The Pros and Cons of Gili Trawangan

If you ask anyone who has been to the Gili Islands to describe them in a word, 9 times out of 10 you will get the response "paradise". It's true, the Gili Islands are probably the closest you will find to paradise anywhere in Southeast Asia and possibly even the world (although I haven't been everywhere in the world so if anyone knows of somewhere better, please tell me so I can move there). So if these islands are so amazing why the hell have I bothered to write this article? I'll tell you. I only visited Gili Trawangan as this is the more upbeat island which attracts a younger crowd and although the other two may be more peaceful, they are also probably more boring for a 20 year old. Despite the idyllic setting, the perfect turquoise sea and the white, powder beaches, there are a few things to do with this island that have the potential to mar your experience. The annoyances I'm about to describe are minor and often avoidable with a bit of foresight (hence me writing this) so for heaven's sake don't miss out Gili Trawangan but when you plan your trip, bear these in mind.

Getting There

Whether you are leaving from Kuta, Padang Bai, Senggigi or anywhere else, you will probably be ripped off. We left from Senggigi and managed to haggle the price of the boat ticket from 70,000rp down to 50,000rp ($4.50) which we didn't realise would be possible but happened by accident nonetheless. We were told there was a place that did boat tickets for 55,000rp down the road from our hostel and en route we were touted by another travel agency. When we told him we were on our way somewhere else he instantly started lowering his price so we went with it until we got him down to 50,000rp. Feeling very smug sitting among the other passengers in the bus who had paid the full price we arrived at a little café and had to wait there for a bit. Fine. Next we were loaded into a carriage pulled by the most unhappy looking horse I've ever seen and taken roughly 100m down to road to the harbour. After dismounting from the carriage the driver told us that the fare was 50,000rp. Now I'm not one to lose my temper, in fact I don't think I've ever even raised my voice in an argument, but when we were charged the same price for a 3 minute carriage ride we didn't even want to take as a 45 minute boat ride I saw red. A heated discussion ensued between myself and the driver during which I asked why the bus couldn't have just taken us to the harbour to which he replied "the road is too bad for cars to come down here" whilst cars were zooming about all over the place. He seemed to think I was blind/mentally impaired and kept telling me "don't make problem". In the end I agreed to give him 20,000 as long as it went towards the welfare of the horse but when I handed him over a 50,000 note (unfortunately all I had on me) he conveniently only had 20,000 change. I know that for the sake of a few dollars such an argument was probably bit OTT but after having already bought a ticket, to then be charged again for more, unnecessary, transport just seemed so sneaky! On the way back we outright refused the horse and carriage and walked to the café and it took us less than 5 minutes. I'm aware that it is a poor country but ripping someone off is stealing where ever you are in the world. Oh and when we got our boat ticket it had the actual price of the journey on it. It cost 13,000rp. Damn.

Horses

It's not actually the horses that are the problem on this island it's the drivers. In a fight between a human and a horse and carriage racing down the road it's pretty obvious who would win, thus, the horse and carriage is king of the road and everyone else better move out the way or prepared to be unceremoniously trampled. This rule is in accordance with the policy that has been established throughout the rest of Southeast Asia which says "even if you are on the wrong side of the road, if you have the biggest vehicle, you have the right of way". So yeah every time you hear a bell - which is pretty much all the time - you need to shift yourself. That's annoying. Also animal welfare is appalling and these horses all look like they might collapse and die at any given moment. They are constantly being whipped and shouted at by their owners and when they aren't being used they are tied up where ever is convenient. We saw one horse who had his face tied to a tree in such a manner that he could barely move and was desperately neighing and trying to chew through the rope. A heart-breaking sight to say the least. Try and buy some water or food for the horses if you have any spare dollar.

That explains the long face

The Mosque

Indonesia is a highly muslim country with well over 80% of the population practicing Islam. This means that mosques are pretty commonplace throughout the country. For those that have not as of yet come into close contact with a mosque, I shall explain why, for a non-muslim, they can be a tad annoying. Firstly they have huge loudspeakers attached to them, which can reach a phenomenal radius, and when it is time for muslims to come to the mosque for prayers (which is five times a day) they use said loudspeakers to let everyone know. Unfortunately, first prayers are at 5am. This means that you will be woken up every morning at 5am by a call which is not just a quick "chop chop guys, time for prayer". As a tourist, we have no right to complain about this really. It is their country and their religion and therefore their prerogative to be as noisy as they like whenever they like and as their guests we should just put up with it and think of it as a enriching, cultural experience. But it is quite annoying. Stay as far away from mosques as possible.

Drugs

All the locals take lots of drugs all the time. This would be absolutely fine if they confined their narcotics abuse to their leisure time. Unfortunately, they don't, which means that after about 3pm all the bartenders, waiters, chefs etc are absolutely mashed beyond the point of actually doing their job. Yes, it is pretty funny to see some young waiter gurning uncontrollably whilst trying to take down a simple drinks order only to return ten minutes later either empty handed with no recollection of your order or with a completely different tray of drinks. However, after the first few times the novelty wears off and you end up on the verge of going up to the bar and making the drinks yourself. Furthermore, it is genuinely impossible to walk down the street without being offered all sorts of drugs by everyone and their mother. Police presence on the island is virtually non-existent but Indonesia carries very harsh penalties even for possession of drugs. Don't be that one unlucky one that gets busted and avoid drugs altogether.

I realise this article seems very whiney considering, as I said before, Gili Trawangan is pretty much paradise. However, hopefully, rather than putting you off visiting the island, the above points will help you make it an even better experience. Now, to counter all the annoyances I've just described, here is a list of the pros that make this island one of the most delightful places on the planet.

No Vehicles

That's right, no mopeds nearly mowing you down, no vans full of tourists nearly mowing you down and definitely no tuk-tuks/ taxis forcefully insisting that you NEED transport and then nearly mowing you down. Most people get around on bicycles and as the island is only 3km by 2km, motorised vehicles are completely unnecessary. This means that the air quality is noticeably better and, apart from the horses bells, the roads are a hell of a lot quieter. It also gives it a bit of a rustic feel if you leave the main strip and delve deeper into some of the back roads.

No cars on the island

The Vibe

The atmosphere on this island is very different to many of the other self proclaimed "party islands" you probably will have visited. There is a distinct absence of loud holiday-makers, whose sole purpose in coming abroad is to get smashed every night, yelling nonsensical chants and puking on their own feet. This is no Bali or Koh Phangan. The island doesn't have any night clubs or fast food joints but what it does have is a few small bars along the beach front where locals do their best impressions of well known, classic reggae, hip hop, pop and rock numbers in order to engage the crowds. They may not know all the words to the songs they're singing and occasionally make weird noises that they think at least sound like the actual lyrics but let's be honest, how well could you cover an Indonesian smash hit? The whole island has such a chilled-out mellowness to it that I guarantee you will find it very hard to leave. Especially if your next stop is somewhere like Kuta.

The Beauty

Despite the fact that this island has been hit pretty hard by tourism and the inevitable accompanying developments, it has still retained much of its natural beauty. The sand is soft and white and the sea is the most idyllic shade of turquoise imaginable to the human mind. The beach is lined with palm trees and behind them lies the main road of the island along which is situated the vast majority of cafés, restaurants and bars. Garish lights and tacky signs are kept to a minimum making this strip of modernisation much more appealing than one might expect. All the locals working there are friendly and happy (probably partly because they're all high but hey ho) and the view of the ocean and the neighbouring islands from your beachside table where you're chowing down on some nasi goreng is utterly sublime.

Pure beauty

To conclude, my advice to you all is visit this island but bear in mind the few things that could potentially put a dampener on your trip. Be super savvy and you're guaranteed the time of your life.

How to Survive Bangkok

So you've just touched down at Suvarnabhumi airport, Bangkok. You're bleary-eyed from 14+ hours travelling and starving because although you got a great deal on your flights with this unheard of airline, their kitchen leaves a lot to be desired. Suddenly you step out of the modern, air conditioned airport and in to the sweltering heat whereupon you will need to get a taxi in to the centre of Bangkok. For most backpackers Bangkok is where their journey will begin as it is relatively easy to access and is one of the most westernised capitals in Southeast Asia with its mega-malls and familiar fast-food chains. It would seem the perfect place to break you in to the Asian way of life before you hit less developed countries such as Laos or Cambodia. However, as grotesquely condescending as this may sound, Bangkok is not London or New York and though it gives off an air of first-world sophistication, it is still a long way away from being a city that satisfactorily meets our ludicrously high Western expectations. This means that you have to be a bit more prepared and a bit more savvy than you were when you spent that weekend in Paris/ Madrid/ Berlin etc. People will try to rip you off, you will be ambushed by sex workers (girls you're not exempt from this: ping pong shows are for everyone) and you will be hit hard by the omnipresent poverty in such a seemingly booming metropolis. With this in mind, I have put together a few tips which I wish someone had told me before I went in order to try and help future travellers get the most out of what is one of the most incredible cities in the world.

Taxis
Everyone will tell you before you leave how cheap Southeast Asia is and you will read it all over the internet. Believe it. Although Bangkok is more expensive than the north of the country it is still phenomenally cheap. All registered taxi in Bangkok have a meter (they even say "taxi-meter" on the roof of the taxis) but 9 times out of 10 if you are foreign and you ask a driver to take you somewhere he will give you a fixed price. For example you may ask a driver to take you to the airport and he might say ok 400 baht whereupon you will do some quick mental maths and work out that this is barely a tenner for an hour long drive. Your eyes light up as you think you've hit the jackpot because in England a taxi to Heathrow could cost over £100, you hop in the taxi and away you go happy as larry. Do not accept this offer. If a taxi driver gives you a fixed price for a ride it will invariably be more than what the price would be on the meter, sometimes even more than double the potential meter reading. So when your eyes light up because you think you've got a great deal, your driver's eyes will also light up because he has just ripped off yet another stupid tourist. As a foreigner being ripped off will be one of your biggest problems. This does not mean that all Thai people are evil; it is because they see Westerners as walking ATMs. After all you could afford an airfare to Thailand. They don't know that you saved up for a year to afford it and you have a finite amount of money in your bank. You are a rich Westerner and therefore you can afford to be ripped off.

In a sentence: Insist that the driver use the meter

Taxis aren't too hard to find...

Drugs
Despite Bangkok's apparent hedonistic attitude insofar as nightlife and partying is concerned, drugs are a BIG no-no. If you are caught carrying above a certain amount of drugs (say you bought some for your friends as well or you bought enough to last you a few weeks) you will fall under the category of "possession with intent of disposal" in other words, you are a drug dealer and under Thai laws you can be punished by life imprisonment or death. It is unlikely you are going to get involved with any drug smuggling or trafficking on your gap year backpacking trip but you may be tempted by the cut-price street drugs after a few drinks along Patpong, I certainly was. There don't seem to be many police around and if you take it quickly no-one will catch you. Wrong. It is highly likely that the drug dealer offering you a cocktail of narcotics is actually a cop or at least in cahoots with the cops and is going to bust you the second you hand over your money. If they are working for the police they will go straight to an officer of the law, point you out and watch while you are threatened with either prison or a fine (always pay the fine, a Thai jail is no joke) and then rub their hands with glee when their drugs are returned to them along with a cut of the fine you just paid. Gangs of West Africans are most prominent on the Thai drug scene so if any Nigerian/ Ghanaian/ Malian men come towards you rubbing their nose and asking you "what's up?" (code for "would you like to buy some illegal drugs") you know to do a 180 and walk away.

In a sentence: Avoid recreational drugs like the plague.

Soi Cowboy, one of sex strips where drugs are rife

Scams
It is very rare to encounter any scams anywhere in Southeast Asia that actually harm their victims. Scammers are not criminals but opportunists who do not act out of cold blood but are just a bit too audacious and all they want is to get a few extra baht out of you. Unfortunately, sometimes that few extra baht can turn into a sum of money that our budget simply cannot extend to. That's when it pays to be in the know about the most common scams. The first golden rule to avoid scams altogether are these universal words of wisdom: if it seems too good to be true then it almost definitely is. Thailand is still a relatively poor, developing country and therefore discounts and free stuff do not exist. If something seems preposterously cheap, there is a very high chance that there will be lots more costs as soon as you've handed over the initial few baht. One of the most popular scams goes as follows:

- You are standing in the street looking lost, possibly holding a map, and are approached by an impossibly friendly elderly man/woman
- They ask you where you're from and then tell you they have relatives over there and you remind them of their sister/brother/daughter/son etc and so they want to help you
- You explain where you are going and they convince you that that place is either closed or not worth seeing and what you should really do is go to the tourist information centre and buy a tour there/ go for a tour in a tuk-tuk
- Just like magic a tuk-tuk will appear and your friend will speak in Thai pretending to haggle for you and then tell you that this tuk-tuk will take you where you should be going for only 20 baht!
- You are then driven all over Bangkok being coerced into buying things that you are told are super cheap but are in fact far more expensive than the going rate.

Like I said, this causes you no physical harm but it can potentially destroy your carefully planned budget. It sounds awful but if someone is really friendly and keen to help you then they are probably after money. Of course there are plenty of Thai people that will help you and be perfectly friendly but they usually will wait for you to approach them with questions.

In a sentence: Be wary of overly-friendly locals.

Food
You have probably eaten Thai food back home enough times to feel like you are prepared for the culinary delights of Bangkok. You might even love Thai food so much that you chose to go there solely for that reason *ahem* and most restaurants you go to in the city will serve you exactly what you've been eating at your local Thai restaurant at home for the past 10 years. Fantastic. However, if you have taken the time and effort to go to Bangkok and you're not a sex tourist or businessman (or both) then you are probably there to immerse yourself in the culture. This means living like a local and that means not eating in restaurants. If you want proof go into any nice restaurant in Bangkok and count how many locals there are. Now count how many white people are there. Exactly. So where do you eat then? Southeast Asia is home to the phenomena of street food. This consists of wagons full of fresh vegetables, rice, various meats, a wok and a portable stove. On the front of the cart there will be a very limited menu - usually 3 or 4 different dishes which are all a variation on the same thing - which will hopefully have an English translation, if not, point, guess and pray. You then take a seat on a tiny plastic chair and are served a huge portion of food that is mind-bogglingly cheap and mouth-wateringly good. Is it hygienic? Probably not but if the locals have been eating like that their whole lives then you can survive off it for a few months. Having said this, don't go over the top. Thai people have been eating this food, in this manner for their whole lives and so they are used to it but going from a Western diet to nothing but rice and noodles can be a bit of a shock to the system hence the copious amounts of sickly new backpackers. Ease yourself in to an Eastern diet and if your body is really craving a McDonalds or some pasta then let it have it. You don't have to feel guilty for wanting a bit of home comfort!

In a sentence: Everything in moderation.

A typical street food stall

I hope this has been of some use to any future travellers! Finally, this doesn't merit its own paragraph but it will definitely help you a lot: learn a few words in Thai as the locals really appreciate the effort you've made and the smile you will be rewarded with is well worth the few minutes you spent learning words.


Have fun, be safe and give money to beggars, it gives you good karma.