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.

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!

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!

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 😉