A solid hour drive north of Seminyak is the "Eat, Pray, Love" city of Ubud.  I figured I'd go there after Seminyak based on the recommendation of Fred and Farina (from Samoa).  Yes, it is a full-fledged city.  It is on the outskirts where you can discover the peace in the rice terraces that Julia Roberts found on film.  The city itself is nothing to write home about.  There's a famous yoga studio but they sell colonics and after seeing all of the old ladies on the street with swishy yoga pants talking about which yoga studios have the best prices for colonics, I no longer wanted to go.  The restaurants I went to were nowhere near as good as the ones in Seminyak.  I wasn't really into the vegan scene, which is what Ubud is known for.  I wanted my char siew rice.

I took a day tour around the region where I was able to see beautiful rice terraces and temples.  I also went to the Monkey Forest:

I think it was "Mama" that really made Ubud for me.  Mama was my hostess.  I stayed at "Nyoman Badri's Warung", which translates to Nyoman Badri's Place.  Balinese homestays are really extended family compounds.  Where the family used to farm, they now have dwellings for the entire extended family with a large shrine in the center.  Every family has their own temple!  Nyoman was her name, but everyone calls her "Mama".  Also, Nyoman is the name for all 4th-born children in Bali.  You don't need a real first name, "4th" is fine!  I was instructed that I must call her Mama, though.  Every morning, Mama would ask me what I wanted for breakfast and she'd make me Balinese pancakes with banana or pineapple.  She was a very special person and greeted me with a smile every morning.  If it weren't for her, I don't know that I would have found sanctuary there.  The streets were very noisy with motobikes and car traffic all day long.

After five days of street noise, I was certain that I was in need of more nature.  Too much urbanity in Seminyak and Ubud for me.

To really see the mountains though, you have to go another two hours northwest to Munduk.  Mount Kintimani volcano lies northeast.  There, you can find the magical waterfalls of Bali.  I tried looking for other backpackers who were venturing up there, but there weren't any.  The travel agencies told me they do not even run shared shuttles up there.  I would have to pay for a taxi to take me solo.

Enjoy these photos of Ubud and my day trip around the region: