Not all those who wander are lost: A Traveller's Guide to Gili Trawangan AKA Drug Island

Gili T at upper right, if you look really close you can see marijuana smoke

Imagine a paradisaical island where horses, bikes and your feet are the only way to get around? Where foreign tourists flock from all corners of the globe to party-hard and which does not have a single police officer?

Such a place exists - and it's called Gili Trawangan (Gili T).

For those unfamiliar - Gili T is one of three small islands off the coasts of Bali and Lombok in Indonesia.

It's an idyllic holiday spot for young travellers, people seeking a bit of peace away from the comparatively hectic Bali. It has sand, beaches, bars, scuba, and much more.

My friend and I

I've travelled to Indonesia quite a few times since 2010 and written about it here. In my most recent trip in May, a very good friend of mine and I decided to cut loose and spent nearly a week exploring, partying and tidur di pantai setelah pesta.

We spent our first four nights in Seminyak, Bali running the street-seller gauntlet, having lots of massages and going to the biggest club either of us had ever seen (called Sky Garden it's jaw-droppingly enormous).

Our next destination were the Gili's.

While I'd heard that they were more chilled than Bali - I had not heard about some the islands unique features.

First: Gili has no police.

That's right. None.

The seas around Gili are occasionally patrolled by boats from the much bigger island Lombok, but for the most part, their judicial affairs are taken care of by a kind of island-style elder.

But how does that work?

(Not how he imagined leaving the island)

So I was curious of how criminals would be taken care of on the island. What if someone murders someone else? I was told by locals that they are more concerned with crime of Indonesians towards foreigners than foreigner on foreigner or local on local. If a local is say - caught stealing something from a tourist they will be severely reprimanded.

If you are caught stealing, foreigner or not - you may have to be paraded down the street bearing a sign such as this (see picture).

Similarly, if the locals see the police coming, they will warn foreigners to ditch their drugs (either hide or throw them away), so they are taking care of their customers - so to speak.If there is a big crime, like a violent incident etc, the mainland police will get involved but that's rare.

No cars, no motorbikes..

I didn't realise just how noisy Indonesian roads are until I found myself in a place where the only noise I could hear on the dirt roads were the clip clop of hooves and the jingle of bells which the horses have tied to them.

You might also hear the rumble of a boat engine or a bike bell ding, but being around 6 km in circumference, there is simply no need or room for motorised transport.

(Source: Terra_trippa)

You'll also hear people not-so-subtly asking "You want (insert drug name) friend?"

Drugs, Drugs, DRUUUUUGGGSS

South East Asia has many places for tourists to consume substances with little hassle from the police or risk of ramifications. Gili T takes this to a whole other level.

Surprisingly, most of the dealers looked exactly like this

The lack of police means the street sellers don't just tell you about the drugs - they whip them out and show you. I had a dude outside a bar ask "Want some acid?" Before I had a chance to respond he had a bag of little tabs in my face with little pictures of Jimmy Hendrix on them (I should clarify that I'm not into hard drugs).

Responsible advertising from a 100 percent non-dodgy establishment

I refused his offers in Indonesian "Boleh - mau Speed? Mushrooms? Ketamine?"

The guy was persistent! I declined his offers again. He then grinned, looked at me close and asked "Need Viagra?"

Apparently selling illegal Viagra is a big thing in parts of Asia and I laughed out loud at the offer. I can't imagine why a young person would pop Viagra unless they wanted to be running around the island with a giant boner (extra stamina perhaps?) but each to their own.

There are almost nightly beach raves on some portion of Gili and there will usually be a few glazed eyes around the place.

I should clarify that not everyone who goes to Gili is into drugs and even those who take some drugs are not necessarily total druggies.. In general, the vibe on the island is very relaxed. However, if someone is into drugs, they can find a spot on the beach somewhere and get walloped without much bother.

There are three islands in close proximity - Air, Meno and Trawangan. Air and Meno are smaller and more relaxed while Trawangan is the bigger, more-party friendly island.

Super-chill

The super chill Gili Hostel

More than anything - Gili stays in my head for the relaxed atmosphere. Each of the six days I was there started at Gili Hostel, lazing in the upstairs lounge, having pancakes for breakfast, playing some pool with my friend. In such a small place, one spends most of the time walking around slowly, sitting on the beach, having a swim, a read and then getting ready for a good time at night.

Activities

I met a loads of awesome people from around the world and people come there for up to weeks at a time to eat, meet, greet, fuck, party, snorkel, scuba, paddle-board, fish and so on.

Aboard the massive fishing vessel

Our fishing trip was fairly dodge, myself, my Australian friend and a Swedish dude hired some locals and their rickety little fishing boat and out we went. I had mentally prepared myself to kill my first fish. This was going to be a big thing for me considering I had thus far killed absolutely nothing. We spent two hours out at sea and had a couple of bites but not much else. The swells started to get big later in the night and my friend had some stomach troubles so we got back to shore as it got dark.

Other activities I can recommend are stand-up paddle boarding which was super hard work and more difficult than it looks or scuba diving. There are dozens of companies operating from the island, I recommending checking TripAdvisor.com before you choose a place because there are varying levels of quality from providers.

Beach party

These parties are what a lot of people show up for. Dance music, people everywhere, random hook-ups. I did noticed a few meat-heads around (douchebag). The sort who'll be like "Let's get fuccccckkkeeeeddd uuupppp!!" Fortunately, these people were in the minority and the people I dealt with mostly knew their limits.

BUT! There is a dark side

Not everyone knows how to handle their drugs or alcohol and the lack of regulation on the island can be dangerous. At New Years celebrations in 2013, an Australian teenager died at a bar called Rudy's because he was served a drink laced with methanol (which is poisonous).

GET THERE!

The longest I stayed up on the paddle board was one minute

If you are planning on visiting South East Asia and you like a mixture of outdoor activities and partying, Gili is one of the best places I've ever been so it's highly recommended!