Ubud is a city of highs and lows. When we arrived, we were delighted. It's sort of like Thailand's Pai, a sleepy town up in the mountains with small streets, weird shops, and basically a backpacker / hippie paradise. With lots to keep us busy, and a lovely hotel, it was a massive improvement over Kuta. (though honestly that's not difficult to do)

We got lunch in a super cute cafe, and I'm starting to get a feel for Indonesian food. It's sort of like Thai, but without the spiciness. The satay in particular is just awesome. Anyway we walked down the road to the Agung Rai Art Museum. A little pricey, but it's much more than just an art museum - it's a beautiful hotel with a garden, and includes a free coffee to enjoy on bean bag chairs next to guitar players. I like this place a lot, and we took about a million photos here. Super nice looking place, which you wouldn't expect from the outside.

Next, we went to a cat cafe, because Ella. But after we walked over to the Peliatan Palace. This was another nice place, full of two kind people that showed us around and even offered to take our photos. Their photo taking skill leaves much to be desired, but it was really cool of them regardless.

Day two of Ubud started out great. We got a Grab from a driver that warned us private taxis are pretty angry at Grab for pushing them out, and we need to be careful where we call them. We also had trouble in Kuta with Grab, so this was a welcome explanation.

It would also be an omen.

We first went to the Sukarno Center, a museum dedicated to the former President. Apparently he's from this area, so they built a little dealie for him. It was packed full of stuff, but overall kind of hard to appreciate without... well, an appreciation for him. It was a quite regal looking building, more for a king than president. They actually said no photos were allowed, but I've mentioned before my thoughts on that - I'm paying for the ticket, so too bad, I'm taking photos.

It was a short hop up the road to the next place, a temple called Pura Mengening. Now this is cool. It's sort of like you discovered an ancient fountain in the forest. It was straight out of a video game, and one of the coolest places I've visited, full stop. It happened to rain that day, and was still drizzling a little - which just made it seem even more special and mysterious. It's pretty far out off the path, so I wouldn't normally recommend it, but it's definitely worth it.

After a local lunch that was also delicious, I was a happy camper. But then, luck sort of ran out. We were too far out to use Grab, or at least we'd have to wait and try our luck if any cars would pass through. We instead negotiated with some locals to take us to the next place. It was a lengthy but fun motorbike ride, through villages and a bamboo forest. We were going to Pura Kehen, in Bangli, the supposed "mother of temples", and a top ranked tourist destination.

Well, this mother is an abusive one. The temple itself is.. meh. Okay if you're in the area, but it deserves 10% of the praise it gets. Aside from the gate it's really not all that beautiful. And then, we were in another bad situation. We tried to get transport back to the next area, and were delighted that there were tons of Grabs around. Turns out no. They all canceled a few minutes after accepting, and I speculate that this was because they're trying to frustrate people to not use Grab at all. We gave up after about an hour and many cars that "arrived" but were nowhere to be seen. I was so frustrated by it I just wanted to go back to Guangzhou. Ridesharing apps can't take over the world fast enough. At the time of writing, Indonesia ranks dead last on countries I have visited. Even North Korea is more fun than you are.

You're a dying industry, taxis, and I am happy to see you die. Your silly war against progress will only buy you a short amount of time. I realized that I sound like a super villain saying that, but I'm going to stick with it. Shut up and take my money, Uber/Grab/Didi.

Anyway, nothing a few beers and a pizza can't fix.

The next day I was in no mood to pay any taxi driver a single rupiah. Fortunately all of the things we wanted to see were all in walking distance. We went up a few pedestrian streets, looking at the "same same but not different" things until we got to a local market. To me, this is what Asia is all about. Stray dogs everywhere, locals just doing their regular shopping, a kid peeing in a ditch, and not a word of English to be heard. Maybe it's weird I prefer that. Part of it is the price of everything is 1/5th what it is elsewhere. But the bigger part is just that it's so different, I feel like I'm part of the community instead of some tourist watching it like a zoo. Definitely stop by the market across from the palace, get lost in the alleys, and buy a snack you can't identify - it's worth it.

The first stop was Ubud Palace, which isn't much to see. A few photos, you're done. After lunch and getting lost in more of Ubud's small streets, we came out near the Water Palace. This was really cool, but more like a pond with a palace next to it. It was really pretty though, and we had a nice time walking around taking photos. There was even a wedding photo shoot going on, so yeah, it was pretty legit. The one thing I didn't like was that in a room of the palace, or one constructed to look like one, was a Starbucks. Maybe that bothered me more than it should, but there's just something about a global megachain that just sucks all of the uniqueness out of somewhere. I like to travel to see interesting things and experience as many cultures as possible for the life that I have. And, not going to lie, feel good about myself that I have been somewhere that few have. Starbucks being there might as well be a sign that says "You are so on the tourist path, you might as well be taking selfies in front of The Statue of Liberty, eating a hot dog, and wearing a I <3 New York T-shirt." So Starbucks, I'd prefer if you went back to malls and airports.

The next stop was the Puri Lukisan Museum. It has a lot of really weird, somewhat disturbing artwork, which seems to be what Balinese people go for. However, they also give you a free coffee when you're done. I started thinking more about this, and it's such a good idea I can't believe more places don't do it.

1) The actual cost of a coffee is nothing.
2) It makes you feel good, so you leave with a positive impression that will lead you to recommend it.
3) It gets you into their restaurant, so there's a good chance you will spend more money there instead of outside.
4) It makes your ticket seem like a better deal.

So, other museums. Get on it.

By this point, it was getting kind of late and we were getting tired. We pressed on to Pura Dalem, or "The Death Temple". Apparently dying is a very beautiful process with lots of neat sculptures. It's very small, but worth a look. And the last final stop was a surprise, a very deep ravine with a stream in it. It was a suddenly very calm place in the heart of the city, with a neat bridge over it.

And that was it for Ubud. Next morning we're heading for a "real" beach, Sanur. I'll miss this place's hippy vibe. There was more we didn't do simply because of the lack of easy transport. So, Ubud - get on that, and we'll be back.