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SCMP Reporter

Relatives and friends of the 202 killed arrive for services to find a resort still struggling to return to normal

Police line the streets; they loiter outside the surf shops and by the fence in front of the razed Sari Club; they stand conspicuously in threes and fours at the international airport.

As preparations for tomorrow's first anniversary of the Bali nightclub bombings gather momentum, taxis, motorbikes and private cars inch down Jalan Legian, Bali's famous nightclub and restaurant strip.

They pass under a banner hanging across the street that issues a stark reminder in English and Indonesian:  'You are now in the vicinity of ground zero.'

The iron fence marking  what was once the Sari Club, the site of the devastating bombings that killed 202 people - 11 from Hong Kong - has been turned into a shrine.

It is covered with  photos of  victims, flowers, messages from football teams that lost players and friends, and cards with words of tribute.

One T-shirt draped on the barrier is covered in signatures. It reads: '**** the terrorists'.

Five thousand Indonesian police and hundreds of Australian police have been stationed in the holiday town for the weekend, guarding points of entry.

At least 600 Australians and 25 Britons - survivors, friends and relatives of the victims -  are expected to return for the memorial service and the unveiling of a monument.

Artists and stone carvers are still at work on it.

Engraved with the names of all who died in the blasts, it will be placed across the road from the Sari Club.

This afternoon, Australian Prime Minister John Howard will fly in before leading tomorrow's service.

Australia's parliament yesterday held a minute of silence to remember the 88 nationals killed in the blasts.

Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer vowed the fight against terror, 'spurred by the memories of those killed', would continue for as long as necessary.

In Bali, a church service will be held tonight for British relatives at Bukit Doa, or Prayer Hill, in Sanur, south of the island.

The Bali police chief in charge of the bomb investigation, General I Made Mangku Pastika, has warned that vigilance was needed.

He said that as five bombing suspects remained at large,  and with explosives still missing, further attacks could be unleashed elsewhere in Indonesia.

In the wake of the bombing, the resort island, often described as the 'Island of the Gods', became infamous for being the place where Muslim extremists launched the worst terrorist attack in Southeast Asia.

In the aftermath, its tourism industry, estimated to employ about a third of Bali's three million people, was devastated.

The number of foreign visitors dropped from about two million a year  to just 500,000.

But along the Jalan Legian tourist strip, the silence that descended after the bombings has lifted.

One year later, the backpackers and families on holidays have returned.

Young people in shorts and singlets crowd the local cafes, sipping juices and beers.

The oldest and most famous - Made's Warung - barely has any free tables.

Slick restaurants located just metres from the Sari Club that a year ago were nothing more than concrete shells have re-opened. They sport the same designer glass fronts and lounges that were obliterated in the attacks.

Down on the beach, Australian regulars have organised a surfing competition. The breaking waves are crowded with the young, laughing on their boards.

Taxi driver Komang says he is pleased with the return of western tourists, who began trickling into the resort island a few weeks ago.

'Before there was no one, and I could not make enough to eat, but now I can make just enough,'  he says.



Bali prepares for anniversary of bombings