A Hidden Rice Field Walk Near Ubud: Kelabangmoding Village to Jalan Cinta

 

Not every rice field walk in Ubud ends up on a map. This one hasn’t, yet — and that’s exactly why it’s worth writing about.

This is the first in what’s going to be an ongoing series here on Melali: quiet rice field walks around Ubud that most visitors never hear about, because the people who use them are the ones who live along them. No ticket booth, no Instagram geotag with ten thousand posts, no queue for a photo spot. Just a path between rice paddies that happens to connect two villages — in this case, Kelabangmoding village and Jalan Cinta.

How this walk works

I started from home in Kelabangmoding village, walked past Paddy Spa, and continued through the rice fields until I came out onto the main road in Jalan Cinta. The whole thing — from home to Paddy Spa to Jalan Cinta — took about an hour and 10 minutes at a normal walking pace, with no stops.

This isn’t a loop, and it isn’t a designated trail with signage. It’s a working path through active rice fields that happens to connect Kelabangmoding village to Jalan Cinta, and realistically, the only people who know it exists are the ones who live in one of those two areas. If you’re staying in central Ubud, this probably isn’t something you’d stumble onto by accident — which is part of the point of this series. These are the walks locals actually use, not the ones built for tourism. There’s no map that marks this route, no sign pointing you from one village to the other — you either know it from living here, or you don’t know it at all.

Part of the path is still under maintenance

Worth saying clearly: sections of this route are currently under maintenance. It’s still walkable — I did the full stretch without issue — but don’t expect a finished, even surface the whole way through. Expect loose stone in places, some unevenness where work is ongoing, and the occasional improvised crossing over an irrigation channel. Go in expecting a working path, not a manicured one, and you won’t be caught off guard. If anything, that’s part of what makes it feel real — you’re walking through a village infrastructure project in progress, not a finished tourist product.

This route didn’t exist a few years ago

What makes this one genuinely interesting, at least to me, is how recent it is. Two or three years ago, this connection between villages simply wasn’t there — if you wanted to get from Kelabangmoding village to Jalan Cinta on foot through the rice fields, you couldn’t. You’d have taken the long way around on the main road, by scooter or car, because there was no walkable link cutting through the paddies themselves.

The paths that now connect these villages together have been built out relatively recently, and what used to require a scooter and the main road can now be done on foot, through rice fields, start to finish. That’s a small but real shift in how this part of Ubud functions day to day — more walkable connections between villages that used to be separated by road-only access, quietly changing how people here actually move between places.

I took photos on this walk, though none of them show the maintenance sections specifically — I’ll add the set I have once they’re ready, and grab proper shots of the broken-up stretches on a future pass-through so the post has a real visual guide, not just a description.

Jalan Cinta has real coffee options, even though I don’t usually stop

Here’s something I’ll be upfront about: I’ve walked this route plenty of times, and I never stop for coffee or breakfast along the way — I just get home and eat there instead. So I can’t give you a seasoned, repeat-visit recommendation the way I can for spots I actually frequent elsewhere.

That said, Jalan Cinta itself has a real cluster of coffee shops open for coffee and breakfast once you arrive at the main road, including:

• Huma Coffee — I’ve been once. Can’t give a confident recommendation yet, but it’s on my list to go back to properly.

• Kucara Coffee — Haven’t tried this one yet.

• Lezzet Cafe — Also haven’t tried this one yet.

Tried one of these already? Give me your recommendation in the comments — I’d love to know which one’s worth prioritizing before I get there myself.

What to bring

Same basics as any rice field walk around here: proper shoes, water, and sun protection, since there’s minimal shade once you’re between the paddies. This matters more than usual given the maintenance sections — something with real grip and ankle support, like the Merrell Moab 3 Hiking Shoe, makes a genuine difference on the uneven stretches. This isn’t a park with facilities along the way — it’s a working path through working rice fields, so stay considerate of anyone actually farming as you pass through, and don’t treat the irrigation systems or crossings as photo props.

Where to stay nearby

If you want to try this walk without commuting in from central Ubud, Jasmine Serenity Villa sits right next to Paddy Spa, practically at the start of this route — close enough that you could do the whole walk before breakfast without needing a scooter first. It’s also listed on Airbnb if you’d rather book that way. I know this one personally — it’s owned by my landlord’s brother — so it’s a genuine recommendation, not a random pick off a map.

Want to walk this route with me instead of solo?

This is exactly the kind of route I take people on for the Amygdala Photo Walk — quiet rice field paths, working villages, the kind of local corners most visitors never find on their own. If this walk (or one like it) sounds like something you’d rather experience guided than figure out alone, that’s what the session is for.

Bottom line

If you’re staying anywhere near Kelabangmoding village or Jalan Cinta and want a rice field walk that almost no one else knows about, this is it — just go in expecting a few rough patches along the way, and don’t expect polished photo-stop infrastructure at the end. What you get instead is an hour-plus of quiet rice fields and a genuine look at how these villages are starting to connect on foot. I’ll have proper photos of the maintenance sections up on the next pass through, which I’ll add here once I’ve got them.