Only a day after finishing the biggest events of our school, the 34th generation of smansa started the trip to Bali.
What made me very excited about this trip was that we were going to go to Bali from Depok by bus. It was very challenging for us to sit more than 36 hours on those very comfortable, but narrow chair. Well to be honest, I always prefer going the distance on the road to going through by plane. Hundreds or even thousands meters above the ground, you can only see clouds, clouds, clouds again, or maybe at some lucky times, a view of the ground from above. However, here on the bus, you can see the changing of culture including the type of building, people, or atmosphere. So the trip to Bali was very exciting. I saw the metropolitan of Jakarta with its stressing traffic jam, then I went through the almost pristine area with all the fresh green everywhere, then I entered Javanese city view which is very relaxing with its specialties: the blue white striped sidewalk (I love it the most) plus its crowded traditional market in the morning, then I saw the sea so close to me while the bus was on the road next to the beach. That kind of trip was what I meant. I want to see another people, another culture, another landscape. I want to see different things. I want to see the world.
We (34th generation and I) started to hit the road at seven in the morning. It took a day for us to get into the east java. Since we took the south route, for almost a day, we continuously saw shady trees on our right side and steep field on our left side on the road in the Middle Java. Getting used to see the green and feel the mild air everywhere, it was a little shocked when we woke up the next day when we entered the East Java. There, the green was rare and the air was very hot. The day before, it was so freezing being inside the bus that we close down all the air conditioner. But that day, we opened up all the air conditioner, but still feel stiflingly hot.
Before the touchdown to Bali, we had to take a ferry to cross over the Bali Strait. This was also the most exciting part for me because that was the first time I took a ferry. So in those forty five minutes oscillated, I did not show any expressions but the excitement. I went to the back edge of the ferry and watched the point of Java Island getting further (on that part, I felt homesick). I went to the right and left edge, feeling wind, seeing the wave in the dark, looking at the stars and having a conversation with friends. With the sound of other friends singing sweet songs from the distance, that moment became perfect. Those perfect moment became much more perfect when we finally did the touchdown. This was the best part of going to Bali by bus that the 36 hours, the stiff feeling and all the tiredness, was really worth it when I finally arrived at the destination.
At the time we did the touchdown at Bali, it felt like I wanted to shout very loudly "BALI, HERE WE COME!"
