AYGMyJune2015

Fact file

GETTING THERE Garuda Indonesia Airlines (garuda-indonesia.com)

connects Sydney with Lombok via Bali. Season-dependent, return

fares cost between AU$716.00 and AU$998.00.

VISA A visa granted upon arrival costs: US$35.00 (AU$45.00).

ACCOMMODATION Puri Mas Beach Resort is set within exquisite

Indonesian village-like grounds, fragrant with frangipani and

bougainvillea. It offers a variety of traditional room styles, and

über-luxurious villas featuring antique furniture, marble floors

and curtained beds. Visit purimas-lombok.com.

The Oberoi covers 24 acres of exquisite gardens. Guests

enjoy thatched villas with sunken garden marble bathtubs,

a sinuous swimming pool and even an amphitheatre.

Visit oberoihotels.com/hotels-in-lombok.

The Santosa Villas & Resort at Senggigi features various

room categories spread discreetly across the grounds, with suites

featuring private plunge pool gardens. Visit: santosalombok.com.

MORE For further information visit thelombokguide.com.

A retreat is an awesome

gift to the SELF

Offering weekly retreats

MAY

3-8, 17-22 | Escape the World - Iyan Yaspriyana

10-15 | Immerse Yourself in Bali - Wayan Partawan

24-30 | Myths of Yoga: Reveling in the Ritual

of the Ramayana - Alanna Kaivalya

May 31- Jun 6May 31- Jun 6 | Yoga and Wellness retreat - Jan Green

JUNE

7-12 | Escape the World - Iyan Yaspriyana

14-19 | Follow Your Dreams - Iyan Yaspriyana,

Wayan Partawan, Claude Chouinard

21-26 | Cleanse & Rejuvenate retreat -

Rebecca Fagan & Toby Hone

Jun 28 - Jul 3Jun 28 - Jul 3 | Immerse Yourself in Bali - Wayan Partawan

Bali’s best retreat centre since 2003

with cultural statues and artworks. My sunny therapist Wulandari

begins my blissful session with a warming foot scrub using traditional

massage techniques that are only available this spa in Lombok.

The transcendent hour ends when I’m craned from the frangipani

petal-garlanded bed and led to an outdoor setting laid with a nourishing

platter of fruit and freshly-squeezed papaya juice. It’s a spiritual

moment as I sit, facing the grounds’ traditional Balinese Temple.

Thoroughly detoxed, fed and watered, I lie, weightless and worriless.

Come afternoon, the heavens unleash their meteorological fury,

so today’s yoga class that’s normally held in Puri Mas’ stupendously

beautiful yoga garden is moved indoors. Within the fabulous

Diponegoro Room (named after the Javanese prince from the

1800s), is an assemblage of antique, carved furniture, paintings

and ornaments collected by owner Marcel De Rijk on his worldly

travels. And before it all sits Sugi, our yoga instructor.

Sugi begins the rejuvenating hour with deep nadi shodhana

pranayama (alternate nostril breathing). While the rains release

their monsoonal flow along the villa’s roof, we release our vinyasa

flow along a polished floor. As the session ends, the clouds part

and we embrace Surya Namaskara (Sun Salutation).

I salute not just the setting, flame-grilled sun, but also my

journey through Lombok’s rich fabric of diverse topographical

terrain, bountiful reefs and local people that truly own spirituality.

Namaste, Indonesia

Gili Nanggu’s

traditional cottage

accommodation

yj43_86-91_travel.indd 91 1/04/2015 10:20 am