“The streets in Legian are a wide variety of tastes, smells & chaotic experiences” Whilst in Bali - you must go and see this crazy place! There are many small shops in the Legian streets. Legian (& Kuta) can be some of the busiest streets in Bali and the relentless traffic often comes to a complete stop regularly at certain times of the day. Lined with shops on either side there is plenty to look at. There are a prolific number restaurants and bars as well.
The Legian Road is the main street and the main central path down into the town of Kuta. It’s both a fascinating experience and a wild mixture of the past (when Legian use to be a sleepy fishing village some 40 – 50 years ago) together with its traditional architecture and the present, when it is mixed with shopping malls, bars, restaurants, street vendors and the heavy, overbearing traffic of cars and the motorbikes (oh, these are relentless!), all mixed with the wide-eyed tourists, who dare to cross these crazy streets.
Wandering around these streets can be exhausting, as there is so much to see and do. There are plenty of small clothes shops, gift shops, knock-off DVD shops, carving shops as well as bars and restaurants. If you happen to get the Bali belly, there are even a few chemists that will have the right stuff for you as well.
Knock-off international brand items are everywhere, so you can just about buy anything. For some strange reason, we seemed to do most of our shopping during the heat of the day – and we don’t recommend this between 11.00am – 2.00pm as it gets VERY HOT on the streets. Our suggested time is early morning or after 4.00pm.
Just be careful of some of the shady and aggressive locals, they may try to sell you drugs or even Timeshare and some of the nightclubs as well as the side-street money changers appear VERY dodgy. We didn’t go to the beach (even though we were at the Padma Resort right on the beach) as we regularly observed ‘what’ was being flushed down all the open drains that flowed out onto the beach and into the ocean. The smells were quiet memorable!
The roads everywhere are slow, there is so much traffic now compared to years ago. If you need to go anywhere, either leave really early or wait until til after dark. About 3 - 4 o'clock in the afternoon it comes to a standstill with the locals going home from work. You really have to need to get somewhere crucial (like the airport) to take this traffic on!
Yes, there are a few nice artsy shops in the midst of a lot of the loud bars, massage parlours, even shop owners wanting to sell you wooden penises or even Viagra (dodgy as). We couldn’t tell the difference between some of the massage girls and prostitutes, and of course there are numerous shops selling offensive shirts, stickers and knock-off DVD's.
The early evening can be good for shopping, restaurants and the nightlife. You WILL be hassled by stall owners but just keep your head down and keep walking as if you're not interested! Remember to watch your feet as the pavement is broken in a lot of places!
We stayed here so we were on our feet all the time. Traffic was horrendous especially during the midday. Many nice food outlets here, and also very happening night scenes - clubs, pubs and loud music. If you're hungry and just want something simple to eat, there are many pizza and kebab shops together with the more traditional Balinese foods also very cheap.
But, all that said and done, overall we had an amazing experience staying at the Padma Legian Resort and most of their own resort bars have a buy 1 get 1 free happy hour period! We suggest you definitely go visit these crazy streets at least once during your stay. Most shops also stay open well into the night. by Andrew & Jenny
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