Gili Air, Indonesia

After a 20 minute overcrowded public ferry ride in the 32 degree heat, we arrived (sweating) to Gili Air. This island, known for its "chill factor" and accessibility to psychodelic mushrooms, is the smallest of the three Gili islands and takes about 26 minutes and 54 seconds to run around (we know this because I did it). We had to walk for about 10 minutes from the ferry to our hostel 'Bedadang' which was located on the opposite side of the island. True to the island's reputation, we were offered magic mushrooms several times during this 10 minute walk. Our hostel's rustic island theme (grass huts, palm trees, mosquito nets) was accented by a mushroom shaped swimming pool which was awash with flashing colours after sunset. We were still travelling with our USA contingent so most evenings we would head out as a group to get some cocktails and the cheapest meal we could find. Whitney and Alli (a girl in our travelling group) sought out the infamous Gili Air swing for a beautiful picture in the dying light while I proceeded to use the hostel table tennis table to assert Kiwi dominance by thrashing Max (a guy from our group) who suggested he might have some talent for ping pong (current score 8 - 5 to me). We now head to the Island of Lombok, known for its waterfalls, trekking, and surfing.Read more