Kuta has been known in our family as the armpit of Bali - as perscribed by the head of our family (Dad). As such, Misi & I originally planned only a couple of days here. It is HEAVILY touristed, trafficized, merchandised, ect. There is a huge stretch of whitesand beach, boardered by a large, busy street off of which countless alleys chock full of vendors, sun-crisped tourists, more vendors, restaraunts with huge screen tv's, and zippy, terrifying motorcycles snake their way up to another large busy road, Legion (where the Bali Bomb went off several years ago).
On the plus side, a duck into an myriad of little hotel doorways off these crazy alleys will place you in a lush, serene garden, pool at center, surrounded by bungalow-style rooms. Flowers and incense abound, as well as highly decorated doors, roofs, you name it. These people value beauty!! It was one such hotel, Suji Bungalows, that Misi and I ended up setting up camp for no less than a full and glorious week. Despite what Dad thinks, the beach is truly amazing, the little alleys ('gongs' they're called here) intriguing if not unnerving, and Suji was all the peace & quiet a body could want!
We rented a car one day & drove down to Dreamland Beach - an undevelopped little beach area with a narrow strip of sand accosted by intense, choppy waves. We also hit up the local surf mecca - UluWatu. HOWEVER, 'tornado' winds had been assailing the island for several days (hence the choppy waves), and noone, NO ONe was surfing! a bit disappointing. After that we stuck to Kuta. With Misi's fluent language, we were never short of friends - especially taxi drivers.
it's supposed to be rainy season, but, again, due to the winds, we had about 5 days of sweet sunshine. Now it rains. Still nice.
