Cultural Tour (TURBUD 2019)

It all started on the 17th of March 2019. Actually, scratch that, the hype was real ever since us 3'2020 started out the 2nd grade at SMAN 3 Bandung. All of us knew that in our second year there was this awesome field trip to Bali, one of the most famous tourist destination in Indonesia. It was supposed to be a sort of cultural trip, where we can experience Bali's rich and diverse culture and traditions.

credits: Hafiz Yozarno

Anyway, the trip started out on the 17th where all the 2020 class of SMAN 3 Bandung gathered at the Hussein Sastranegara Airport, it's arguably the best airport in Bandung. Of course. we were encouraged to arrive a few hours before our flight was due to lift off, that said, my class's flight was around 1 pm, I arrived at the airport at around 9ish. I met up with my friends at the drop-off point, not knowing what to do for a few hours some of us decided to go to the nearest Starbucks to hang out and get some drinks.

credits: Hafiz Yozarno

We took our time at Starbucks, we bought some drinks, luckily there was a promo so we got some free drinks. I and a few of my friends played a few rounds of PUBG Mobile, after that we made a vow to not play any of our mobile games while we were in Bali so that we could enjoy the full Bali experience, or as our class called it, Turbud Vibes which means the culture tour vibes. 

After that we checked in to the airport and waited in the waiting room, the Muslims prayed at the Mushola or the Islamic Prayer Room, which was really nice by the way (props to Husein Airport), and basically just goofed around for a couple of hours.

credits: Hafiz Yozarno

When we heard the announcement to start boarding the plan, we walked across the tarmac to the plane. I was genuinely excited to get on the plane because I haven't been in one in a while, though I was also a bit anxious because of recent plane crash news, I was also not good with heights.

The plane, for the most part, was uneventful, I slept through most of the trip, but I did get some free food from a nice couple that sat next to me.

credits: you guessed it, Hafiz Yozarno

We arrived at the Ngurah Rai Airport and immediately went to get our luggage. After we all gathered we made our way to the bus. We then rode the bus to our first destination in Bali, Jimbaran Beach. We arrived about an hour before sunset and got to enjoy the scenery at the beach and took some beautiful shots. After we had our fun at the beach we got to enjoy some seaside seafood dinner at Jimbaran. Unfortunately, it started raining, at first, it was just a drizzle, then, it started really pouring. Everyone scattered inside to save themselves and their food, fortunately, me and my friends had the seat closer to the door and had already finished our food. After that whole fiasco, we rode the bus again to our hotel, the Quest Hotel. As soon as we settled in. my roommates and I had some tummy rumbles, and so we decided to order some Domino's Pizza. We had a blast that night just joking around and inviting the other rooms to have a small gathering to share the pizza, and after all is said and done, we all slept until morning came.

The dawn of the second day, we took turns taking showers and did the dawn prayers. We got some breakfast and got ready in our rooms for a jam-packed day. First, we went to enjoy some Watersport at Tanjung Benoa. My group went to Turtle Island, there were many turtles and we took pictures with a bunch of different animals. my favorite was the bat. After Turtle Island, my friend and I went to ride the Flying Fish ride, which was basically like a banana boat but goes flying, it was so much fun. My friends kept on playing but I decided to take a shower while the shower room was empty. We had our lunch there and then went to Pudjamandala Mosque, which was in a place where there were other places of worship like a Church and a Wihara. 

My friends and I did our prayers and decided to buy some things from a mini market across the street. My friend was a bit careless though, he was trying to cross the street when a motorcycle ran into him. Fortunately, he wasn't injured and the motorcycle slowed enough to not cause any damage, the driver did fell, however. Although it seems ridiculous, my friend had to give money to the driver because she had complained to hurt her wrist at the fall even though she was the one that ran into my friend.

GWK, credits: Hafiz Yozarno

Anyway, after that debacle, we went to the minimarket to use the ATM and buy some drinks and snacks. We then got on the bus and went to the Garuda Wisnu Kencana. That was a gigantic statue that was really cool. We also did our class of 2020 group picture, it took a lot of coordination but ended up pretty sweet. I rented a bike and almost lost my sunglasses, so needless to say it was quite eventful. After Garuda Wisnu Kencana we went to watch Devdan, which was a cool dance and cabaret performance at the Bali Nusa Dua Theatre. It was a really awesome performance, the music was great, the dances were cool, and there were even some dancers that invited the audience to dance.

After all that, we took pictures with the performers and went back to the hotel and got some rest.

credits: Hafiz Yozarno

Day three started as the day before, shower then breakfasts and so on. The first destination of the day was Tirta Empul which is a Hindu temple. At Tirta Empul, we enjoyed some great traditional scenery and atmosphere. There was also a religious performance near the end of our visit there. After Tirta Empul, we went to Kintamani, which was really far up a mountain and had an all you can eat lunch buffet. we then went to Panglipuran Cultural Village, unfortunately, it started raining so we had to take refuge in the locals' home, who were very polite and kind by the way. After that, we went back to the hotel to get ready for a Makrab or a night of getting together, which is basically for getting the class of 2020 closer to each other. It was a fun night, there were fun and funny awards and cool prizes from games. Towards the end of the night, there were performances from our school's bands and a video from our school's movies and films club. We had a good time and then went back to the hotel and got some rest.

credits: Hafiz Yozarno

Day four started out, as usual, we had breakfast and checked out of the hotel, this would be our last day in Bali. We started out the day with breakfast and then used the bus to go straight to Kuta. There we all scattered, some of us went to the Beachwalk mall, some of us walked along the beach, while my friends and I just wandered around aimlessly taking pictures and sitting around the beach. After that, we went and shopped for souvenirs at Krisna, which is a famous souvenir place in Bali. We also had lunch there, and after that, we went to Tanah Lot, which is this cool temple that you can only access during low tide. We took some pictures and wanted to go to the temple but it was forbidden.

credits: Hafiz Yozarno

We then went on to Bedugul, which is another temple located high up in the mountains next to the biggest lake in Bali. That was also another picturesque place and we took a lot of memorable shots. We then ate dinner at a rest stop and continued our journey to the ferry to cross the Bali Strait. We had fun on the Ferry because it was a smooth ride and we played lots of games. After crossing the strait, we slept through most of the journey, and woke up at a rest stop, we ate breakfast and took showers. Then we continued our journey to Suramadu, we took a little stop and then continued to Djuanda Station, where we took the train back to Bandung. We had dinner and slept through most of the journey, we did, however, had a fun time just goofing around.

credits: Hafiz Yozarno