While Bali itself is known mostly to tourists for its beaches, upon a recommendation from a number of friends and family members, we strayed farther inland on his trip to Ubud, an area with a bustling city and tourist population but also one that includes the jungle, farms, and mountains.

On day 1, we took a morning walking tour of the jungle which, as you would expect, included lots of unrecognizable vegetation but the requisite fruit trees and plants like bamboo and coconut trees, passion fruit, snake fruit, rambutan, and bananas. Below is a sampling of the fruits that we saw and tasted during our trip to Ubud. Our favorite is passion fruit.

Dragon fruit, Balinese oranges, long an, Mango, and Rambutan

On day 2, we joined our good friend Giorgia Nagle (Quique's sister who was also visiting Bali at the same time as us) and her two amazing friends, Mariah and Kayla (who are also good friends now), for a trip to the top of Mount Batura, also referred to as Kintamani Batura, a volcanic mountain with a beautiful view of the sunrise. Viewing Mount Batura means getting up at 2 AM, taking an hour and a half drive to the base, and then hiking up the mountain with hundreds of other people in the dark (with flashlights) to stake out a good spot for photos. Fortunately, our group included über athletes so we cruised by everyone. At the top, we were greeted with a beautiful though somewhat cloudy sunrise.

A few notes about Mount Batura: Mount Batura is an active volcano and has erupted about a half dozen times over the past 100 years including most recently in 2000. If you decide to visit Mount Batura, you will need to hire a guide to go up the mountain. You can easily book a tour online. We booked an inexpensive tour that included a transfer to and from the mountain by van and a guide up and down the mountain. Honestly, there is not much difference between the tours except that some of them promise food and drinks at the top and a trip to some hot springs to bathe. We skipped all of the bells and whistles and went strictly for the hike and sunrise. Many blog posts will tell you to go all the way to the top and while it might be a better photo opportunity, we experienced a beautiful sunrise with great photos at the lower point where most people stop. Climbing even to this point requires a decent level of fitness and remember, you are climbing in the dark. Do NOT overdress going up the mountain. While it is definitely cooler on Mount Batura, we wore shorts and a t-shirt going up and were hot and sweaty when we got to the top. Once at the top, you will likely want a warm jacket. And DO wear appropriate footwear. We saw lots of flip flops. Not appropriate. This is a volcano. The path is littered with sharp lava rocks. Lastly, keep in mind, this is a big tourist activity in Ubud so expect slow going up the mountain. In the end. you will be rewarded with a rigorous workout followed by beautiful views.

Tim, Giorga, Kayla, Sigu, Nick, KoKo and Mariah at Mount Batura

On Day 3, our last day in Ubud, we ventured into the rice paddies of Tegalalang at 6 AM. We would highly recommend doing this walk (which does not require a guide) and would also recommend doing it early as it offered a great opportunity to see the fields without lots of people and while it is still cool. Not only is it beautiful to see the terraced rice fields but it's also interesting to see the intricate irrigation systems built largely during Dutch colonization and the Hindu prayer sites set up around the rice paddies to pray for good crops. Rice is a very important crop in Indonesia and there is no better place to see the paddies than in Ubud. As we learned, rice can be planted and harvested up to four times a year. However, the red and black Balinese rice (which we love) is only grown and harvested twice a year.