Eat
Ubud is the perfect one-stop-shop for food, culture and nature. It was quite a drive from our area in Nusa Dua, about an hour and a half drive considering the traffic. One of our first stops in the mountain city was a restaurant with floating cabanas on a large koi pond. At the Bebek Teba Sari Resto most of the architecture is built with, and inspired by bamboo huts! The food was also very local, fresh and delicious! We ordered a beef and watermelon salad, chicken satay with peanut sauce, I also had a roast chicken, and then my favorite for dessert was black glutinous sticky rice with some ice cream on the side!
The beauty of this place is that it sits right next to a tropical plantation. We were able to get some beautiful shots of the landscape with our drone!
Coffee
My favorite stop was the coffee plantation which is just right down the street from the restaurant! The Tebi Sari Coffee Plantation is very inexpensive, you get a tour of the tropical plantation and a free coffee and tea tasting along with it! And if you like what you tried, then you can finally spend your money at their shop where they sell powdered coffee, tea, chocolates, body scrubs and more!
We ended up taking home the chocolate spice drink, Ginger coffee (A Must Try!), Coconut Coffee, Turmeric Tea, orange chocolate bars and body scrubs in turmeric, chocolate and coffee grounds!
The plantation will immerse you completely into nature, there are bugs and animals that mind their own business but are really fun for kids to look at! Luca had a blast walking around and pointing at every moving thing he could find! I personally really enjoyed the sounds of nature and birds and the fresh air, it was also so satisfying to enjoy coffee fresh from the farm itself too!
The Luwak Coffee
The most interesting part of this plantation is getting to see how they process their most coveted coffee bean, the Luwak. This is a coffee bean that is first eaten and digested by the Asian palm Civet and then once it passes through, it is processed, peeled and brewed to make a cup of coffee! A cup of Luwak coffee is naturally decaffeinated during the process of being digested in the stomach acids of the Asian Palm Civet!
We all got to try a cup, and it is served with a cinnamon stick on the side to add flavor. The taste is very light and refreshing, surprisingly, and you would never know how it was processed unless you asked!
Kids will love trying out some of the tea available at the taste testing. Everything from ginger tea, coconut tea, lemongrass tea, spiced chocolate, honey tea and more!
Photos of the process of the Luwak Coffee…
The Bali Swing
Last stop in Ubud was the famous Bali swing, where not only can you capture breathtaking photos but also have the thrill of being pushed off the edge of a cliff by 3 strong men! There are many swing parks but the one we tried was called My Swing Bali. It’s around 50 US Dollars for an entry ticket, toddlers are free, and you get to ride unlimited on any, or all of their swings! I tried three swings, two by myself and the third one with Luca! It was a gently swing and it didn’t go over a cliff, but that was just the right amount of thrill for Luca!
I can’t say if the Bali Swing was worth the drive all the way up there, but it’s definitely a different experience and it’s always nice to try something atleast once! If you’re a thrill seeker than this is perfect for you!
I wish we had more time in Ubud, because I wanted to see so much more of the culture. But there are always plans for next time! Please leave me a comment if you have any recommendations of places we should visit in Ubud next time!
