Ubud, Indonesia Summary

Ever since the German artist Walter Spies arrived here in 1928, UBUD has been a magnet for any tourist with the slightest curiosity about Balinese arts. The people of Ubud and adjacent villages really do still paint, carve, dance and make music, and hardly a day goes by without there being some kind of festival in the area. However, although it’s fashionable to characterize Ubud as the real Bali, especially in contrast with Kuta, it actually bears little resemblance to a typical Balinese village. Cappuccino cafés, riverside losmen and woodcarving shops crowd its central marketplace and, during peak season, foreigners seem to far outnumber local residents. There is major (mostly tasteful) development along the central Monkey Forest Road (now officially renamed Jalan Wanara Wana), and the peripheries of the village have merged so completely into its neighbouring hamlets that Ubud now covers some nine square kilometres, encompassing Campuhan, Penestanan, Nyuhkuning, Peliatan, Pengosekan and Padang Tegal.