Candylicious Kuta

The last few hours of our Bali trip the other week was spent in Kuta. It's an entirely different place from the one I first visited in 1984. Look at this air-conditioned shopping centre, for instance. Looks like it could be on Queensland's Gold Coast.

But there's still all the same stuff going on on the beach: hair braiding, massages, coconut quaffing, beach football......

And still an excellent sunset most evenings.

Bali then & now - beaches

Kuta Beach sunset, 1984











Spear fishing off a northern Bali beach, 1984

Kuta Beach, 2017

I sat down here to enjoy my whole coconut, as you do. Refreshing and delicious as ever, but it made me a sitting duck for the passing hawkers and massage ladies. My five minute foot and shoulder massage cost me the equivalent of $10. I clearly remember 1984 massages lasting a whole hour, for 30c!






On nearby Legian Beach the other week, there was a kite festival underway. hundreds of kites were being flown competitively, category by category. It was a great show. I'm sure they were doing this 33 years ago too.