After flying to Vancouver then Brisbane and then Denpasar, we spend our first full day doing tourist stuff. Downtown Denpasar is our goal as we have not visited that area before.
Our first stop is what we think is the palace of the once King of Pemecutan. It was the center of the Badung Kingdom in the late 1600s. Walking through, I can see the grandeur it once had under the moss and slowly disintegrating brickwork.
A short walk from the palace is the Badung Market. It is housed in two enormous buildings, one for fruit, vegetables and foodstuffs and the other for more tourist purchases of clothes, jewelry and crafts. As soon as we walk towards the first building, we are approached by a woman who explains the buildings and chats us up. She follows us into the first building and won’t stop following us. Once we move to the second building, she disappears and another woman takes her place.
What do you want to buy? Nothing, just looking. Do you want to buy a shirt? No. Do you want to buy a brass elephant? No. Bling? No. Fabric? No. As soon as we descend the stairs to go outside, she disappears. These ladies most likely get a commission from the vendor if we actually buy something.
After wandering down aisles of fruits and veggies, we cut through an aisle of chickens and fish. B goes to put her foot down and SURPRISE! there’s a RAT! She lets out a reflexive squeal and I grab her to make sure she doesn’t the topple over. We get out of that aisle as quick as we can go!
Our next stop is the statue Catar Muka, centered in a traffic circle followed by walking through a park. We hear music, so wander in that direction. There is a live band performing a Cranberries song and sounding pretty good. A crowd of various age is enjoying the event. We sit and listen to a few songs before moving on.
When we left the hotel, we asked at the front desk how much a taxi would be to the Pemecutan Palace and were quoted 375,000 Rupiah. We then walked into the food fare close by and asked a taxi fellow how much he would charge. 300,000 he says. Murray gets him down to 250,000 and we are off. When we start to look for a taxi downtown to go back to the hotel, we realize that there are almost none going by. Murray asks a woman walking by if she would order a Grab Taxi (like Uber) for us. Within minutes, one is picking us up. His quoted price is 90,000 to get us into Kuta, just north of the airport. Amazing price differences!
By the time we get back to the hotel, we are hot, tired and our feet are talking to us. A sign of a good day in downtown Denpasar.