Hi all! Had a couple of weeks primarily in Ubud back in May. We also did a day trip to Bedugal and Munduk, and a two nighter to Pemuteran travelling there via Kintamani. I have been to Kintamani before and have put it on my list of places NOT to visit mainly due to the extremely aggressive hawkers. As we had a couple of newbies with us I thought just passing through it was a good way for them to enjoy the sights without feeling the need to stop for lunch and all the hassles that go with that, hawkers, food poisoning from buffet, being ripped off etc. etc.

Observation 1 - the drive to Pemuteran via Kintamani took the best part of 4 hours but was far more civilized than the drive via Bedugal and Singaraja as there is very little traffic and the road passes through the centre of Singaraja which is an interesting place, very Dutch colonial in architecture as is to be expected. The extra hour was worth it.

Observation 2 - Ubud was very busy with tourists, as busy as I remember it pre October 2002

Observation 3 - There is less persistance from drivers touting for business in the streets of Ubud

Observation 4 - There are more and more good places at which to eat opening up in all price ranges in Ubud. Some notables springing up in the last year or so are:
Tropical Bale
Sally Thai
Tropicale
Bar Luna
Warung Mendez
Bunute
Kafe Organic

Observation 5 - the price of Bintang beer in the supermarket has doubled in the past year. It is now more expensive than San Miguel or Carlsburg

Cheers for now

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