The two narrow lanes — Poppies I and Poppies II — running between Jalan Legian and the beach are what is left of old, scruffy, slightly chaotic Kuta. Named after the long-gone Poppies restaurant, they are too tight for cars in most places, lined with cheap guesthouses, surf shops, warungs serving nasi campur for a couple of dollars, tattoo studios, and the small homestays where Australian surfers stayed in the 1980s before the four-star hotels arrived.
It is the part of Kuta worth wandering. Walk Poppies I from the beach inland, cut across to Poppies II, and you have done a tour of the original tourist village in under an hour, with frequent stops for drinks or massages. The lanes flood after heavy rain — bring sandals.