Hi all,

back from 2 blissful weeks in Ubud & Pemuteran in October. I have not posted much since our return due to being busy with work but can now see some light..... so here goes a starter!

To be honest, my partner, Sue, was a bit over Bali after our last visit in 2006 due to the down mood that we sensed. Wow, has that changed! I won't elaborate now but Bali, and Ubud in particular for us, has bounced back in a great way.

They have so much cleaned up their "act" that we almost couldn't believe it. Rubbish tipped in the rivers? All gone, all clean.

Businesses closing down? All we saw was optimism and new enterprise, new building, new warung... great!

Being pestered to look in shops etc.... Nup!

Women & children from the Kintanani area begging along Monkey Forest Rd? Gone! They are now employed selling knives etc. in the streets... I bought several from them as I was so pleased to see it.

The best we have seen Ubud since 2001.

If anyone is interested in what I an reporting here I will be very pleased to expand upon our adventures soon. Needless to say, I will be back there a couple of times next year!

Cheers for now,
David

__________________
Smile and the world you are travelling in will smile back at you

are doing something for themselves positive. I am glad there was no negative connotations regarding the beggar situation. As a big Ubud and Pemuteran fan (as you know) am looking forward to any jealousy rendering accounts of your stays at either. I know you never mentioned which hotels you went to but I have spies everywhere! I have never stayed at Taman Selini in Pemuteran, just looked and eaten there. Is it still Greek owned with great salads? How are the coral and fish doing next door? If Ubud has cleaned its streets and operation, I really do not know why anyone would to Braidville in the south!

__________________
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!

Great to get some positive comment and up to date information. The rubbish situation is such a tragedy and one that I can never get my mind around. In the past it seems if it's not your job to dispose of rubbish effectively then you have the right to dump it where you like and then it's someone else's problem. Most disturbing years ago was seeing a disposable nappy and other rubbish stuck in a water channel at the base of a rice paddi revetment embankment in Ubud. Just made me cringe for a whole host of reasons. So good to hear that the area is being cleaned up as opposed to trashed, which is what it seemed to amount to, and not such a difficult problem to correct. Also wonderful to hear that the atmosphere is positive and one of progress. Ubud seems to have had a better grip on environmental control and preservation than the original areas that were "trashed" in the process of tourist development. Hopefully over-development won't become a problem.

Another concern for me has been the dogs. While walking the lovely back laneways and gangs around Seminyak and Kerobokan I often came across very aggressive dogs. Some looked really bad with nasty injuries or swelling indicating infection so not surprising that their temperament was nasty. I really wouldn't like to be bitten by one of those sad creatures, or any other dog. On the other hand was very sad to read that in the process of cleaning up the dog problem for the UN Climate Summit that baits were left around which resulted in some pets being poisoned.

I'm a bit shocked to hear that Mark doesn't get his hair braided and beaded, can't imagine why.

Looking forward to more when you have some time. So pleased to hear you had such a wonderful holiday. Even though we do business in Bali my husband is somewhat over it with all that has happened, which I can understand, but feel rather sad about. However, reading your report will hopefully inject some new enthusiasm into his veins.

Catherine

Not sure what happened but my message was "timed-out" and I had to log in again. Then I got a message to say that I needed 30 seconds between posts and to wait 18 seconds.

Then a message appeared that said it was a double posting.

Hope it doesn't appear three times.

Catherine