Kumbusari?? I heard that there was a fire and that part of the market has been destroyed. There was reference to unagi shop being gone, and that the 3rd and 4th floor of the market were burned.

It is true, the market burned. Apparently 600 vendors have been displaced. No one was killed..thank goodness. I will truly miss going there.

Where woman buying agents latch onto you to negotiate prices for you (get a commission) right? I hated the place! You could never go in and be left alone; they would come in and insist they were your agent. Seems like the tom toms are speculating foul play. Perhaps a bit like the market burn downs in Jakarta; used to clear valuable real estate land of low rental earning markets for the locals.

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Mark,
I really don't know if we're talking about the same place or not. I've been going to this market for years. I've never had anyone try to claim they were my agent or anything close to that.

This market is the one that is in the same area as the gold market and fabric zone in Denpasar. There was a fire there a couple of years ago also, but in a different part of the market. This was a thriving traditional market. I have no idea if foul play was involved, there has been very little information. I think this will be a terrible hardship on many local families.

Am very sorry that the market burned down, especially as there is some talk that the fire was deliberate as the license to operate it was expiring soon I understand. If the stall owners were burned out of their livelihoods and stock, that really is not good at all. However, I am pretty sure this is the market I went to once and never again because of the damn agent ladies; they all wore blue aprons from memory; God it was maybe 10 years ago. Three or four stories right? We never actually managed to buy anything there because of these agent ladies. It did not matter how much you told them “no” and even if you walked out and came back via another entrance, another would latch onto you, so my memories of the place are not so sweet, but again I am sad to hear people just lost the rice off their tables.

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there is a trend / pattern!

Firefighters finally put the fire out Turi market in Surabaya Saturday after it has razed thousands kiosks in the last three days.

and

Fire razes Cipanas market in Cianjur

Many are saying these fires are started deliberately so developers can get their hands on prime real estate. Of course the poor Indonesians who rely on and have stalls in these markets lose out big time.

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There are two categories of travellers, those that experience a country and those that take their home with them wherever they go.

Be warned, as with any forum, picking a fight with the admin guy is not recommended!