EAT-PRAY-LOVE: UBUD.

UBUD. You may be familiar with this little gem due to Julia Roberts' Eat Pray Love movie - and it is honestly one of the best places in the world. I arrived in Ubud after a pretty hectic night in Kuta (note- do not take tequila shots with tabasco... ever.) The taxi took us around 2 hours due to ridiculous Bali traffic, and the car didn't have air-con... this + hangover = hell. But after nearly being sick numerous times, and going round and round the one way system that is Monkey Forest Rd, I told the taxi driver to stop looking for the homestay I'd planned on staying at, and to instead drop me and my ridiculous over-sized backpack on the side of the road, outside of 'Warsa's Garden Bungalows.'

The cutest little man greeted my friend and I and showed us to a private bungalow which we could stay at for 250,000IRP a night (around £16/17ish including breakfast) It was clean, had aircon + hot water (LUXURY) and a shared pool - which, we didn't actually use due to ALL the other fun things to do in Ubud. We spent our first day mooching along Monkey Forest Rd, which is such a lovely change from Kuta. Yes, there are still tonnes of woman offering 'maaaaassage?' (which by the way- get one! they're amazing- we went to Daisy's for a full body massage... ahhhh) but the atmosphere is completely different to Kuta and Seminyak. You feel as though you're in 'proper' Bali. The one that you see on Eat  Pray Love! The food along Monkey Forest Rd is delish - and the whole vibe is relaxed, everyone seems happy and chilled.

The next day, we decided we HAD to go to the Monkey Forest, at the bottom of the road. We'd read everywhere about the cheeky monkeys - warning us not to take in valuables, as they'll steal anything! And ohhhh...myyyyyy..goooodness. I was TERRIFIED of them! Now- I am an animal LOVER. Hell, I wanted to be a vet for years, and worked with wild animals in South Africa! I am by no means 'scared' of animals. But jeeeez - these monkeys!!! Approach with caution. I must point out, that my fear stemmed from one 'screaming' at me as soon as I walked into the forest. I think I must have looked at its baby in a 'aww-you're-so-cute-maybe-I-could-steal-you' kind of way and the mother monkey went KRAY... ran towards me, SCREAMING; until I fell backwards, also screaming in to a bunch of equally frightened Americans.

A cheeky little monkey lifting up my skirt - note the girl in the background who obviously didn't share my fear of the monkeys!

After I got over the initial TERROR that mother monkey caused me, it was actually a really good day. The monkeys weren't too bad with the whole stealing thing - well, I didn't hear anyone scream in outrage "that monkey's stolen my camera!!" but I was pretty pathetically protective over mine (try and say that tongue-twister fast!) There were people buying bunches of bananas on entry - beware, the monkeys literally clamber all over you, steal the whole bunch and there's your 50p gone. One little content monkey came over with his banana to me, sitting on a rock, sat by me, sighed and held my hand. I DIED INSIDE A LITTLE. Too cute.

The next day, a guy from Warsa's, 'Wayan' took us on a daytrip with another Brazilian girl staying at the hotel. He was SO lovely. The cutest man I've ever met.  For £12, he drove us around for the day, to all the local temples, where we were blessed and able to pray and walk through all of the rice paddies... He took us up to the top of Mt Batur, a volcano, where we had lunch looking over Bali... He drove us to the hot springs, dotted all over the volcano, and to a coffee plantation where we were able to sample about 20 different flavoured coffees - along with the most expensive coffee in the world (which FYI- tastes gross. Give me a skinny hazlenut latte any day of the week)

Getting a cheeky roadside photograph with Mt Batur in the background... Looks like a postcard doesn't it!?

For our final day in Ubud, we visited the Elephant Safari Park in Taro - which, my friends, is an ABSOLUTE must do. Like crazily so. You've GOT to do it... Convinced?

We were picked up from Warsa's at 9am, and driven to Taro- about 20 minutes outside of Ubud. The Elephant Safari Park was SO well maintained and clean. I was sceptical at first, and had looked into about three different Elephant trip excursions online - as I really didn't want to go somewhere that the elephants weren't going to be looked after properly. But here, the elephants all seemed SO well looked after. All the staff were really friendly and funny, and we were able to ride 'Petrie' the first Sumatran Elephant in Bali! She was 50+ and cute AS. We were also able to feed the elephants, watch a performance where the keepers play football/basketball with the elephants, AND had a massive buffet lunch - all included in the price, which was something like £45 - bargain. On the way out, there is a wall with photos of celebrities who have also visited the Safari Lodge including the Beckhams, Tony Blair, Claudia Shiffer, Steve Irwin and of course, Julia Roberts.