SUNDAY, MARCH 17 2019
The Departure
The day had finally arrived. We were finally going to Bali after so many tiring school days! We gathered together on Husein Sastranegara Airport. My class and two others were the last to go, unfortunately, at 13.15 if I remember correctly. On the other side, we didn't have to worry about luggage since we used AirAsia. To give some context, recently Lion Air announced a new policy that the free baggage are gone. So, we must pay some cash if our luggage is over 7 kg, or the limit of cabin luggage. The first two group used Lion Air, so we were very lucky to use an airline that still have free luggage up to 15 kg (at least domestically). However, our victory did not last well since our plane was delayed for 25 minutes. It wasn't really long, but it still sucks.
My plane ticket
In the flight, I read The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (sorry for a bit of shilling here lol) and listening to various songs. Self promoting a bit, but here's a link to my playlist. Check it out if you're interested in my mediocre music taste!
A poorly taken picture of the seat in front of me
Jimbaran Bay Dinner
The first destination for us was Jimbaran since we didn't go to Tanah Lot. What makes this place unique is that we get to have dinner right in the beach. It's a beautiful experience to enjoy sunset, seafood, and the sound of waves crashing in the sea at the same time. Our dinner menu is fish (I don't know what kind of fish it was I'm sorry), shrimp, deep fried squid, and roasted clams. It was all very delicious, however we didn't get to enjoy the meal for long since suddenly rain pours really hard. It's only been the first day and the trip already took an unexpected turn... nevertheless, I'm still happy that I did get to see a beautiful sunset and great dinner.
Jimbaran Beach
Quest Hotel
Because it was raining, we went to the hotel 2 hours earlier. Thankfully, the hotel was very nice and comfortable. I shared the same room with my friends Faza and Shabrina. Unfortunately, our room didn't have a hair dryer for some reason. We already complained to the receptionists, however this issue wasn't fixed at all. Not to mention that the hotel's wi-fi didn't reach our room. I guess I have to accept the fact that I was very unlucky at that day. On the bright side, since we arrived at the hotel early, we could watch Ready Player One from beginning to end! It's not an amazingly written movie, but it's pretty fun.
MONDAY, MARCH 18 2019
Tanjung Benoa Watersports
The first place to visit in the second day of Turbud was Tanjung Benoa. Here we can play many variations of activities to do on the sea, such as parasailing, banana boat, and much more. These activities are quite pricey, sadly, so most of us only played once. Me and my friends decided to play Flying Fish. Basically, a speedboat will hold a rubber boat resembling a fish really fast so that the boat will fly around 2-3 meters above the sea. It was adrenaline-rushing in a great way. The ride lasted for 10-15 minutes. After that, we walked around the beach and enjoying the chilling sea water under the sun.
Green algae!
Pandawa Beach
According to our tour guide, this beach is considered to be new in Bali. At first Pandawa Beach was only used for Hindu ceremonies, however the locals saw a tourism potential in the beach and decided to work together with the government to make this movie more accessible to tourists, since it was located near a cliff. The beach itself was very beautiful. There were five Pandawa Gods statues in front of the beach, hence the name. Those statues were really huge and impressive. But since we arrived there in the middle of the noon, it was very hot! Most of us, including myself, was sweating like crazy. But the sight of the beach made this visit worth it.
The beach was so hot that this picture looked very saturated
Garuda Wisnu Kencana
After a trip on the beach, we visited Garuda Wisnu Kencana. There was a very huge statue of Hindu God Vishnu and Garuda in that place. The Vishnu statue was so large that it was even visible back in Jimbaran. On GWK, we took pictures of each class and 3'2020 as a whole in the Lotus Pond, in front of Garuda statue. After that, we can do everything we wanted, like taking selfies or walk around the site. Some people even rented a bike. I would've rent it if I'd known how to use one.
Vishnu statue in Garuda Wisnu Kencana
Devdan Theater
The last place that we visited was Devdan theater in Nusa Dua. Before watching, we were given a Hoka Hoka Bento for dinner, but our bus' meal was invaded with a bunch of ants somehow. I still don't understand where those ants came from, but we ate it anyway since we didn't have any other choice for dinner. After eating dinner, we finally went to Devdan theater. The show started around 19.00 and I was amazed by it. The show was about two tourists discovering the wonder of Indonesia by opening some magical treasure chest. However, that plot wasn't the main focus here, what makes this show so mesmerizing was the choreography, the properties, and dance. We also learned some cultural knowledge from this, since the show took us to various Indonesian islands along with their famous cultures. Props to all the crew for making this show an amazing experience. Too bad that we weren't allowed to take any pictures, so I didn't have any photos this time.
TUESDAY, MARCH 19 2019
Pura Tirta Empul
Our first destination of the day was Pura Tirta Empul. This pura is famous for its natural water springs. According to our tour guide, there's also a myth that if you see a really huge fish on the spring, you will be a lucky person. Before entering this sacred place, you must wear a piece of cloth. It's a custom. Anyway, other than water springs, this place also have a pure bathing place. We weren't allowed to bath there though. There was also a fish pond that was filled with so many koi fish. The size varied, from small to really huge. Man, it's such a shame that I caught a bad flu this day so I didn't get to enjoy it to the fullest.
Fish pond in Tirta Empul
Pura's sign in front of the place
Panglipuran Village
Next, we went to Panglipuran Village. This village is known for being one of the cleanest village in the world. The size of the village was around 45 Ha from what I remember, and it was split in half. The first half is for the residents to live, and the rest of it is untouched. Other things that makes this village stood out from the rest is that every house had the same gapura. It was a really unique village, so it's such a shame that around 15 minutes of sightseeing, the rain pours really hard. We had to take shelter to local residents (which was very nice by the way) and wait for the rain to be over for like half an hour. Thankfully, someone in my class brought us raincoats and umbrellas so that we could go back to the bus.
One of the house in Panglipuran Village
Makrab 3'2020
We went back to Quest Hotel around 17.00 to prepare for Makrab 3'20. Makrab itself is short for Malam Keakraban, or "Solidarity Night" in English. The main point of this event is to make 3'20 more solid and close to each other, and in general have fun together. We arrived at Nirmala Hotel on 19.00. Before the main event, we had dinner at the hotel. It's such a shame that the dinner tables were limited, so we had to wait in turn to eat. After dinner, Makrab started. There were various performances from extracurricular such as Musik Klasic, Tiloe's Theater, and Band 3. Other than performances,there were also games and award shows, which were costume contest and miscellaneous award with various categories. Makrab ended (well this wasn't really the end, just near the end I guess) with giveaways, from 32 GB flashdisk to Samsung phones. I didn't win, of course, and I really didn't expect to considering how bad my luck is on giveaways. Congrats for the winners though! The event ended at 01.00 in the morning. We were all tired and desperate to sleep, especially me since this horrible flu was killing me. After we arrived at the hotel, I immediately jumped to sleep. Well, after packing because tomorrow is the last day we traveled in Bali. Time flies so fast :/
The stage of Makrab 3'20
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20 2019
Kuta Beach
After check out from the hotel, we went to Kuta Beach. Because the road couldn't be passed by bus since it was way too small, we had to use a smaller transportation to go there. It was similar to angkot, but instead of green or cream, the transport was colored blue. After 10 minutes, we arrived at Kuta. One thing that makes Kuta famous is the huge waves. It was still morning yet the waves was much bigger than other beaches that we visited. It was also full moon, but still. This is why many surfers love going to Kuta. There were even some surfers there in the morning. However, it's very disappointing that this beach had plastic waste problem. Thankfully, Bali has a new policy to stop using plastic bag in hope to reduce the waste.
Pollution is ruining Kuta!
The ocean waves
Cute doggo really loved the beach
Bedugul
After buying some merchandise for the loved one in hometown, we went to Bedugul. Bedugul itself is a pura that is located in a lake. It's located in the higher part of Bali, so it was much cooler than the beach. Other than pura, there was also a vihara. I didn't see the vihara itself but I saw a lot of monks in the site. One thing that I didn't expect from Bedugul was the size. It was really huge! I thought the place only had pura, but there was even a huge park with some kids playground in it. I really enjoyed my time here since my flu was getting better. My friends thought I was really weird since yesterday I stayed quiet, but whatever. What matters is that I'm very happy to be here, despite that Bedugul was our last tourism destination... :/
Pura in the lake
Pura from a different perspective
First time I saw Hepaticophyta in person. Take me back to 10th grade biology please
Weird SpongeBob statue
After visiting Bedugul, we went to Gilimanuk port to go to Surabaya. Yes, Tur Budaya is over. Just like that. It's so... melancholic.
THURSDAY, MARCH 21 2019
Goodbye Bali!
It's really over. The long awaited holiday... gone. After arriving at Ketapang using ferry ship, we went to some restaurant that also provided bathrooms. I had a horrible experience here since when I showered I saw a gross cockroach. I consider myself to have severe Katsaridaphobia, so when seeing this horrible creature, I just can't help but pray to God so that it will leave me alone. Long story short, after surviving the cockroach tragedy, we went to Gubeng Station. The train left Surabaya at 16.30 and arrived around 05.00 in Bandung. And this is the official end of Tur Budaya 2019.
My train ticket
I can't believe it's already over and I had to go back to reality and face the horror that is Research Based Learning (next post is probably about this), but as the wise Dr. Seuss said, "Don't sad because it's over, smile because it happened.". Overall, Turbud 2019 in my opinion is a positive experience that I will never forget. Thank you guys for reading this blog post!
