Kuta Beach Bali
Monday, August 14th, 2006Well after 13 years, I have to say I don’t remember much about Kuta except that it’s very different and built out. I remember a bar with nothing but a roof and the lack of 4 walls. Now everything is wall to wall either hotel, restaurant or shop. Which was quite disturbing, but also very nice. I had a great time in Kuta. The beach was the same with it’s famous never ending surf breaks.
I went out into the ocean to body surf the waves, but after about 20 mins. the lifeguard called me back in. The rip current was quite strong and I don’t blame him for calling everyone in. There were times where I actually had to “swim” quite hard to get back in to shore. So at least the beach was just as I remembered it. Prices seemed to creep up over time, but after 13 years, I can’t really blame surfer’s paradise beach for adding .50 cents (double) for a beer. I actually had far too much Rupiah left before I left Indonesia so I ended up blowing 150,000 Rupiah on a steak and a few beers for dinner on my last night in Bali. I figure the Balinese were hurting pretty bad with all the natural disaters, civil strife and terrorism going on in Indonesia, I felt good for helping out the economy.
I can’t figure out why with all the problems they have why they now have a $25 cover charge to get into the country and then only give the few tourists that they get only 30 days to stay in the country. Wtih 17,508 islands in Indonesia, I could stay there for a whole year and not cover but a fraction of the country. Off to Kuala Lumpur only because it was the cheapest way to get off of Bali. I met a surfer that went to KL just for the day to get a stamp and flew right back to Bali.
Kane