We disembarked the Al Isra at Gili Air, a patch of sand with some trees off the coast of Lombok. Gili Air is a smallish island that is trying to compete for Gili Trawangan's share of the tourist market. The reef is mostly dead, the beach is covered with sharp broken coral and the food unspectacular. The waiters, while fast at taking your food orders, then wander off and forget all about you. It's the bliss of pot combined with the island's all too c...

  When the manta turned straight for us I had no fear. It was fully black with a great hooked mouth; its movement reminded me of the Dark Knight in Imax. As it came to within a few metres it veered slightly and sailed past us, its seemingly neverending tail, the base about the thickness of a coke bottle, following it. I quickly positioned myself behind the sea creature and watched its massive wings take it effortlessly into darkness. When we got to the surface,...

 Gili Trawangan is a small island off the coast of Lombok. It's a wannabe hippie-haven where travellers meet to smoke pot, get drunk and listen to 60s rock'n roll. The planet is becoming increasingly filled with these blast-from-the-past oases where young backpackers can throw away their money in search of what their parents once had.Daniel - of Daniel & Sara from Sweden – had an interesting take on “ new” world travellers when we last ...

Elenka met Renate from Germany on beautiful Kuta Beach 24 years ago. They have been friends ever since and Renate flew to Indonesia to meet up with us. She and Elenka wanted to see how Indonesia and its wonderful inhabitants might have changed after almost a quarter of a century. Back then, leaving Kuta for the country-side was a 10 minute car ride. Now, it takes one-and-a-half hours to do the same. They were somewhat disappointed by the people too. The rate o...