Denpasar , Beautiful City

Denpasar means ‘by the market’ and is Bali’s only real city. Denpasar is home to Balinese people from all over the island who work in Kuta, so in the late afternoon the roads leading to Denpasar are choked with traffic. For a Javanese person Denpasar is home from home. I’ve been told that there is a real community feeling there and people look after each other. Around 500,000 people live in Denpasar, including Balinese, Javanese and others from around the country. Denpasar is ‘local friendly’ in that rent, food and almost anything else is cheap and you will find food vendors from many parts of Indonesia. Denpasar is not particularly ‘tourist friendly’, traffic system and the lack of obvious tourist facilities mean its is often overlooked by visitors.

• History:
Puputan
Balinese history has been largely influenced by outsiders. One group of outsiders, who have a history of violence and destruction, wherever they went were the Europeans. One of the bloodiest events in Balinese history occurred in Denpasar on September 20th, 1906, when the raja of Badung (the southern regency in Bali), Gusti Gede Ngurah came to the conclusion, that his court could no longer suffer under Dutch rule and ordered a mass suicide, the ritual puputan.

• How to get to Denpasar:
There are a couple of ways to get to Denpasar from people staying in Kuta. If you are going to Renon to visit a consulate, you would take the Bypass to Sanur, and turn off at Jl. Raya Puputan. If you want to a selection of Denpasar’s food, you would follow Jl. Imam Bonjol through to Jl. Tueku Umar. From Seminyak you might follow Jl. Raya Kerobokan around to Jl. Gatut Subroto, the busy street that crosses Denpasar in the north. Many other routes are also possible. Once inside Denpasar proper, you will have to be on your toes as the one-way traffic system can send you in directions not anticipated. Denpasar is quite large so take a map with you.