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This
is my favorite hang-out in Bali. I love this beach and very early every
morning (around 6am) is the most beautiful time to walk or jog or
stroll while everyone is still asleep.
The
beach has been beautifully cleaned by hundreds of Balinese
workers overnight and at sun-up it is an absolute joy to be one of the
first to get there and experience the quiet and serene beauty.
The
water is calm as can be with just tiny little waves lapping at the
shore. This is when you really feel like you're in Paradise.
This
is the main road that runs parallel to the beach. It gets fairly busy
from about 8am onwards as people are out and about looking for places to
have breakfast and the locals are heading off to work.
Notice anything familiar here?
Through this ornate entrance is the famous Kuta Beach.
Just inside the gate, behind the wall.
And this is the beautiful clean beach first thing in the mornings.
These
are early birds learning how to surf. The instructors take them out
early before it gets too crowded as most are first timers.
Low tide, and not a scrap of rubbish anywhere.
by
10am it starts to get really hot and you can get sunburnt very quickly
so this is about the time when I leave the beach and go back to my hotel
for a swim in the pool.
In
the late afternoon/early evening, everyone goes back to the beach to
wait for the beautiful sunset. (I will post photos of those gorgeous
sunsets another time.)
This
is when I really enjoy going because everyone is there and you meet
lots of people and they are all really friendly and nice and you can sit
down and chat or have a massage or get your nails done or you can have
them braid your hair like Bo Derek in "10".....that's really popular.
Or
you can walk on the path that runs the full length of the beach and
shop for sarongs or jewellery or wood carvings, stop at the very many
little "bars" lined up along the path and get a drink.
This
is the brick paved path that goes from one end of Kuta beach all the
way up to the other end, almost near the airport. It goes past a few
hotels like the Kartika Plaza and other five star resort hotels along
the beach.
There's
vendors selling jewellery, fake designer watches, fake designer
perfumes, beach shorts and t-shirts, sarongs and also snacks like
freshly barbequed corn on the cob.
Bundles of sarongs for sale on display, the more you buy the cheaper each one gets.
Wood carvings are plentiful and reasonably cheap.
and
here's a dog guarding his master's wood carvings. If you touch any of
them while his owner is away, he will growl at you...lol.
You can haggle for some pearl jewellery,
or you can have a temporary tattoo done which will wash off after a few showers.
These
hawkers are really funny, one of them came up to me and asked me if I
wanted a temporary tattoo...I said no thanks so he asked me if I wanted a
temporary boyfriend...lol.
You
can buy cool drinks in any of the hundreds of mini "bars" including
pre-mixed alcoholic drinks like bourbon and coke and ice cold beer of
course.
You can get a pampering, have a pedicure or feet scrub and massage while you relax,
or have your head and shoulder massaged while your girlfriend looks at some cheap clothes.
You can sit down and join in on a jam session, good way to meet people, make friends and show off your falseto range....lol.
This is one of a few shower/change room blocks on this beach,
you have to pay to use it.
If you just want to shower it will cost 2,000 rupiahs (20 cents US)
if you need to use the toilet (forget toilet paper..lol) it will also cost 2,000 rupiahs.
Ganti baju means change your clothes...privacy guaratee will cost 1,000 rupiahs (10 cents)
Cuci kaki means wash your feet....using their bucket of fresh water will cost 1,000 rupiahs (10 cents)
Tidak Bisa cuci pakaian means you cannot wash your clothes.
Terima kasih means Thank you.
oh and BAYAR DULU! means you pay first!!!
For a few thousand rupiahs you can hire a beach umbrella, or chairs or mats to lay on, and boogie boards and surf boards too.
If
you're peckish and cant be bothered leaving the beach to get something
to eat, there are little Indonesian "warungs" that sell all sorts of
local foods like fried noodles, fried rice, soups, chicken satays, fried
fish and all sorts of other yummy stuff.
If
you're not game to eat at these little "warungs" there are also western
type restaurants where you can order burgers and sea food and steaks,
Italian and even Japanese food.
As
you walk further down this path you will come across this giant turtle.
They have a green sea turtle conservation campaign going which is great
because these turtles are severely endangered.
They
harvest the turtle eggs and take them to hatcheries and once the babies
are hatched and old enough to be released, they bring them back to this
location and you can join in and help release the little babies into
the ocean. They're super cute!!
Its
a busy place for the vendors and hawkers but everyone is calm and
patient and nobody gets hassled too much. Haggling with them is fun and
you always get a fair price for what you want...eventually...lol.
Feel
like going out into the ocean? You can also hire one of these from a
local fisherman who will take you out to do some fishing.
To be continued.....next stop, my favorite pub/restaurant and other bits and bobs.
