Psychedelic Tourism | Magical Mushrooms in Bali, Indonesia

What’s up with the Magical Mushroom Scene in Bali?

If you follow us on social media you may have noticed that we recently: A. Got Married (Strawberry Sequoia and Casey Jones), B. Went on a honeymoon to Bali, and C. Tried Magical Mushroom Shakes While there. Yes, Magical Mushrooms in Bali, a place notorious for its harsh regulations on drugs – especially cannabis – has a huge and very open magical mushroom scene. It’s only in specific places, and in this blog, we are going to tell you where and how to find them and a little about our own experiences.

Where to Go:

Mainland Bali is not a place I would suggest looking for drugs of any kind, and definitely DO NOT try and bring your own as Indonesian drug laws are among the strictest in Southeast Asia. If you are searching for a safe and fun way to get a little high (or to trip your balls off – we don’t judge) while in Bali you need to hop on a boat to the Gili islands. For some reason, the Gili islands have a huge magical mushroom scene that is not hidden or covered up in any way. 

There are 3 islands of Gili The biggest being Gili Trawangan (locally known as Gili T or party island), medium – Gili Air, and smallest Gili Meno. Gili T is the most commonly known for being a party island and if that sounds like your scene then, by all means, check it out! But Gili Air was more our style as it is slower, more relaxed, and much smaller (you can walk around the whole island in about an hour). Gili Meno is the least developed, yet also a great escape.

While there are definitely mushrooms on Gili T, our experience was on Gili Air. I’m not entirely sure whether or not there are mushrooms to be had on Gili Meno (but there probably are).

How to Find Them:

So you make it all the way out to the magical Island of Gili Air and you are looking for mushrooms. Lucky for you they are about as easy to find as a cheeseburger is in the USA. You can either hit the shoreline and walk to the West side of the island (where turtle point is) or you can grab a horse cart to the Spaceship bar. On the west end, there are a few bars that very obviously sell shrooms. It is so obvious they actually write it on chalkboards like daily specials “We have Sexy Magic Mushrooms”, “Try our Mushrooms…” or just drawings of mushrooms.

If you turn a little further into the island you will find a few more bars that sell mushrooms and one that is fairly famous for them is the Spaceship bar. You can’t miss it – it is about the most trippy bar you can imagine, with psychedelic art hanging from the ceiling and paintings of mushrooms all over the walls. As soon as you walk into the bar the bartender just says, “Large or Small”?  We didn’t know what the potency was going to be like, so to be safe we started out small.

We watched the bartender make these shakes for us and the ingredients are Coca Cola, Pineapple, and magical mushrooms. Definitely NOT a combo I would have ever put together myself, and honestly – it tastes exactly how it sounds. Maybe that’s a flavor combo you can get down with, but for me, it was a little hard to swallow.

The Effects:

As I mentioned, we asked for the smallest amount possible. We both have used mushrooms before, but in a foreign country, we thought we should start small first. We drank our shakes and walked back to our Airbnb to chill for a while before we got too crazy. We planned on leaving and exploring the whole island, but that didn’t end up happening. After about an hour, maybe a bit less we began to feel the effects. 

While there were slight visuals, mostly we both just felt pretty high. I would consider the small shake as more of a microdose of mushrooms. The small is the perfect amount for someone who has never taken psychedelics before, or if you are just interested in taking a smaller dose. I was pleasantly surprised at the happy, easy, high we both experienced. Many others we talked to took the high dose and did have a much “trippier” high.

Tips:

• Get to know the island first. Explore and get to know where you are before taking mushrooms.
• Have a comfortable place to retreat to before you trip, whether it be an Airbnb, hotel, or hostel, make sure you are checked in, set up, and comfortable in that space.
• Consider day tripping! The visuals are often more interesting and it could be safer than at night time.
• Start small – take the low dose first. Wait at least a full 2 hours before taking more. Taking too much can be an intense experience that may or may not be fun.
• It can be extremely hot in Gili make sure to have water available and avoid the sun in the hottest parts of the day.
• Eat before you take mushrooms – I find that during I am not interested in food at all
• Have fun, get weird, and breathe through anything challenging!

Tried mushrooms on Gili? We want to hear about your experiences, share in the comments below.