Ubud has always been a pleasant place that was good for what ails you. Originally this rice-rich village was more well-known to Balinese people as a cool and inland retreat where they went to consult local medicine men and to purchase herbs and other types of medicinal plants. Hence the place name, Ubud, which is a derivation of the Balinese word ubad, which means medicine. Ubud was indeed an early Balinese-style health spa where you went to be diagnosed and treated and where you comfortably rested and recuperated until you felt well again. Beginning in the later 1920s and early 1930s this herb-rich village also began attracting visiting artists, writers and other creative types who enjoyed spending time in Ubud because it tended to be cooler and healthier than the more malarial lowlands or coastal plains of South Bali.

Ubud is indeed the remarkable art town which every traveler to Bali has to visit, but the history of Ubud is also a grand and engaging tale about how a sleepy rice-and herb-growing village suddenly and “creatively” became world-renowned during the early part of this century as a place to hang and create. Local and insightful folks who will relate – in telling words and arresting photographs – what the special “mood” of Ubud is really all about.