My favourite spot in Bali is just outside of Ubud, Penestanan. There is some great accommodation available in the area and very good cheap places to eat. The charm of the area is partly due to the lovely green rice fields that are wonderful to walk through, full of bird life and in the afternoon agreat place to wander about talking to locals, in particular the older men.

In January there were severe floods in Bali and Ubud didn't escape unharmed. In particular the concrete "aquaduct" system that usually feeds irrigation water into the padis was washed away upstream of Penestanan.

In March when I was there I discussed this problem with locals and they said the irrigation system, subak, would be fixed but the organization responsible would need to wait for government funding. They had no advice as to when that would happen.

The sadness of this is that in late March the crops in Penestanan were harvested and the dry stubble left. In May it still wasn't fixed and I dare say that come my visit in August it still will not be repaired. The downside of all this is that the area is not looking good. Some farmers have taken to growing potatoes and veg for pigs in the padis using natural rainfall for irrigation.

What upsets me with this is that the charm of the area and what partly pulls people to the area is gone and those that I spoke to didn't understand my view and just told me they had plenty rice for now.

Just a comment.

David

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