Spend evening inland in Ubud, Bali's artistic heart. There's time to browse around the art galleries and craft shops and watching one of the cultural performance. When the regent of Ubud – Cokorda Gede Agung – founded painters co-operative, a dance troupe and a gamelan orchestra in the 1930s, his intention was to ensure the preservation and development of Balinese arts. Gradually, Ubud and neighboring Peliatan village became a mecca for painters, dancers, musicians, and writers alike. Even today, the gentle pace of life, the village atmosphere, the wholesome cooking of the eating houses, the wealth of Balinese culture and the quality crafts all prove irresistible to the discerning visitor.