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

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Sanur
Resort with a “Checkered” Past

The black and white checkered cloth-standard of Bali’s netherworld- is nowhere more aptly hung than on the ancient coral statue and shrines of Bali’s largest traditional village: Sanur. This was Bali’s first beach resort- a place of remarkable contrasts.

Sanur today is a golden mile of Balisque hotels that has attracted millions of paradise seeking globetrotters. And yet within the very grounds of the 11-story The Grand Bali Beach Hotel, a war-reparation gift from the Japanese, nestles the sacred an spikey temple of Ratu Ayu of Singgi , the much feared spirit consort of Sanur’s fabled Black Barong.

Sanur is famous throghtout Bali for its sorcery. Black and white magic pervades the coconut groves of the resort hotels like an invisible chess game. And yet the community is modern and properous.

Sanur is one of the few remaining brahman kuasa villages in Bali- controlled by members of the priestly castle – and boasts among its charm some of the handsomest processions on the island, Bali’s only all female keris dance, the island’s oldest stone inscription, and the hotel world’s most beautiful tropical garden. Even the souvenirs sold on the beach- beautiful crafted kites and toy outriggers-are a cut above those found on the rest of the island. Sanur

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Serangan Island
Important Temple on “Turtle Island”

Serangan is a small island lying just off Bali’s southern coast near Sanur. It has an area of only 180 acres and a population of about 2500 and its known principally for its turtles and its important Sakenan Temple.

Serangan is too dry for wet rice farming, but its residents grow corn, maize, peanuts and beans. Some islander earn a living making shell trinkets to sell to the tourist who come here in ever increasing numbers. But the trade in another distinctive item is even more crucial to the local economy.

The sea turtles which give Serangan its popular name are not found swimming pictur-esquely under ocean cliffs- here they are caught and sold as food. People in the Denpasar area are found of turtle meat, especially on festival days. Serangan residents make a living capturing and wholesaling the creatures, also buying them from Muslim fishermen from islands to the east. Serangan Island

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Denpasar
Village City with Regal History

Denpasar is a village city with an aristocratic past. Born from the ashes of the defeated Pemecutan court following the Puputan massacre of 1906. Denpasar become a sleepy administrative outpost during Dutch times.

Since independence, especially after it was made the capital of Bali in 1958, it has been transformed into a bustling city of some 350.000 souls that provides administrative, commercial and educational services not only to booming Bali, but too much of estern Indonesia as well. Denpasar is the most dynamic city east Surabaya, and arguably the richest in the country- the are more vehicles per capita here tha in Jakarta.

New City Old Villages
Originally a market town- its name literally means “east of the market”- Denpasar has far outgrown its former boundaries, once defined by the Pemecutan, Jero Kuta and Satriya palace and the brahmanical house of Tegal, Tampakgangsul and Gemeh. Spurred in all direction by population pressures and motorized transport, urban growth is little by little envolping the neighboring villages and oblitering surrounding ricefields, leaving in a new urban landscape in its wake housing estate in the midst of ricefields and ricefields in the middle of the city. Denpasar

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