There's something in the Air on this Gili

You can forget the image you had of paradise, and replace it with this.

I may have said it in the past a few times, that I've found paradise but this time I mean it. Gili Air IS paradise. It's much smaller and basic than Gili Trawangan, but as Gili T, has no motorised traffic. Horse and carriage or walk, up to you! Furthermore, the roads are made of sand instead of concrete, it's a lot cheaper, and things are A LOT more basic. Electricity comes and goes and Internet is slow and unreliable at its best.

With the owner of Mawar, Anno

Accommodation
For the first two nights I stayed in a bungalow in a place called Mawar. I always had this fantasy of what it would be like to stay in a bungalow on a little island in paradise. You know, quiet little island, a bungalow made of bamboo right on the beach but with the jungle behind you, a hammock on the porch where you can just relax and listen to the waves breaking a few steps away and at night hear the gentle noises from the nice human-friendly animals in the jungle in your spider- and other insect-free super hygienic room with a proper hot shower with lots of water pressure...that kind of thing.

Bathroom at Mawar

And I'd look like Elle Macpherson in a bikini of course. Well Mawar wasn't quite like that (it wouldn't be for $10 a night I suppose). The place was located inland, on an open field at the end of a dark narrow alleyway, and the bungalows were very, very basic. My shower was a pipe coming straight from the sea, the creaking in the walls and floor made me think the structure might collapse with any radical movement so I tried to tiptoe around, and the whole place made me feel uncomfortable in general. But the reason I stayed for more than one night (or even one for that matter) was because the people there were so wonderful and welcoming I couldn't tell them I didn't like it! They loved my name, as they thought it was hilarious that one of them was called 'John' and I was 'Terry' so after we introduced each other everyone was in stitches for about 15 minutes. Someone else made a joke my name was like 'Jerry' from 'Tom and Jerry' so he shouted 'Heeeyyyy Tom And Jerry' at first every time he saw me but after the first day reduced to calling me just 'Tom' for my entire stay on the island.

Bathroom at Mawar

From Mawar I moved to Nina Cottages which, whilst still not matching my fantasy bungalow, was a huge upgrade from before. It had tiles on the floor which made it a bit fresher, the location felt a bit safer - I didn't feel like I would be attacked every time I got home after dark, and I kind of liked my outdoors bathroom. The roof was half covered so the toilet was under the roof but when you were showering you could look up and see the sky and the forest behind the bungalow. It's quite nice showering with the sun shining right above you, or alternatively under the stars. The minus points came from the fact that it smelled very strongly of damp so I always slept with the bathroom door open which then made me feel paranoid about all the dangerous jungle animals that'd crawl into my room at night and eat me alive. Oh and the salt water shower....sigh....

No Shit, Sherlock
Anyone heading to Indonesia should consider doing it this time of the year - unless it is more crowds and party you're after. Officially it is still rainy season but during the couple of weeks I spent on the Gilis it only rained a few times and only once did it rain for the whole day and night. Most times it only rained for an hour or so at night. But having said that, you could also see rain clouds both around Mount Batur in Bali and also Mount Rinjani on Lombok so maybe the Gilis are a bit of an exception? It's also of course cheaper around March and April before the Ozzies invade with their surfboards and the shops and hotels up their prices.

Typical bit of the road around the island. It's always pretty windy, part reason I enjoyed the Gilis so much

On the party front, I moved to Gili Air to get away from all the partying on Gili Tee, but with silence day coming up on Bali the island was getting ready for all the Balinese to come over and boogie here.

Nyepi is a Balinese "Day of Silence" and it is a Hindu celebration. It's a day when everyone stays inside (you're not allowed on the street), there is no light, music, or disturbance of any kind as it's meant to be used for silence, fasting and meditation (even the airport shuts down for 24 hours!). The day following Nyepi is also celebrated as New year.

You could feel the anticipation of the big party which was held at Zippbar, and the couple of days leading up to it the nights were busier on the island than normally - so much for my chillout and detox plan.... The vibe on the island changed drastically after the big party was over, which was good both for my liver and my mind! Was a good party though, bonfire on the beach, plankton lighting up the sea, amazing DJ, dancing until sunrise. Now that, my friends, is a beach party!

Some of the island kids. The cool ones, clearly.

Also here I went for a walk around the island and surprise surprise, it was stunning. I found a strip of bars and restaurants, including Zippbar where the big party was, close to the harbour (well I say harbour I mean the bit of sand where you hop on and off boats and wade through the water, no one uses the one pier there is) where I'd hang out every day and night. I got to know many of the people who worked in these bars - everyone being so friendly and talkative it would have been hard not to! Randomly I taught them the meaning and use of "no shit, Sherlock." It took a while since they didn't really understand the sarcasm involved - or who Sherlock Holmes was. So after story time on detective Holmes I gave some examples of how to use it, and they in the end they got it and loved it, they thought it was absolutely hilarious. Everyone laughed and laughed at it and it became our joke. It all started to go a bit wrong when they started overdoing it, and I think forgot what it really meant and when you should really use it. One day I was walking down the street and shouted a 'Hello, all good?' to one of the barmen who had waved at me, who, with the biggest grin on his face replied 'no shit, Sherlock!' And by the end of my stay everyone and everything was 'good shit, Sherlock' or 'whats up, Sherlock' or just plain 'Sherlock'.

I had difficulty understanding people in this part of the world more often than not. I just kept hearing different words to what they were saying, and kept having to ask them to repeat themselves. Most commonly I'd hear a horse-taxi driver complement me on my "nice boat" when he was actually asking me if I wanted "transport?" Or I'd think they were telling me to "eat rice" when I complained I was tired, really saying "get rest." I also had difficulty locating Zippbar seeing for the first couple of days I was looking for Jeep-bar....

Day trip to Lombok

Notice Jenkins...

Originally I wanted to hike Mount Rinjani, an active volcano on Lombok that many travellers say is an extremely challenging but worthwhile experience for three days and two nights. It involves lots of hiking, and also getting up at 3am and hiking to the rim of the volcano in the dark for the sunrise.

Gasoline is sold in glass and plastic bottles

This had been on my agenda ever since Anne told me about it, so when I found out that due to it being rain season the hike is too risky and therefore closed I was really disappointed. So in lieu of the hike I decided to do a day trip to Lombok to see at least a little. When I say doing a day trip I mean a more casual drive around Lombok with one of my new friends, Ari, from one of the beach bars.

We started bright and early and took the first public boat at 8am to Lombok, rented a motorcycle and off we went! Lombok is a huge island and has a lot to offer so sadly there was no way we could see it all, but since I had missed out on the wonders of Mount Rinjani by foot I thought maybe I could still see some of it even if it is through cheating a bit and driving up rather than hiking! Ari suggested we go and visit a couple of waterfalls on Rinjani which I thought sounded excellent! I had never seen a proper waterfall before so I was well excited.

Rice Paddies on Lombok

A drive through the countryside in Southeast Asia never goes unappreciated on my part. I've loved the landscape everywhere I've been so far and this was no exception. I kept asking him to pull over so I could take pictures of the black sand beaches, tall coconut tree forests, and of course the famous rice paddies. The green of the paddies is almost fluorescent and can even look unnatural. The higher up we got the more beautiful the fields looked against the dark blue sea and contrast of a clear blue sky in the background. I couldn't get enough.

Sometimes the green of the rice paddies is so bright it's hard to believe it's natural

We also drove through a busy local market selling fruit, veg, meat, etc. I was about to ask Ari if we could go and have a look when I realised everyone had stopped doing whatever they had been doing and were staring at me. With no helmet on (sorry mom) and my hair bobble gone with the wind me and my blonde head were sticking out of the crowd in a very obvious way. I was the only foreigner there, and based on the way they were looking at me I was the only one they had seen in a while. The way they looked at me made me a little uncomfortable; they weren't giving me hostile looks, but at the same time no one smiled or gave me a friendly look either. Everyone just stood still and stared. Probably unnecessary, but it was the first time I've felt a little awkward and unwelcome during my travels.

The view of the first waterfall from the restaurant

The drive to the viewpoint restaurant where we parked and continued on foot from took all in all about an hour and a half. The hike itself to the first waterfall is doable for anyone, it's only probably a 15 minute walk up and down stairs. This 30 metre waterfall is an impressive view from the viewpoint restaurant where we had parked, you can see it perfectly cascading in the middle of the jungle midst all trees. Whilst this waterfall is very grandiose it is at a bit of a difficult angle to really appreciate from closer up (you're better off looking at it in all it's glory from a bit further back), the second waterfall is rather intimidating as you can get very close up to it but totally worth it!

...what's the big deal? It's only tree tops you see to the right...!

Again, it doesn't require a huge level of fitness to make it to the second waterfall, but I can assure you it requires a sense of adventure and a certain relaxed mindset when it comes to safety measures. Or the lack of them. The 'footpath' to the second waterfall is muddy, narrow, uneven, and covered in loose stones and tree trunks. That's the easy bit. The bit that scared the hell out of me was a bridge leading the water from the river over a huge ditch (probably 50m) that you had to cross to the other side. They had just kind of forgotten to put a railing on one of the sides, and the "bridge" had enormous gaps between the steps. With my fear of heights I found this the biggest challenge. Usually I would just not look down when high up, but how could I when that meant I would probably step into one of the gaps?! The only place you could walk in a (narrow) straight line was next to the 50m drop with no railing. In retrospect I'm dreading it more than I was at the time. Ari got on with it like it wasn't a big deal at all. I followed suit except with trembling legs and my heart that was beating in my throat at 200 bpm. I tried to keep my focus point on the bridge, but I couldn't help looking slightly to the right every now and then, into the bottomless death trap beneath me. And every time I did I could feel my head starting to spin and the panic creeping up chest and blocking the air in my throat. Sherlock, this shit just got real!

This is where the road came to an end and in the river we went...

The last bit leading to the waterfall was also a little challenging seeing there was no road, and the only way through was walking upstream trying to balance on the slippery and unstable rocks with the forceful stream constantly beating against my legs.

By the way, at no point did Ari tell me there was going to be any hiking or extreme rapid trekking happening, so I was wearing my flimsiest pair of flip flops for this excursion. To be perfectly honest though, even if he had told me I would not have had much choice of footwear with my last good pair left behind in Krabi...

So worth it!!!

But once I got the it was all worth it! Looking up at the enormous cascade falling vertically down towards me whilst bathing in the cold pond with the clearest fresh water you can imagine, the trek there was a price I was willing to pay! Well, I say 'price' but I had so much fun on our way there and back that I wouldn't exactly classify it as any kind of sacrifice.

It's me! A well deserved swim

Lunch. Grilled Grouper with Sambal, rice, veg, and to drink, a coconut

After our jungle adventure we drove to a viewpoint from where we could see all three Gilis. On our way there I saw more stunning landscapes including a bay where I insisted I had to go for a swim in. I would never have forgiven myself if I hadn't "carpe diemed" the hell out of that moment. It was the most beautiful beach I had ever seen (I know, I say that a lot), with the colour of the water being the highlight but the bonus points came from the little wooden shacks where you could lie down and relax, no other people around, and the local food stalls next to the road selling beautiful food. Plus, the ice cream man cycles up and down the beach all day guaranteeing a continuous supply, what else could you possibly want? I enjoyed our lunch on the beach very much, as I felt it was a very authentic experience. It helped that the Grouper was grilled to perfection, too. After lunch the early start and events of the day started to catch up with us both so we napped on one of the wood shacks in the shade. Hey, it had been a stressful day!

Mine!

Running into friends
The great thing about the beaten track in Southeast Asia is that you are pretty much guaranteed to run into some of the same traveller friends over and over again. The Gilis are a sure spot, everyone ends up there at some point! During my stay I ran into two friends I had met earlier in my travels. Brianne I met in Thailand at the wonderful Glur Hostel in Krabi. When I found out through Facebook stalking her that she'd be in Gili Air we celebrated over a long lazy lunch on the beach sharing our travel anecdotes and giggling like little schoolgirls.

Frans and I

Frans who I met in the Philippines in Puerto Princesa came to the island the day before I left so we had a catchup over a beer or three reminiscing our motorcycle adventure to the hidden beach a few months earlier. Love it when you can 'catch up' with people who feel like old friends but are actually people you barely know at all.

Mohammed and I, my new best party friend ;)

Then there was of course Mohammed who I had never met before but who is a friend of my dear friend Thess. And ever since we met in Indonesia through Thess putting us in touch with each other I believe I have found (yet another) soulmate for life and who I hope to see again before I'm home bound!

There's something in the Air on this magical island. It's like it's almost too perfect to be real. The day I left I felt the saddest I had in a long time (and I changed my mind about whether or not to leave a hundred times that morning). I felt I was being torn in half between my heart that felt I belonged there, and my brain that...well....was trying to think of a way to make the heart's wish come true. I knew it wasn't real, I knew living there wouldn't be the same as spending a week there, but when the feeling is so strong, it's the rational that doesn't make sense anymore. The people I had met and gotten to know there, the lifestyle, and the way I felt when I was there all just felt right. I can't explain it, but the salt water showers, badly flushing 30 year old squat toilets, nonfunctioning electricity and wifi all turn into things you love about the island rather than drawbacks. It's like when you love someone, it's their little flaws and quirks you come to love just as much as their great qualities....and that's Gili Air for me.

Not sure I could think of a better way to spend the day than relaxing on a paradise island to guitar music...

In front of Paradiso bar where I'd spend most my days.