travelling and eating in central and northern bali

In the grim and dismal cold of the Melbourne winter it has been really nice to get away to somewhere warm and beautiful for a week and a bit.

I’ve been to Bali a few times now and I never fail to be taken by its beauty and the friendliness of the people. There are towns, which are largely like other towns in South East Asia, but it is the mountainous greenery of Bali which I love, rice terraces, cloves drying by the roadside, cinnamon trees and bananas just growing by the road. There is also the joy of being able to see the horizon, which is a rare occurrence for city dwellers like me, something I think of as a holiday pleasure.

To see Bali in its beauty, I think you need to head away from the southern beaches which are full of sometimes embarrassing, badly behaved drunks and head further north. This time I headed for the relaxing town of Ubud for some reading and cooking, followed by a some snorkelling at Menjangan Island off the town of Pemuteran, a small fishing town on the north west coast close to Java. I’ve been to both places before.

Bali is also a great place to eat. Indonesia is the home of tempeh and tofu and it is pretty easy to get vegan food here.  I’ve also found the Balinese to be very friendly and helpful in making sure we can eat well.  There are some great cafes and restaurants in Ubud specifically catering to vegans, which is not so surprising. The eating opportunities range from the upmarket to small local warungs that can feed you beautiful fresh food for under $5. We also ate well in Pemuteran. The staff at our accommodation there (Taruna Homestay) were on the ball about what was vegan,  even alerting us to some hidden egg in a dish.

I’m just going to add many, many pictures of the fabulous food we ate, and give a list of some of the places we tried. There were many more, but these were the ones I liked best. I haven’t reblogged the places I’ve already been to even though I revisited a few, these are well covered in a previous post.

Feast your eyes. 🙂

Sari Organik
Jl. Subak Sok Wayah, Ubud, Bali

There are two, one near the bridge on the main road and one across the rice fields.
We went to the rice field one. It is worth it alone for the walk and the views.

Aya Warung
Jalan Bisma Ubud
Bali 80561, Indonesia

Seniman Coffee
Jalan Sriwedari No. 5, Ubud, Bali 80561, Indonesia
senimancoffee.com

Taruna Homestay
Jl. Raya Singaraja-Gilimanuk,
Gerokgak, Desa Pemuteran, Kabupaten Buleleng,
Bali 81155, Indonesia
tarunapemuteran.com

Paon Cooking School
Laplapan Village, near Ubud
Bali, Indonesia.
www.paon-bali.com