Used book shops in Kuta Bali

I remember travelling around the world on extended trips, some of which lasted years.

During that time I passed through many traveler / tourist hubs like Kuta and one of the bonuses apart from banana pancakes and pizza is the availability of used books. One time an American traveller from New York was telling me about a new movie called ‘Alive’ about a plane crash in the Andes where the passengers survived by cannibalism. Two days later I found the book in a used book shop in Sumatra!

Here in Kuta there is an assortment of small second hand book shops within easy reach of the budget accomodation in the Poppies Lane area.

I checked out a few this afternoon and here’s a rundown.

The first one I checked out was Fuji Jaya Book Shop on Poppies II located across the street from Kondra Internet, close to Tubes and about 50 meters from Jl. Legian.

This place is medium sized and the owner speaks goods English. They are open daily from 2pm-11pm. The books were sorted according to language with English the most well represented. Other languages included, French, Italian, German, Dutch, Japanese and Swedish.

0361 750689

The price of a used Lonely Planet for Indonesia was 100,000rp. Of course the price will vary according to the year and you need to bargain, as here in Indonesia the asking price is usually not the last price.

Walking further down Poppies II I saw this little stack on a corner. No one was around to give me more info but this is a regular book spot.

Continuing on alon Poppies Ii to the beach there is one more place located about 10 meters from Jl. Pantai Kuta called ‘Book Shop’. It is open daily from 9am-7pm and also has books in a variety of languages. This is a pretty small shop and apart from the travel books seems to stock a lot of pulp fiction.

The price for a second hand LP Indonesia was 75,000rp.

0361 752512

Walking round to the main beach road (Jl.Pantai Kuta ) and heading down Poppies I stopped at RZ Bookshop which is located opposite Kedin’s Inn and the Tree House restaurant. This place has a fair selection of books again divided into languages and is open daily from 8am-10pm.

081 236 15642

The price for an LP guide to Indonesia was 100,000rp

Proceeding along Poppies I there were no more used bookshops until the small gang that leads to Poppies II. Next to a wartel / internet cafe is a small shop that has a couple of cases of used books.

This place is just called ‘Book Sell’ and is open daily from 9am-10pm. Again there is a selection of the usual traveler exchange material divied by language. The owner told me the price for the LP Indo was 50,000rp for an older copy and 100,000-150,000rp for a newer one.

No phone on the premises although there is a payphone.

Walking from Poppies I to Jl. Legian and back up to Poppies II I didn’t see any other used bookshops which isn’t surprising as the rents there are high.

This isn’t the scientific guide to bookshops just an informal look which I hope is helpful.