I’ll be honest. I didn’t really like Ubud.

I was shocked that I didn’t, actually. Everybody, especially since the “Eat, Pray, Love” book and movie, raves about the place. Ubud is where you’re supposedly supposed to “find yourself”. Ubud is the cultural centre of Bali and an art-lovers dream.

From that perspective, I guess me liking Ubud was doomed from the start. Because I hate arts and crafts and museums and observing/analyzing old stuff/artefacts/history. And also because I think I probably found myself way back in 2005 (when I moved to France for a year).

Anyhoo, I had high expectations of Bali, especially after coming off of the sunshine-and-beach induced high that was Lembongan. Lembongan was spectacular (and I still have more stories from there so that you can see just how spectacular it was- never fear!). We took a speed boat from Lembongan back to mainland Bali and then drove 45 minutes to Ubud. We spent 3 days and 2 nights there. I didn’t get seasick!!

So why didn’t I particularly like Ubud? Apart from being disappointed because it had been so hyped up to me and didn’t live up to expectations, there are three reasons:

1) There wasn’t much (for ME) to do there. I’m not an art buff, so the ridiculous amount of quaint galleries there didn’t hold my interest. There was tons of shopping and deals to be had, but I wasn’t in a shopping mood. Plus, I hate souvenirs and trinkets, so I really had no desire to navigate the markets.

2)Wayyyyyy too much human and vehicular traffic. It seemed like everybody and their mama was in Ubud: tourists doing the “Eat Pray Love” thing and locals trying to make a buck off of tourists. American, Australian, and French accents abounded. Liebling eavesdropped on the Germans. Indonesian vendors tried to peddle goods and services like massages, manicures, and marijuana at every corner. Scooters and minivans belched exhaust, while trucks left trails of black smoke in their wake. The constant hum of motors and screech of horns intermingled with the din of pedestrians tourist-ing made the noise level uncomfortable.

3)Run-down infrastructure. I’m all for buildings and neighbourhood retaining their historic past but to me the main throughfares of Ubud looked very worn, which was surprising considering the amount of tourism/foreign investment. I was very dismayed at the state of the sidewalks- they were broken and uneven and every few meters you had to watch your step because sections were missing and, if not careful, you could fall 3 feet down into the gutter. Falling and breaking your leg in Indonesia is not cute.

I don’t mean to be a Negative Nancy, but just stating how I feel, yall. I just wasn’t a fan of Ubud.

But I did do and see some cool stuff while there.

For example, we had the coolest view from our ground-floor hotel room (We had our own terrace! It looked out onto a rice paddy!).

The view of the rice paddy from the pool was also tantalizing. (Feel free to “ooh” and “aah” as you see fit.)

We went to a market and I took pictures of pretty fruit and buzzing atmosphere.

We saw a few impressive buildings that I just had to get my picture taken in front of because I am vain.

We visited a few rice paddies and I marvelled at how green everything was:

We saw a traditional Balinese dance show.

And Liebling took what may be one of my favourite photos of the trip.

Despite these moments of joy and wonderment, Ubud just didn’t gel with me, in large part to my above mentioned reasons. It wasn’t my cup of tea, and that’s okay. What’s one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, right? This isn’t the first time that I wasn’t in love with a place that people rave about (hello, Barcelona and Prague)!

Lauren Pope