Grounded in Kuta

Here’s how my day started and I can tell you that it is not a peachy way to start the day.

I had signed up for a full day para-gliding course and was skipping with excitement, all set for the hills of Timbis. Then, the phone rang.

“Miss Lim, this is Bernard from Exofly. We cancel all flights today. The wind is too strong.”

“Too strong?”

“Yes, we fly giant kites today. Maybe tomorrow. Report say weather tomorrow is better.”

“But, tomorrow I am going to Kintamani.”

“You can call us to check weather.”

“Call you when?”

“Every day.”

“Every day?”

“Ya, every day.”

“Errr… Ok.”

My heart sunk! I was devastated. Suddenly I was grounded, miserable and disoriented.

I glared disappointingly at a stack of tour brochures but it was too late to try to plan anything elaborate. So I decided to spend the day wandering Kuta on foot, to find out what the raves and rage about Kuta was all about.  

Most travel writers have made a “love to hate and hate to love” observation about Kuta.  Many people whom I spoke to prior to my trip have also come to the same conclusion – Kuta is just a mass of tourist and everything touristy. Not worth the time.

I didn’t saunter too far today but I can confirm that Kuta IS just a mass of tourist and everything touristy. But wait a minute, what did you guys expect?

Kuta has evolved to cater for you and I – the tourists. By day, I saw Starbucks, McDonalds, Coffee Bean, Ripcurl, Billabong, Hurley, Ralph Lauren, Crocs, Adidas, Quicksilver and the list of brand-names go on. In all of these shops, there were only foreigners, no locals.

Then, there were also “brandless” traders, selling “I Love Bali” t-shirts and assortment of souveniers. This is not unlike any other tourist destination. Kuta or Phuket, they are all “same-same-but-different”.

Adidas, Hurley and other braded shops scattered all over Kuta.

Tourists shop here, not so much the locals.

This could very well be taken in Phuket.

They even cater for individuals like Mae, and she has stayed in Kuta once!

The beach is littered and the sand, jaundiced. All along the seaside, someone is thriving on the boom of tourism. Buy some time on a jet-ski, rent a beach ball, pay for surf lessons or hire a plastic chair for the 6.00pm sunset. The same can be said of Batu Ferringhi.

Want to sit? Rent a chair!

By night, fancy al-fresco cafes and clubs spring to life. Alcohol, drugs, women and just about any other debauchery are aplenty to create the party scene that you and I look for on a holiday. Sounds like Bangkok to me.

Kuta is not a place to come in search for peace and quiet, and it really should not be blamed for not resonating serenity or originality. Let’s not hate Kuta for what it is not. It deserves to be loved for what it is. After all, Kuta has become everything you and I nurtured it to be.

(Turns out, spending the day discovering Kuta wasn't so bad after all. Now, I just need to figure out what Bernard meant by calling him every day.)