TGTI GO CAMPING (part 1)

Background: the beauty of Bukit Melingkuh in fogs. 

Hey Greensters!

PATRICIA here :) 

Last weekend (7-8 September 2013), we went on a camping trip in BOF (Bali Outbound and Farmstay). It is my most favorite camp site located in Baturiti, near Bedugul area (Bali). It is about 10 hectares. In the distance, you can see Bukit Melingkuh (Mount Melingkuh).  This time, 11 of us went together on this trip. Vanessa, Kirana, Chloe, Shirley, Sharon, Me (Patricia), Mika, Javier, Ananda and our two newest members : Dwi and Steven Oei. Our mentor, Mr. Dewa Gede Agung Dharmayasa (Mr. Agung), also came on our camping trip. One of our Green Team members was supposed to join, but he was two hours late (we asked everybody to gather at 10). We waited for quite some time and then we decided to leave. We know…. It's a bad thing to do. We all felt bad but we had to because we cannot wait for just one person while all of us are already ready. He also needed to learn about being on time and being fair. None of us could contact him and it was not fair that all of us had to be on time while he can still be late. We tried to call, send messages, find other people who know / live with him but it was just impossible for us to contact him, so we left. This is a good lesson for us all: be on time, appreciate other friends' time and be responsible with your own words and time. 

Our parents provided us the vehicles and, of course, some of the parents had to join too. They provided us three cars (one car was only for carrying our whole bunch of belongings). It took us around 1 ½ hours to get to the camping site. We were all very impatient during the long trip and excited about our camping trip. We had fun inside the car. We told jokes and played games but we were whining most of the time. We kept on asking if we were there yet or not and we were all bored in the car. When we FINALLY arrived (Yaaaaaayyyyy!!!), we all got down quickly from the car. Once we arrived, we went to check on our site. We went to put up the tent and we were helped by the people there. We also provided two big plastic bags for our trashes. One was for organic trashes, the other was for non-organic ones. Remember: always keep your surroundings clean although you are having fun with your friends because that is one of the ways to appreciate and honor the nature. After that, we played for a little while before lunch time. For lunch, we ate rice with chicken, traditional chili paste and vegetables. Yummy!

Dwi and Mika in action during the paintball game

Two hours after lunch, we all gathered in the main lobby to play paintball. I love playing paintball because it makes me feel like a soldier and also because we get to work as a team. The protective shield and army clothes were way to big for me so every time I run, my army pants kept on falling off. We took photos of us with our weapons, goggles and protective shields and we looked good. It really did felt as if we were going to a battle because we were wearing army clothes and our tent looks like a military tent. 

Before the game starts, the instructor taught us everything we need to know about paintball. He told us to:

• NEVER take off your goggle / mask while you're inside the field. It protects your eyes from being hurt by the bullets. 
• NEVER pick up a fallen bullet and put it back inside the bullet container in your weapon because it could damage your weapon.
• DON'T shoot from a distance nearer than 5 meters because it is very painful when you get hit within the range. 
• DON'T aim to shoot your friends' side or back of their bodies because they don't have enough protection on those parts of their body. 

Then the instructor gave us two minutes to organize strategies which we didn't even use in the end. We played two rounds. In the first round, Green team won (GO GREEN TEAM!!!). The 'soldiers' in green team were Kirana, Sharon, Patricia, Ananda and Javier. Some of us shot at random things (hehehe) but aiming is quiet hard because the weapon is heavy. By playing paintball, we get to enjoy the environment while we're having fun.

It's really cold over there in the Bukit Melingkuh area. Cold enough to make our fingers stiff and our body tremble. Some of us chose not to take a shower, but I'm sure that some of you can't be bothered to shower. To those of you who want to take shower in a cold weather during a camping trip, we have some tips for you:

• Put your clothes in a plastic bag so that it won't get wet. There are 25 bathrooms in the camp site. It is not that big, so the water from the shower might make your clothes wet if you're not putting them inside a plastic bag. 
• DON'T leave the bathroom messy because it is a public place, after you use it. There will be others who will use the same bathroom after you. 
• Prepare all of your things because the distance from the tent to the bathroom is quite far. Remember, it is a 10 hectares camp site. 
• DON'T shower at the night time because the darker it gets, the colder it is.  

Those are the tips ... just in case you want to shower. Oh! and don't forget to brush your teeth. :)

My big brother Michael and Mr Agung tried to warm
themselves close to the campfire, while Chloe was cooking
the sausages. 

At night time, we made a campfire. There is a kind of container used to make the fire on. It is a recycled barrel I think. For the base, we use bark of banana tree because the bark of a banana tree is kind of moist so it prevents the grass from getting burnt. The campfire is very useful because we can roast marshmallows, sausages and corn as well as to heat our body up. We wanted to tell horror stories around the campfire but most of us were too afraid to listen to horror stories.

That night, we also held our TGTI meeting. We discussed about our monthly plans and also about what are we going to do the next day. We were all in one tent (we stayed in the girls tent for the meeting) because some of us were scared and also to keep it warm….. which turned out to be really hot. 

TGTI meeting

It was an amazing experience to all of us. The dawn air in the mountains are really cold so I suggest you to bring more than one jacket. Oh! One more tip: If you want to know when is the best time to go camping in Baturiti area, wait till it doesn't rain for a month in the city of Denpasar. The weather will be perfect up in the mountains that time. I receive this tips from Mr. Kadek, the owner of BOF. 

Thank you for reading :) hope you'll enjoy your camping trip… if you're going on one.


Best regards,
Patricia xx