Kuta and Legian

“Beach Blanket Babylon” of The East

Kuta/Legian beach is living proof that one man’s hell is another man’s paradise. This bustling beach resort has in the short space of just two decades spontaneously burst onto center stage in the local tourist scene. It is here that many visitors from their first (if not only) impressions of what Bali is all about. Many are shocked and immediately flee in search of the “real Bali” (a mythological destination somewhere near Ubud).

The truth is, nevertheless, that certain souls positively thrive in this labyrinth of boogie bars, beach bungalows, cassette shop, and hongky tonks- all apart of Kuta life style. What then is the magic that has transformed this sleepy fishing village overnight into an overcrowded tourist Mecca –with no end in sight to its haphazard expansion?

Before tourism come to the area, Kuta was one of the poorest place on Bali –plagued by poor soils, endemic malaria and a surf-wracked beach tha provides little protection for shipping. In the early days, it nevertheless served as a port for the powerful southern Balinese kingdom of Badung, whose capital lay in what is now Denpasar. Kuta and Legian