THE GUIDE - The Rough Guide to Bali and Lombok - page 127

Post offices The General Post Office for post restante is in Denpasar. Smaller postal agents
elsewhere in the resort can handle parcels and postcards (remember them?); see maps for
other locations.
Travel agents As well as the countless small agencies for private buses, useful contacts
include: Perama (interisland bus travel), Jl Legian 39, Kuta ( 0361 751875, perama-
tour.com ); Island Promotions (Gili Islands transport and accommodation booking), Gili Is-
lands Shop, Poppies 1 no. 12 ( 0361 753241, gili-paradise.com ) ; Pelni (boat tickets
throughout Indonesia), Jl Raya Tuban 299, 500m south of Supernova Supermarket
(9am-2pm; 0361 763963).
< Back to South Bali
The Bukit Peninsula
After it narrows to a sliver of land at Jimbaran, the Bukit Peninsula dangles off the south
of Bali. Officially called Bukit Badung ( bukit means “hill” in Bahasa Indonesia), the high
limestone plateau has more in common with infertile Nusa Penida than with the lush paddies
elsewhere. Known for its dry climate and thin dusty soils, the typical Bukit landscape is one
of cracked earth and kapok trees, brightened only by the occasional bougainvillea, perhaps a
strip of cassava tubers (used to make tapioca flour) and grass-like sorghum, whose seeds are
also pounded into flour.
Given that farming is almost impossible here, its discovery by surfers in the late 1960s was
a godsend for the local economy. An alchemy of open-ocean swell and coastal alignment pro-
duces Bali's most famous and most challenging breaks. And in the last decade or so everyone
else has caught on to the extraordinary beauty of the coastline. While most beaches remain
nicely ramshackle, development is expanding at a crazy pace as luxury resorts and villas
take advantage of the glorious clifftop views. No one begrudges poor farmers the chance to
cash in as their infertile land is re-evaluated as prime retail estate. The sustainability - and
sensitivity - of such development is another matter.
Fishing town-turned-resort Jimbaran , a couple of kilometres south of the airport, kicks off
the luxury hotels, spread behind a fine beach. Continuing beyond, the surf beaches begin on
the east coast: Balangan , Bingin , Padang Padang , then Uluwatu , the latter a world-class
left-hander that is as legendary as any break in Hawaii. Uluwatu is also home to one of Bali's
major clifftop temples, perched on the island's tip. On the southeast coast is Nusa Dua , a
purpose-built resort that is deluxe but dull, and Tanjung Benoa .