Gili Air: Another Slice of Indonesian Island Paradise

After three weeks of hanging around in Kuala Lumpur and the large suburb of Subang Jaya, I returned to Indonesia. My flight to Europe would leave from Bali, so I had to go back to Indonesia sooner or later. To see slightly more of the humongous archipelago that is Indonesia than ‘just’ Bali, I paid nearby Lombok and its Gili Islands a visit.

Lombok Road Trip

In an attempt to shake up my rather unfocused mode, I decided to go for some communal yogic engagement and join a seven-day yoga retreat on the island of Gili Air. Gili Air is one of the three Gili Islands located just off the coast of Lombok. I had landed in Lombok from Malaysia at the island’s sleepy airport, more resembling a bus terminal than an international airdrome. I had booked a taxi in advanced and driver Iqbal was waiting for me outside the terminal. He took me on a road trip across the island to the northern part from where I would take a boat to Gili Air. The island’s sleepy airport was an indication of the calm that is Lombok in comparison to Bali. There was little traffic on the road in the middle of the afternoon, even around the capital Matara. In addition to significantly less traffic, Lombok is characterised by the many mosques as the island,  like the rest of the country, is predominately Muslim. Lombok has suffered a heavy earthquake in August 2018 and another one, that was less heavy, in March of this year. Especially in the northern part of the island the damage caused to buildings and roads is still clearly visible.  Iqbal said that tourism numbers had fallen considerably after last year’s quake, which puts significant pressure on the local economy.

Gili Air Chill

As I had missed the last ferry, I had to take a private boat to Gili Air which is quick as well as expensive. As mentioned, Gili Air is one of the three Gili Islands. Gili Trawangan, or Gili T for short, is the largest island of the three and is considered the party isle. Gili Meno, is the most tranquil and is for that reason seen as the couples’ island. Gili Air lies closest to mainland-Lombok and is the island where you get the strongest sense of a local island community. Driver Iqbal joked that you go to Gili T to party and fall in love, to Gili Meno to honeymoon and create offspring, and to Gili Air to holiday with your family. The residing and visiting population on Gili Air is a highly interesting mix of Muslim locals, western residents and mainly western visitors, who are often scantily clad. There is no motorised traffic on the island and the only means of transport are bicycle and horse and carriage. This gives the island a wonderfully tranquil feel. Gili Air is really small and it is possible to circumvent the island on foot in a few hours. The small island has two yoga centres, plenty of accommodation, restaurants, bars and a party venue here in there to cater for tourists. Although I didn’t spot that many over 55s, Gili Air seems to attract a wide variety of travellers of all ages.

Yoga with an Islamic Soundtrack

 I stayed at Fire & Flowers Yoga Garden, located a short walk from the pier. The shala is set in a beautiful garden that has a pool. The place has beautiful accommodation, a restaurant with wholesome and delicious food, a large yoga deck and absolutely wonderful staff. My yoga package included two hearty meals and three yoga classes every day. I milked my package to the max and all classes, lead by different teachers were of excellent quality. The yoga centre is close to the local mosque, which means you  hear the call to prayer five times a day. This took me back to my time at the African Med (Alexandria, Egypt), where the day was given rhythm by the ubiquitous sound of the Muslim call the prayer. Although the mosque was a few hundred metres away, the calls were loudly amplified and Fajr, the first prayer of the day, called at dawn, about an hour before sunrise, would wake me up every day. Especially the call to Fajr on Friday, the Muslim holy day of gathering, was loud and long. During my times in Alexandria, I used to live next to a mosque, however, the early morning call to prayer would never wake me up if I was asleep.

Wonderful People & Underwater Art

In the wonderful and inspiring surroundings of Fire & Flowers Yoga Garden, I’ve met heaps of truly amazing people, all with fascinating stories. I went on a snorkeling trip with a bunch. We were like tourist-cattle as it must have been 40 of us on a boat. The trip was cheap as chips though, and we had fun. Enjoying the Gili Islands includes frolicking in the clear waters, spotting sea turtles- poor animals- and see some mesmerising life-sized underwater statutes near the coast of Gili Meno.

Gili Air is a fabulously chilled island where local Muslim community life exists side by side island-paradise tourism. I hope the island will be able to keep a good balance, so that the chill-for-all can remain.