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.
