Bali Car Rental & Transport

In the 18th century, Kuta flourished as an important collection point for the Balinese slave trade. Mads Lange, the swashbuckling 19th- century Danish trader, established a vast commercial compound beside the river. During his eventful years in Bali, Lange often acted as a liaison between the Balinese rajas and the Dutch, successfully arranging a peace treaty alter the Dutch attacked the south in 1848-49. Lange died mysteriously in 1856, probably poisoned at the hand of a jealous prince prodded by the Dutch. His grave lies near the crumbled remains of his house in the Chinese cemetary of central Kuta. (For more on Mads Lange, see the special topic “The White Raja of Bali: Mads Lange.”)

By the turn of the 20th century Kuta village had become a port of call for resupplying and repairing European ships trading in spices. Like any port, it harbored rogues, scoundrels, and subjects who had fallen out of favor with Bali’s royal courts.

In the 1930s, Muriel Pearson, better known by her pen name Ketut Tantri, established a hotel, The Sound of the Sea, which she eventually sold to a young Californian surfer and his wife, Bob and Louise Koke, who renamed it the Kuta Beach Hotel. This charming early Kuta establishment featured little thatched houses, brick patios, small household temples, and child servants in gay sarung. The hotel remained in operation until the Japanese invaded. After the war the hotel was rebuilt and is still in operation.

In the late 1 960s, word of Kuta spread rapidly along the travelers’ trail and a constant stream of world travelers was drawn to its sunny wide beach, cheap bamboo losmen, and relaxed beach life. At first travelers stayed in Denpasar and ventured to Kuta on day trips, but soon villagers began renting out thatch huts to visitors, also opening makeshift restaurants serving Iassi and Western dishes. In 1975, the first large luxury hotels were built, catering to the needs tourists.

The cows and buffalo that used to graze in the fields in between the losmen, with their tick-tocking wooden bells, have long disappeared, and the farmers and fishermen lugging their plows or nets down the dusty back lanes were long ago replaced by tipsy revelers and sputtering motorcycles.

The massive tourist influx has transformed this whole coastal strip from Bali’s poorest district to one of the most prosperous in all of Indonesia. Kuta and Legian have grown spontaneously and exponentially, without a plan. While the big, swank hotels of Sanur were built by businesses from other islands, the budget hotels and restaurants on Kuta are for the most part the work local entrepreneurs. In spite of the dozen market hotels, to this day Kuta and Legian retain their reputation as resorts catering to budget-conscious travelers.