the paddies and villages -- but the greater Ubud area poses a lot of hazards to the enjoyment of walking. Even short distances are marred by sidewalks that are broken, blocked and overgrown, open drains, protective dogs and rude motorcyclists.

julies

Yes, I was trying to figure out how much time we would actually spend in the center of Ubud since we have lots of other things we want to do like day trips, a biking trip, maybe one of the cooking/village classes, maybe whitewater rafting, a paddy walk etc. And, despite the fact we aren't birders, I'll investigate the bird walk too since we are typically national park and nature lovers.

We are walkers, and we have spent lots of time in India and in Nepal. What you are describing as far as sidewalks (or lack there of) and motorcycles and dark streets sounds a lot like what we have experienced many times there. We always bring our headlamps, and it sounds like we'll be needing them here for night walks.

Now that I've learned these hotels aren't really all that far apart, I just need to decide if I should book Alam Jiwa (larger more glamorous room but more money and further away) or Alam Indah (a smaller but still nice room that is less expensive and closer in).

Thanks again all.

marmot

For rafting in the Ubud area (Ayung River) I like Sobek. It's fairly tame (not much white-water) but during the rainy season it will be fast. Many steps down and up from the road to the river, but once you're on the river it's quite scenic.

For more challenging rafting you have to go further afield. It's not something I've had experience with.

julies

Many thanks for all of the help and the additional tips about whitewater rafting. I am assuming in Feb. there should be plenty of water.