FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — Much has changed around Bali’s famed Kuta district. About 25 years ago, travellers could be seen hopping on a horse and cart. Now, suburban tourists from Australia and Europe grab a taxi. The population has grown markedly over this period, with the island’s homogenous Hindus giving ground to Java’s Muslims.
People are educated, the wealth here is undeniable. Throughout the area, enormous changes have been sustained by a feel good factor that was born out of the local culture – from the countryside to the districts of Sanur, Kuta, Legian and Seminyak down to Echo Beach.
But in the past decade, the mood has been challenged by Islamic militancy and deadly bombings. And it was again tested in recent weeks by Umar Patek, the last of a long list of Bali bombers to be captured or killed by the authorities, who gave investigators an inside look into his handiwork. Read more in The Diplomat.
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