The last night of Ashley King’s holiday shouldn’t have been especially memorable. It was 30 August 2011, and she and her best friend, Krista, went out barhopping in the tourist town of Kuta in southern Bali, as they had done many times before. King and Krista are from Calgary in Canada, and had decided to spend a year travelling after their high school graduation. They planned to explore the island of Bali, but King’s credit cards were stolen and Krista ran out of money, so they were stuck in Kuta, a party district.
In one of the swankier bars on the strip, King was given a fruity vodka cocktail in a reusable plastic bottle, so she could dance without spilling it. She was drunk, she says, but not notably so. After nursing their hangovers the next day, she and Krista went to the airport at midnight: King was travelling to New Zealand for the rugby World Cup, and Krista to Australia.
