We were planning investigating Northern Bali for a bit of walking etc. Ha! Not with our sore legs we weren't! So we decided to head to Ubud for a bit of culture instead.
 
Ubud was on the way back towards Kuta anyway so was a nice stop off for a few days along the way. The main town consists of two or three main streets all heaving with restaurants, cafes, art galleries, museums, handicraft shops, furniture shops, tat shops, clothes shops, hotels and guest houses. Plenty to keep you occupied if you fancied mooching around. Difficult not to get distracted by all the shops each time we went in search of a place to eat!
 
Ubud itself is very busy and very touristy but not in a bad way. Surrounding Ubud there are temples and ancient sites as well as beautiful countryside with rice paddies and palm trees. 
 
Our first stop was the sacred monkey forest sanctuary. An area of jungle housing three different temples. There were huuuge old trees towering over everything with vines hanging down from them like curtains. All the greenery had grown around the ancient buildings and statues. Was pretty cool. There were LOTS of Balinese long-tailed macaques. Not as cute as they looked! They'd have a go at grabbing anything you might be carrying if you weren't paying attention. One even jumped onto Prodge's back and started pulling out the contents of the side pockets of his backpack looking for goodies. Tsk! The large males we very intimidating especially when putting lower ranking monkeys in their place. Best given a wide birth!  
 
We visited Tirta Empul which is the site of one of the holiest temples in Bali built around hot springs which still bubble away. People come here to bathe and purify themselves. We went with the intention of taking a dip too but the water was preeeetty cold and full of fish. Plus people looked like they were taking it seriously so we thought we better not!
Alex and Prodge headed off to Legian for some surfing where we'd catch up with them in a couple of days.
 
Tom and I stuck around to enjoy the nice restaurants and also visited Goa Gajah (the elephant cave). A cave dating back to the ninth century and containing a statue of Ganesha. The grounds were beautiful with a waterfall and lovely plants and flowers. We took a nice walk through the forest down to the river. Very peaceful and picturesque. Oh we also found a little bat in a cave along the way. Very cute. (Tom was scared of the bat!). 
Time for some more beach action. Next stop Legian...