Nusa Dua is an upmarket enclave designed and built with the aim of exercising some control over the haphazard and crowded development that plagued the growing Kuta, development which it was believed would forever be a visual and cultural blight on what was previously a beautiful and natural place.

How true those beliefs regarding Kuta have become.

By contrast Nusa Dua (meaning two islands) obtained the financial backing of the world bank and large, rich and influential corporations only on the condition that a spacious development with strictly controlled growth would  be built.

The approval of local authorities to use the land was obtained partly because of the sense the proposal made compared to Kuta and, doubtless, partly because the land was seen as a swampy, mangrove wasteland of no value to the Balinese anyway. This cavalier attitude to the importance of mangrove 'swamps' is still evident today (2004) when large areas of the forest remaining around the inner parts of Benoa Bay towards Legian and Seminyak are being filled in and built on. The accommodation is really not needed as there is a surplus of constructed facilities but the 'lungs' of the maritime breeding areas for fish, prawns and molluscs is most certainly needed as the quantity of marine food diminishes under the effects of past onslaughts. If it were not such a tragedy for the future of the islanders themselves, the developments that can be seen next to a sign proclaiming - "MANGROVE REHABILITATION AND RESEARCH FACILITY" - on the roadside near Legian could almost bring a smile to the corners of the mouth.

Nusa is a spacious, green, carefully tended zone of higher priced resorts surrounded by the mid-market strip development further up the Benoa Peninsula (Tanjung Benoa) to the north, the village community of Bualu inland towards the west and the arid plateau of the Bukit Peninsula to the south.

Two fishermen tend their traps at the break of dawn over the fringing reef at Nusa Dua on the south east coast of Bali.

This is a magical place to be with a cold bottle of champagne and a spouse or a lover (or both would be OK these days I suppose) but its a dreadful time to have to get up. No wonder the sun sets on the other side of the island are more popular.

Fountains in only a small part of the entrance driveway up to Reception at the Hilton.

The tower on the right is the hotel temple. No building in Bali is complete without a temple of some sort and size, and at the Hilton 'sort and size' are very important.

Small lanterns set in the gardens light the pathways of the Hilton as the sun goes down.

Bougainvilleas are cultivated to form hedges along the paths at the Hilton and they glow in the morning light.

The beaches along the Benoa peninsula are carefully tended and flow directly from the lawns of the hotels right down to the gentle waves that lap the shore which is protected by an off-shore reef.

This is the low-tide beach. At high tide there is not much left. The jukungs on the beach here are from a small fishing village that was soon to be squeezed out by another hotel development.

(This development stalled following the terrorist bombing in Kuta and the fishermen still gather here before and after their trips to sea.)

A shopkeepers chores in the adjacent village of Bualu follow an unalterable ritual in the early morning when tourists should not be about.

The plants in the enclave are big, bright and just a bit brassy. The insects are just big.

Along the corridors of the Hilton there are little sandy 'beaches', carefully cleaned and smoothed each morning before being decorated by little finger drawings. This one has a pool and fountain backdrop.

The bougainvilleas are multi-coloured and carefully trimmed to flower rather than produce thorns.

Hibiscus of many colours are a delight to the senses.

Brickwork is a feature of the Balinese landscape although not as decorative nor always of the same high quality as seen at the Hilton.

Traditionally Balinese brickwork has had very closely fitted joints with each brick rubbed against the one on which it had to rest, thus wearing away any high spots and achieving the close fit. The joint then required only a thin wash of cement mortar to join the two bricks together. This was partly a matter of the bricklayers pride in his workmanship and partly an economy measure as cement was too expensive to waste on thick joints.

Many beaches have been almost destroyed around Bali as the protective reefs were blown up and mined for the limestone coral which was burnt to make lime mortar. At Candi Dasa for example the destruction was almost so complete that most of the town had to be protected by the construction of concrete groynes and breakwaters made from imported cement.

For more pictures of Bali or for the stories of our holidays or advice to new travellers or travellers going with children or for information about local dogs, rice, religion, shopping - and more - go to our Home Page and run through the list of offerings in the contents column on the left.

Have a great holiday.