Ubud, Top City in Asia

Ubud officially becomes the "Top City in Asia", as a hoop dancing festival approaches.

The winner of Conde Nast Traveler magazine 2009 Readers' Choice Awards for Top City in Asia is the small town of Ubud in Bali, population 8,000.

25,000 readers were surveyed with the evaluation criteria being Atmosphere/Ambience, Culture/Sites, Friendliness, Lodging, Restaurants, and Shopping, with local news reports ascribing Ubud's top showing to the recent filming in the town of Hollywood movie "Eat, Pray, Love" (EPL), starring Julia Roberts.

The top ten, with scores:

1. Ubud, 82.5
2. Bangkok, 82.2
3. Hong Kong, 81.3
4. Chiang Mai, 80.9
5. Kyoto, 80.2
6. Singapore, 79.6
7. Shanghai, 75.9
8. Jaipur, 74.2
9. Tokyo, 72.9
10. Hanoi, 69

In worldwide scoring terms Ubud was an astonishing 5th:

1. Sydney, 86.9
2. San Francisco, 84.8
3. Florence, 84.6
4. Charleston, South Carolina, 83.1
5. Ubud, 82.5

However Bali as a whole, which is described by the Conde Nast online travel guide as a place of

pervasive spirituality, with daily ceremonies at more than 1,000 temples

failed to win the Top Asia Islands category, just losing out to the Maldives.

Meanwhile, basking in its glory, Ubud is to play host to Bali Spirit Festival 2010 in March, said to be

a spiritually charged event that celebrates yoga, dance and music and the synergy of global cultural collaboration through the arts

Pervasive spirituality in Ubud, hoop dancing and yoga.

4,500 people are expected to attend some of the 95 yoga, dance, and music workshops with in addition nightly world music concerts.

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