Ubud is the place where Bali's rice paddies meet its art. Set in the hills at the island's centre, the town grew from a royal village into a centre for painters, dancers and carvers in the 1920s and 1930s, when European artists such as Walter Spies, a German, and Rudolf Bonnet, a Dutchman, settled here and encouraged local painters to explore new styles. The old royal palace, the Puri Saren, still hosts dance performances in the evenings, with gamelan music and elaborate costumes.
The landscape around is a patchwork of terraced rice fields, steep river gorges and jungle. Walking the ridge at Campuhan at dawn, with mist in the valleys and the first light on the coconut palms, is a fine start to the day. The Monkey Forest, a sacred forest sanctuary in the town, is full of long-tailed macaques with a habit of snatching sunglasses. Nearly 30,000 people live in the town itself, and the surrounding villages hold many more.
The riding is a mixture of delight and difficulty. The roads out of Ubud lead north to the highlands, past rice terraces and temples, and the corners are tight, with steep climbs and sudden drops. The surface can be uneven, with potholes and gravel, and traffic is heavy, especially around Ubud itself, where scooters, trucks and tour buses fill the lanes by mid-morning. An early start is a great help. Petrol is sold in stations in the town and, in smaller villages, in bottles from roadside stalls.
Balinese Hinduism shapes every day. Offerings of flowers and rice are placed at doorways and on the pavement, and ceremonies fill the roads with processions in white and gold. Once a year, on Nyepi, the Day of Silence, the whole island shuts down for twenty-four hours, with no traffic, no lights and no travel, so check the date before planning a trip. The dry season, from April to October, is the best time. Food is excellent, with roast duck, suckling pig and fresh fruit everywhere.