Accommodations in Ubud, Bali

When planning a trip to Bali it’s always good to have some recommendations for places to stay. There are many places to choose from and the accommodation list on the Ubud Tourism is a good place to start. Two of my personal favorites and reasonable priced places to stay in Ubud, Bali are Artini 3 Cottages and Pondok Pundi Village Inn & Spa. We have supported them for a long time and can recommend staying there on your travels!

Artini 3 Cottages is a very comfortable hotel surrounded by rice fields and close to the artist community of Pengosekan Village. Yet it’s a 20-minute walk to the centre of Ubud, and it takes only 15 minutes to enjoy a relaxing stroll to the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary.
There are 3 main buildings with a total of 16 rooms available. These buildings are surrounded by tropical gardens and their swimming pool area offers some stunning views! It’s such a peaceful place, a perfect place to retreat from our busy lives and meditate.

Pondok Pundi Village Inn & Spa is situated in the heart of Ubud, so it’s an ideal place to stay if you’re interested in exploring Ubud and other parts of the island. It’s close to all the great art galleries, restaurants, Ubud Palace and the colourful markets. They also offer great services at their spa, things like massages, reflexology and mani-pedis. When staying here it’s easy to feel refreshed and invigorated. More stunning views can be found here, a true inspiration for the soul.

Bali ReGreen

Bali Regreen is a sustainable environmental project aiming to fight land degradation in the island’s driest areas while also educating and training the people who inhabit the land. It is one of the most exciting projects in the region, with an emphasis on long term economic benefits for some of Bali’s poorest people.

BaliSpirit Festival and Yayasan Kryasta Guna have partnered with the Environmental Bamboo Foundation (EBF) and have planted 4,300 seedlings to help these poor and arid villages, helping to bring water to the arid land and rehabilitate it. But we don’t stop there. Our extended team of staff and volunteers also train village farmers to care for the soon-to-be bamboo forest on their previously unproductive land, while simultaneously developing a small-scale micro-economy in these affected communities.

Bamboo was chosen for several reasons. Balinese people use a lot of bamboo and is a high-yield renewable resource (it can be harvested in 3-5 years). Bamboo also makes a great water catchment area protection and is good for fast regreening of dry and unproductive areas.

It’s more than just planting bamboo seedlings. Bamboo needs basic maintenance and the farmers need training to know how to do this the right way. Right now, the focus is on ensuring the bamboo seedlings make it to the crucial 3 year ‘safety zone’ and the first year of harvest. Bamboo is low maintenance, but, like any crop, it needs fertilizer, water and human attention to thrive.

Bali ReGreen estimates that it will take another 3 years of support (total 5 years) to make this project self-sustaining. By 2018, we hope to leave behind a 10,000 strong bamboo forest – producing poles for harvest every year – 300 educated bamboo farmers, a better irrigation system, a healthier water catchment area in Bali’s second biggest water reservoir, and jobs and economic opportunities for 8,000 villagers.

For more information and ways for you to help, please visit the Bali ReGreen website!

Spirit Wood

Live Edge Hardwood Tables made from Suar wood – grown locally in Indonesia.

Our great selection of rustic natural tables are hand-crafted by the skilled trades-masters of Bali and Java, and are purchased through Direct Trade. Each table is hand-picked by David and entirely unique; it has its own story, quirks, and personality!

The Suar tree, also known as Albizia Saman or Monkeypod, is a large tropical rain tree that can grow up to heights of 25m. These non-endangered and fast-growing tropical hardwood trees are easily recognizable from their umbrella shaped canopy. This type of wood compares favorably to other woods because of its crisscrossed interlocking grain, which makes it resistant to cracking from wood movement. Hence why it is the best known tropical wood for tables. It is highly sought-after for it robustness.

Most of the trees that are used to make our natural edge/live edge tables are wind fall and/or grown on local peoples land as a long term investment for the families. Often when a farmer cuts one of these down it’s to pay for a family expense like education or a health need. Originally native to South America, Suar trees were brought to Indonesia by the Dutch over 300 years ago. They grow well and fast in this climate. In the past we have planted 10 young trees to replace the ones we have taken.

We always look for sustainable sources when it comes to buying our furniture and other items. For example on one of David’s many trips to look at tables, the opportunity arose to go look at a couple of trees in a local cemetery. There were a couple of trees that were so big that they were damaging the existing tombstones. The people living in the area put the money made off the tree sale towards repairing the road to get to the cemetery. Often in Indonesia, local governments/towns are responsible for paying for roads and their repairs; because of this they rely on the local people to pay for and manage the roads which is difficult due to the limited tax pays. We were pleased to be able to contribute.

A new container with over 40 live edge tables arrived in Calgary on October 20, 2015! Click here for our photo album on Facebook to take a look at the new tables. Come visit our stores or contact us for more information!

Serenity Prayer

Many of us know the serenity prayer and its message of hope. Although the exact origin of the prayer is unknown, most sources agree that the version we all know and love was written by Portestant theologican Rheinhold Niebuhr in the 1940s.
Loved by many, the language of the prayer is humble, the lessons are simple and the message is both personal and universal. It has become part of the official material used by AA’s worldwide and is used on a daily basis by thousands of people around the globe.

Maybe the biggest reason for its popularity is the fact that the lessons are timeless. Allowing ourselves to surrender to our higher power (God/Universe or many others) and trust that everything will work out in its own time is a powerful experience. It allows to accept, let go and have faith in the outcome. It takes courage to challenge ourselves and find a way to change our lives. Each and everyone of us will find obstacles on our journey through life. When we can view those obstacles as opportunities to grow and learn, we overcome our hardships.

This prayer has helped many in their efforts to take life one day at the time, finding happiness in our daily lives:

“God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.”

(long version includes the following:)
“Living one day at a time;
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
forever in the next.
Amen.”

At our stores in Calgary or in our online store you can find several versions of inspirational banners including this serenity prayer. They would make a lovely addition to your home, sacred space, office or studio, or it could be great meaningful gift for someone dear to you.

Project Recycled Newspaper Bags

A great way of reducing our environmental impact and reduce our waste!

Shopping bags made from recycled newspapers, made by local people in a farming village on the Indonesian island of Bali.

This project provides supplemental income for the small farming community in the hills of eastern Bali. Other than traditional farming, there’s no local industry to generate income for the villagers. The funds raised with this project helps pay for education for local children. It’s all about giving back to the community.

Villagers collect old newspapers from nearby participating hotels. The bags are made out of the used papers and bundled. How it works is that the villagers fold the used newspapers over different sized wooden boxes to create different sized bags: small, medium, large and bottle bags. Utilizing strips of banana tree fibers, they create the twine for the handles. This is more cost-effective than ready-made twine.
It takes about 20 minutes to produce a large bag, slightly less to make the smaller ones. The wine bottle bags are double layered.

The project was started a few years back by Plantoon, one of the villagers, and now both men and women in the village have become involved with it, making the compound where the bags are made a daily social hub where people come together to chat and where children can play.

We ship these bundles of recycled newspaper bags in our containers filled with furniture and other objects from Bali, to minimize the environmental impact of transporting these bags.

If you would like to receive more information about these bags, please give us a call at (403) 244-7171, send us an email or visit our website.

Hang Drum in Bali

The ancient practice of drumming can be a healing experience, releasing our emotions and helping us in our meditation. It can be one of the most creative and pleasurable ways to tap into the healing nature of rhythm.

Most of the drums we sell in our stores come from a local music factory on the island of Bali. Gopal is the owner of a musical instrument factory in Ubud. They produce many drums and other musical instruments, hand-made and often with recycled and sustainable materials. In our stores you may find their hang drums (also called hand pans, constructed from steel, shaped by hand and made to play with your hands), djembe drums (rope-tuned skin-covered goblet-shaped drums, also made to play with your hands) and didgeridoos (originally developed by the indigenous peoples of Australia, also known as natural wooden trumpet or “drone pipes”), these are very popular with our customers!

You can find these drums in our stores in Calgary and in our online store. Check out our unique assortment of drums!

Watch the talented Gopal play the hang drum for us, it’s truly amazing!

Art in Bali

Almost everything in Bali is art, created by real artists and craftsmen and with great love.
People often come into my store and say the place has a very strong presence and that they can feel something through the artwork that I bring back. I bring back hand-carved statues, stone statues, furniture and canvas art and all of it holds a special kind of magic that only comes from the Balinese people.

I usually buy my artwork just outside of Ubud from a friend. This year that friend had a very unfortunate flooding during Bali’s rain season and half of her gallery got damaged. The most damage was caused to the roof, and she couldn’t afford to fix it.
I decided to help her out and brought a large amount of the paintings back on my last container. All of these paintings are hand-painted by local Balinese artists, many of them depicting abstract scenery of Bali, the people and its culture.

These paintings are for sale at our 17th Ave store in Calgary or can be purchased through our online store! All paintings are 50% off at this time and we’re offering free shipping for a limited time.

Yoga in Bali

Ubud has become the yoga capital of south-east Asia. Many people all over the world are coming to Ubud, Bali to be trained by world class teachers and to live the beautiful Bali lifestyle. Many places like the Yoga Barn and Radiantly Alive concentrate on many aspects of yoga including physical work, meditation and spirituality.

I often go to the Yoga Barn for events, ecstatic dance, yoga in the morning. ‘The Barn’ is an indigenous, rustic, spiritual space, surrounded by terraced rice paddies, nestled in the quaint mountain village of Ubud. ‘The Barn’ strives to provide visitors with an inspiring environment for the nourishment of body, mind and soul.

They offer daily classes, workshops, holistic healing, retreats, and on-site accommodation at their Yoga Barn Guest House. Their Garden Kafe offers healthy food and snacks, prepared for their guests with produce that is locally grown. It’s setting is most beautiful, a perfect place to retreat from the world, quiet the mind and to practice what you love with wonderful people to guide you!

Radiantly Alive is another yoga studio I often go to when visiting Bali. It was initially started by our friend Daniel Aaron in 2011 and has become very popular with the serious yogi. Situated right in the center of Ubud, just steps from the famous Bali Buda restaurant.

Besides their daily workshops, classes and holistic therapies, they offer a yoga teacher training that is established as one of the leading trainings in the world. It’s the perfect place for those seeking to enhance their teaching skills or to deepen their personal yoga practice.

By subscribing to the newsletter on their website you can receive free podcasts and videos. To get a feel for what they are all about, check out this video from their home page:

Shop our (online) store for colorful yoga bags to take your yoga mat with you on your travels!

Rice fields Bali

The Balinese rice terraces go back over 2,000 years when hard-working farmers with primitive hand tools began carving the stepped terraces out of steep hill sides.

I often stay in hotels with the rice-fields right in my back-yard.
Here’s a video of me just above Ubud in the rice terraces.

Roasting Coffee in Bali

For the production of coffee, the raw fruit is taken off the coffee plant. The cherry has the fruit or pulp removed leaving the seed or bean which is then dried. Then the beans are sorted and roasted. After cooling down they are packaged. In larger roasting houses the beans might be grounded before packaging.

Here we are visiting a coffee plantation in Bali and watching the roasting process. Love seeing the process with my own eyes! Way better than going to Starbucks 😉

Hang Drum in Bali

The ancient practice of drumming can be a healing experience, releasing our emotions and helping us in our meditation. It can be one of the most creative and pleasurable ways to tap into the healing nature of rhythm.

Most of the drums we sell in our stores come from a local music factory on the island of Bali. Gopal is the owner of a musical instrument factory in Ubud. They produce many drums and other musical instruments, hand-made and often with recycled and sustainable materials. In our stores you may find their hang drums (also called hand pans, constructed from steel, shaped by hand and made to play with your hands), djembe drums (rope-tuned skin-covered goblet-shaped drums, also made to play with your hands) and didgeridoos (originally developed by the indigenous peoples of Australia, also known as natural wooden trumpet or “drone pipes”), these are very popular with our customers!

You can find these drums in our stores in Calgary and in our online store. Check out our unique assortment of drums!

Watch the talented Gopal play the hang drum for us, it’s truly amazing!

Roasting Coffee in Bali

For the production of coffee, the raw fruit is taken off the coffee plant. The cherry has the fruit or pulp removed leaving the seed or bean which is then dried. Then the beans are sorted and roasted. After cooling down they are packaged. In larger roasting houses the beans might be grounded before packaging.

Here we are visiting a coffee plantation in Bali and watching the roasting process. Love seeing the process with my own eyes! Way better than going to Starbucks 😉