The Agung Rai Museum of Art
Ranked #8,351 in Travel & Places, #219,911 overall
Our Hotel in Ubud is a Museum
After years of dithering and world weary excuses, we decided our options had all been used up and we must go to Bali. In our peripatetic community someone who hasn't been to Bali is as rare as a Bhutanese Snow Leopard. Not going was an admission of indolence and utter ignorance. Being introduced as the "only expats in Asia who have not been to Bali" became intolerable. Friends who lived in Bali began to take offence. So for all the wrong reasons and with a will to complain and grump, off we went for the 2010 April break.
As Ubud seems to be an artist community and a bit snootier than the beer beaches, we decided to book a few nights there both for the inner and outer "artiste". The other thought was to escape the daily slug of our apartment home in mid Mekong, and commit a few nights to pampering in a Nusa Dua beach front hotel. It being off-season, the places were affordable and we practiced looking like we always went first class! Once again, for all the wrong reasons, it seems we made good plans. Chilling at the beach for three days in the sun and the ocean breeze was just what a pair of vintage voyagers needed.
After a few days of rest and quiet and generally being spoiled, we were ready to explore. So off we went to Ubud. We had booked ourselves in the Agung Rai Museum of Art, ARMA. We had booked this hotel because of the reviews, but even more importantly, because it was a museum.
Our curiosity was piqued. What could be better than a living museum of art in the middle of Bali's art community? There was also the attraction of cultural shows and performances as well as the cultural tours that the hotel offered. So, the Agung Rai Museum of Art, ARMA, became our spiritual and physical homes for a few days.
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Murni's Very Personal Guide to Ubud by Ni Wayan Murni
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The ARMA Villa
Our own private world
It was raining a classic Conrad typhoon and it was hard to get any impression of the city or even the hotel, the Agung Rai Museum of Art or ARMA, but the check in was reassuring in that we were expected. However, after the luxury of the mega hotel, the concept of having a hotel in the middle of the rice paddies was a bit disconcerting. So after registering, umbrella armed staff ferried us to our own villa along a narrow pathway sloping up twin ancient gates festooned with a serious gong to be rung by all entrants, guests, servers or strays!
Past the gates, we were in our own private world with its own pool and an outdoor gazebo with cushions and mats for dining and whatever. Our room adjoined an indoor outdoor dressing room and shower that gave the sense of standing under a small waterfall in your garden. What a wonderful experience.
More Pictures of the ARMA Villas
The mini pool in our villa at the Agung Rai Museum Hotel
A Museum Shaped by the Unique Cultural Traditions of Bali
The Agung Rai Museum of Art
The Agung Rai Museum of Art grew out of the founder's vision of a museum shaped by the unique cultural traditions of Bali. The vintage colonial house that houses the painting is massive and located in 5 acres of working rice fields, Agung Rai beautifully spread the hotel villas down and below the Museum and landscaped the place in such a way that everything, even a rushing rivulet fits into a rustic living mural of the past with water buffalo working the paddy and farmers just outside your gate working the rice.
The birds and butterflies alone are worth the price of admission and hint at the origin of the colour displays in Balinesian paintings. You can see the villagers marching past the fields bringing their offerings to the temple nearby, or you hear gongs as the villagers fit into processions for this ceremony or that. We often began to feel like one of the villagers, until the moment we passed into the villa, a shock that was almost physical.
ARMA offers the best Bali cultural workshops
Book early if you want to do this
You do not have to be a guest in the hotel to book one of these workshops. Bali culture is very rich and there is so much to learn. These workshops will enhance your understanding of Bali and deepen your experience of the people you are visiting.
For your Bali holiday
You will need some of these travel stuff
Bali Culture
Unique Hindu Tradition
There is so much to understand in the culture of Bali. Ubud is the center of art in the island and it is a big museum display of Bali's living cultural traditions. It is best to understand some of these by attending cultural workshops. And where can one attend the best? The Agung Rai Museum of Art is the place to go.
List of Cultural Workshops the Agung Rai Museum Offers
Try one of these Bali traditional customs
Here is a list of the cultural workshops offered by the museum. Which of these would you be interested in trying or have already tried?
5
Balinese Traditional Cooking
You will prepare with your group your own lunch sh more...0 points
9
Balinese Astrology and Numerology
For those of you who enthusiasts of these two, you more...0 points
Know more about Bali culture
Bali Performances at the Agung Rai Museum
Check the ARMA museum site for more information
- ARMA Museum Site
- You can get updated information on ARMA, the Agung Rai Museum of Art
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What people say about hotels in Bali
Let's find out
- Promoting Balinese cuisine to int'l audience
- by Wasti Atmodjo on 2012-05-28 The hospitality industry is required to actively introduce and promote Balinese food to their guests, even though hotels and restaurants in Bali mostly serve Western cuisine at their tables. Speaking in a seminar, ...
- Nusa Dua's CONSTRUCTION CHAOS
- Despite the ongoing debates about changing the zoning laws, especially the buffer zones around major temples, construction of hotels and villas moves on at a raging pace in Bali. Most evident is the case of Nusa Dua, where construction of the Mulia ...
- Vast coastal erosion threatens Bali shorelines
- AA Alit Sastrawan, head of the Bali Environment Office, said that development projects along coastal areas had become the most dangerous threat to the island's beaches. Investors were now hunting land fronting the beach to build villas, hotels and ...
- Tourism boosts Internet usage
- The government, he said, had to pay very serious attention to the rocketing demands for high-speed Internet to support the country's business sector, including hotel and tourist-related industries. Armika Jaya, IT manager at Novotel Bali in Nusa Dua, ...
On the Best of Bali culture
The Agung Rai Museum of Art gives many lessons
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Share your experience of attending a cultural workshop
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daisybeam Mar 30, 2012 @ 12:50 pm | delete
- I enjoyed the virtual tour to Bali from your lens, it is a must place to visit.
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We stayed here the last time we went to Bali and did not expect the many things one can do in this hotel especially around Bali culture. It is also re... more »
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The Agung Rai Museum of Art
Ubud II Art Poster Print by Rodolfo Jimenez, 10x12
Amazon Price: (as of 05/29/2012)
It is just beautiful and so uniquely Ubud.
