Travel Journal #4: Beaches & Turtles of Gili T

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So it appears I’ve fallen a bit behind on the journals over the past wee while!

A lot has happened since the last entry. I spent 2 weeks in Indonesia after Hua Hin in Thailand, heading to Gili T after 5 days on Nusa Lembongan. That was about 6 weeks ago now, and since then I’ve given the website a full facelift which slowed down the blogging process too. I’m also FINALLY back in Australia for my 2nd year working holiday visa after waiting about 6 years since my first year. There will be more updates from Down Under in the next journal post, so stay tuned for that… but it’s been hectic!

A full travel guide for everything there is to do on Gili T is on the way in the coming months too, but I’m trying to catch up on past travels before I make more recent guides. Anyway, here’s a quick round-up of the time I spent in Gili T – an absolutely tiny island about a 3 hour boat ride from the east coast of Bali!

After checking out Nusa Lembongan, not far off the coast of Bali and right beside the neighbouring island of Nusa Penida, I decided that instead of going back to mainland Bali I would head further into Indonesia and go to Gili Trawangan.

There are over 18,000 islands in Indonesia, and until this point I had only been to 2 (or 4 if you include Lembongan and Ceningan) so I decided that since I had another week until my flight, why not head to the Gili islands. I was tempted by Lombok, but with only 5-7 days I didn’t feel like I could do an island as big as that any real justice.

Gili T was the perfect place to do more beach-chilling and get into the sea to do some snorkelling. There’s a beach at Turtle Point where turtles come super close to shore to feed on the coral, meaning that by you can swim with them for free and without having to book a pricey tour. The water is so shallow here that you can actually walk/paddle out maybe 100m before you have to start swimming!

They are so much bigger than they look here!

I spent a couple of days in that area of the island, getting up close and personal with some huge turtles for the first time. On Gili T I also hiked up to the tallest viewpoint (which was extremely disappointing and not worth it at all), rented a bicycle to cycle around the small island (shock it started to rain when I did this) and played beer pong, bingo and darts with some new friends G and Shannon.

What most of my days consisted of
Party time
My island whip

No motorised vehicles are allowed on the island which is so refreshing in a part of the world that can easily be a noise-and-pollution-overload. Therefore, you either have to walk or cycle to get around the place, or alternatively get a horse and cart (I don’t recommend this option).

I’ve always loved small-island life and Indonesia is a paradise for that. The prices were slightly inflated but dinner at the night market on Gili T was only a couple of bucks, so still extremely budget friendly! The famous Gili T party scene is still in full flow, but not as crazy as I believe it once was.

After Gili T I hopped on a 4 hour boat back to mainland Bali to wait a day for my flight to Perth, Australia!

Overall, I loved it! The only thing I would change about my Gili T trip is the time of year because I travelled in the monsoon season so it was cloudy and I rarely saw the sun sadly.

Horse and cart
"Just takin' my horse for a swim"

That’s it for this travel journal. The next entry will be from Australia, where I’ve been living and working for almost 2 months now!

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Thank you for reading this travel guide – I hope you found it helpful! Feel free to leave a comment below if you have any questions and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible 😊

Happy travelling!

HELPFUL RESOURCES FOR PLANNING YOUR TRIP

Accommodation: Booking.com, Hostelworld

Tours: GetYourGuide, Viator, Klook, TripAdvisor

Transport: 12Go, Omio, Trip.com, Rome2Rio

 

WHO IN THE WORLD IS JAMES?

From the Highlands of Scotland to the thundering waterfalls of Iceland, the remote deserts of Jordan, the tropical islands of The Philippines, the slums of India and the vast Australian Outback – my travels have taken me all over the world!
 
 

Click below to learn more about my story, including 5 random facts about me, some travel FAQ’s and my entire travel history.

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