Kuta Beach Day 1

The beach was about 15 minutes walk from the hotel and accessible through a meandering of busy narrow streets packed with surf-boarded scooters manned mostly by foreigners. From their accent, one would surmise that they're Australians.

You don't get to see the beach right away. That's because it was walled up along the road with gaps at regular intervals. A shorter wall is built behind this gap and you access the beach by walking to the left or right of this shorter wall.  It kinda reminds me of the Chinese silk screen, the type they put at door openings to ensure some form of privacy. This made the sea mysterious and covertly alluring.

Here's a picture of the walls which partitioned the sea from the road. At the top of the picture are beach bums waiting for the spectacular sunset. (Buggy rides are available opposite the Hard Rock Cafe from which this photo was taken.)

What could they be shielding with those walls, one wonders. Wouldn't any local council be proud of their beaches and open them wide open that all may behold the wonders of the sea? Is it a tactic to make the sea more appealing than it already is?

Someone mentioned that the wall is to keep the sea away from the streets. Can Man keep the sea away? I did not think so. Perhaps the sand then. To keep the sand from being blown onto the streets. That sounded feasible.  But then I started thinking. The average Balinese is pious. Perhaps foreigners in bikinis made a disquieting sight? I don't know. I'm just speculating.

Those nice comfortable chairs for lounging in the video on the right? They are rented out at an hourly rate. Nothing is free.

I was thirsty and tired so we found ourselves sitting on plastic chairs, sipping chilled soft drinks from bottles. These plastic chairs were provided free because naturally you needed to be seated for a drink.

Buttered corns grilled on charcoal sounded like a good idea at the time so we bought us some. The chilli grilled corns weren't exactly palatable to me. It gave me a tummy ache too.