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Don’t make the mistake of skipping Denpasar while touring the island. Although, like any city, it is noisy and polluted, there is lots to see and do in this ancient town. Denpasar was rebuilt after the Puputan massacre of 1906; when the royal families committed suicide rather than surrender to the invading Dutch Army.

Today Denpasar is a bustling city of some 450,000 inhabitants - and more vehicles per capita than Jakarta. There is an excellent art center, a museum and the colorful (and cheap) market in Jl. Sulawesi. There are also several large department stores such as Hero and Matahari. You will also find many restaurants and fast food stores. The restaurant selection is wide and varied. Some dedicated searching will discover excellent Chinese and Asian food varieties.

Denpasar is the largest and busiest city on the island and originally developed from a trading center. The name means "east of the market." It is the headquarters for the government, the media, the island's principal banks, airline offices, and hospitals. A hot, dusty, cacophonous city, Denpasar has grown fifteen-fold over the past 10 years. The inhabitants consist of Bali's original gentry, the priest class, and the new Balinese techno and bureaucratic elites; as well as Indonesians drawn from other islands to this economic magnet. Denpasar is one of Indonesia's most fully integrated and tolerant cities, with separate kampungs of Bugis, Arabs, Indians, Chinese, Madurese, and Javanese. Without doubt it is the richest, most important city in Eastern Indonesia.