10 km south of Denpasar, Rpwby bemo. A longer beach than Sanur's, arching out of sight. Splendid tropical sunsets, equinox low, wide, and psychedelic. At least 4 out of 10 visitors are Australian. Peak vacation time is December. Although hundreds of travelers, vacationers, and tourists are turning Kuta into a middle class resort, it's still one of the cheapest travelers' enclaves in the world. Package-tourists high on money have metamorphosed this village. They pay too much money for services and crafts, drive prices up, spoil the people, use the beach as a drag strip for their motorcycles. It gets more hectic as the August holiday season nears with increasing numbers of French and German charter flights. Electricity is gradually coming in and most of the roads are now paved. In the dark undulating back lanes of Kuta at night you could meet pubescent pushers selling smack, pimps and Javanese hookers, bearded bicycle riders off to the beach, middle-aged Swiss couples on their way to Poppies, white children going home with flashlights, night walkers, Balinese and Javanese roaring by on their motorcycles, village fishermen setting off, farmers going home. Anybody. You might meet the guy who started the sarung craze in southern California, or your exhusband. The whole complex of this bamboo city is like Ibiza or Mallorca, just without the wine. Kuta is now expanding towards Legian, and Legian is now but an extension of Kuta. There are still good Kris Dances with gas lamps glowing, but it now costs Rp4-700 to get into many of the dances. Watch your gear, the stealing's getting bad (the Balinese say, 'It's the Javanese.'). You can see the prices go up by the week. The place is thick with sellers; always someone wanting to sell you something. In fact, you could end up spending more money on Kuta than anywhere else on the island simply because there are more things to buy. Unless you're in a group, it's not safe anymore to walk along the Kuta-Legian beach late at night. Already Kuta needs a better trash disposal system than the dogs. Covarrubias says that its dogs are the one thing which keep Bali from being perfect. The miserable anjings abound - mangy, flea-bitten bags of skin, bones, and open sores. Don't die on Bali. You might come back as a dog.