Ubud Resort Area, Bali

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Barong Dance Performance.

Ubud is actually not a specific location of a resort. It is an area -a town precisely- that has several resorts in it. Located in Gianyar regency, it only takes about 1.5 hours from Denpasar. It’s the heart of Bali. Yes, that's the word. If you've visited some resorts in Bali and still wondering which place is considered as the center of Balinese life and culture, then Ubud is the place. You'll find anything that reflects the real Bali in Ubud. You’ll find anything from the original Balinese life (which now hasn’t been much affected by cultures outside Bali), the original art of Bali (like Balinese dances, paintings, and handicrafts), to the original Balinese architectures (that you can find in any buildings in Ubud). Although there are hundreds of modern buildings, like five-star Hotels for example, most of their architectures are still in Balinese. The modern and the original Balinese architectures look well-combined.

There are a lot of interesting places to visit in Ubud. Some of them are Desa Mas (Mas Village), Desa Celuk (celuk VIllage), Puri Ubud (Ubud Temple), Ubud traditional Market, Sangeh the Monkey Forest, Desa Petulu, and some world-class art galleries and museums -like Neka art Museum, Lempad Gallery, Museum Puri lukisan, and Antonio Blanco Gallery.

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	Ubud, the center of Bali Art

Desa Mas (Mas Village) is known as the center of wooden-carved objects. This is the center of Balinese wooden-carved handicrafts. They have a lot of kind of wooden-carved objects here, most of them are statues -there is high demand of these in Europe, Japan, and America. You'll find a lot of them in galleries a long the street in Ubud.

Desa Celuk is a place for silver handicrafts. It's a perfect place for you who'd like to get special Balinese silver souvenirs in many different shapes. If you're crazy about original Balinese souvenirs, Desa Celuk and Desa Mas is perfect for you. There is also Ubud tradisional market where you can find more complete collections of Balinese handicrafts and souvenirs.

One religious site that you can't miss, it's Puri Ubud (Ubud temple). In a special moment of Hindu Celebration Days -like Galungan and Saraswati, you'll get to see attractions of worshipping ceremony of Balinese People -who most of them are Hindu people. This is also a place to see the famous Balinese Dances -Kecak, Legong Kraton, Barong, and other Balinese Dances-. These dances are performed every day, -every night precisely. One tip for you, if you want to see the dances for free, you should go to this temple at night in regular days, -days when there are no special moment of holidays. Because on a special moment of holidays -like Summer Vacation, Christmas, or Indonesia's national holidays-, visitors are needed to pay for the ticket to see the dances.

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Offerings at Gebogan ceremony.

Ubud is not only a resort where you can enjoy cultural arts and performances of Bali, but it's also a place where you -as the visitors- can interact with animals. In Sangeh -the Monkey Forest- for example, you can meet hundreds of monkeys that are tame and friendly. In Desa Petulu (Petulu village), you can meet Kokoan Birds. Kokoan Birds are a kind of fowl that have very long neck and yellow legs. Their life is pretty safe and protected here. Local People believe that the birds are their Gods' animals, so that they won't disturb the bird's life. They don't hunt or kill the birds. They let the birds live around them. That's why when you take a walk around Desa Petulu, you'll see many of the birds in every part of the village.

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	Ubud Royal Palace, one of famous resorts at Ubud.