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[VIDEO] Net TV (2014): Talk Show Perjalanan minat khusus bersama Agustinus Wibowo

Indonesia Morning Show Net TV 29 December 2014:　Talk Show Perjalanan minat khusus bersama Agustinus Wibowo Agustinus Wibowo not only travels, but also learning the life of the people in the regions he visits. He has visited countries like Afghanistan, Mongolia, Pakistan, and just returned from a three-month journey in Papua New Guinea, and is projecting to visit all Indonesian borders. In Indonesia Morning Show NET TV 29 December 2014, Agustinus talks about his journey and what he has learned. Talkshow in Indonesia Morning Show program of Net TV on traveling to unusual places to learn about the life of the [...]

January 27, 2015 // 7 Comments

[VIDEO] Net TV (2014): Berwisata Sekaligus Belajar

Indonesia Morning Show Net TV 29 December 2014:　Agustinus Wibowo berwisata sekaligus pelajari kehidupan daerah sekitarnya Agustinus Wibowo not only travels, but also learning the life of the people in the regions he visits. He has visited countries like Afghanistan, Mongolia, Pakistan, and just returned from a three-month journey in Papua New Guinea, and is projecting to visit all Indonesian borders. In Indonesia Morning Show NET TV 29 December 2014, Agustinus talks about his journey and what he has learned. Talkshow in Indonesia Morning Show program of Net TV on traveling to unusual places to learn about the life of the [...]

January 24, 2015 // 5 Comments

Daru 23 Agustus 2014: Nenek Moyangku Orang Pelaut

Menembus badai dan gelombang (AGUSTINUS WIBOWO) Nenek moyangku orang pelaut Gemar mengarung luas samudra Menerjang ombak tiada takut Menempuh badai sudah biasa Sisi Wainetti, Marcella, dan saya meringkuk dan berpelukan erat. “Jesus! Jesus!” Sisi mulai berteriak sekencang-kencangnya, seolah teriakan itu akan mendatangkan keajaiban kuasa dari langit untuk menyelamatkan kami. Marcella dan saya menimpali dengan teriakan yang sama dan sama kerasnya. Dinghy, perahu motor cepat yang kami tumpangi ini, terombang-ambing amukan ombak. Dinghy menghentak, kami para penumpang yang duduk berhimpitan terloncat. Pantat saya menghantam bilah kayu yang menjadi alas duduk, punggung saya seperti ditinju bertubi-tubi dan sakitnya merambat sampai ke tengkuk. Satu gulungan ombak yang lebih tinggi daripada manusia itu menerjang. Sisi berteriak, “Issaiah, cepat lakukan sesuatu! Kita akan tenggelam!” Terlambat. Ombak itu menghantam kami, menampar wajah saya dan semua dari enam penumpang di atas perahu kecil ini. Air sudah setinggi mata kaki di dasar perahu. Kami basah kuyup sekujur tubuh, buru-buru mengambil gelas plastik dan timba karet dan sepon untuk membuang air keluar perahu. Saya memeluk erat kamera yang sudah dibungkus plastik di balik jaket saya. Satu gelombang lagi menghantam perahu kami. “Oh, Jesus!” Sisi berteriak lagi. Saya mengenal Sisi baru dua hari lalu. Dia adalah putri angkat dari bidan [...]

January 20, 2015 // 12 Comments

Daru 22 Agustus 2014: Mengapa Harus Ada Batas di Antara Kita?

Seorang guru bahasa Inggris di Daru High School bertanya pada saya tentang Indonesia. Dia ingin memastikan kabar yang dia dengar: “Orang-orang putih” (maksudnya orang Asia termasuk Jawa) di Indonesia membutuhkan tengkorak manusia untuk membangun gedung tinggi dan jembatan; tumbal itu bikin mereka “orang putih” semakin kaya dan semakin sukses dibanding orang hitam. Di Daru, dia bilang, tahun kemarin beredar kabar bahwa orang Indonesia banyak menyelinap ke Papua Nugini untuk membunuhi orang sini, lalu diambil kepalanya buat membangun rumah dan jembatan di Merauke sana, dan membuang begitu saja mayat tanpa kepala itu ke hutan atau pulau. Saya syok. “Dan kau percaya itu?” “Semua orang heboh. Sampai tak berani keluar rumah, khawatir dibunuh orang Indonesia,” katanya. Bahkan orangtua menasihati anak yang nakal atau keluar malam dengan: “Awas nanti ada Indonesia.” Ini rumor zaman batu yang beredar di abad milenium, dan herannya, orang percaya. Sangat percaya. Indonesia menjadi nama horor, bagai hantu yang bisa datang sekonyong-konyong mencabut nyawa. Indonesia menjadi nama untuk menakuti anak yang nakal (AGUSTINUS WIBOWO) Warga Daru sempat ketakutan mendengar rumor tentang pemburu kepala manusia dari Indonesia (AGUSTINUS WIBOWO) Rumor ini membuat saya sedikit bimbang ketika memenuhi undangan Mekha dan guru-guru lainnya untuk berbicara di depan murid-murid kelas XI di [...]

January 19, 2015 // 29 Comments

#1Pic1Day: Antre Air | Line for Water (Mongolia, 2009)

Line for Water (Mongolia, 2009) The dwellers of the village of Tsengel in westernmost corner of Mongolia are queuing for water from a communal pipe in the middle of the village. This is a daily routine in most rural areas of Mongolia, due to unavailability of water system. Tsengel is last village in western Mongolia, neighboring with China and not far away from Kazakhstan, inhabited by predominantly Muslim Kazakh minority ethnic group. A big number of Kazakhs from Western Mongolia have migrated to Kazakhstan. Antre Air (Mongolia, 2009) Para penduduk dusun Tsengel di ujung paling barat Mongolia sedang mengantre air dari pipa komunal di tengah dusun. Ini adalah aktivitas harian di daerah pinggiran Mongolia, yang masih belum memiliki sistem pipa air. Tsengel adalah dusun paling ujung di Mongolia, berbatasan dengan China dan paling dekat dari Kazakhstan, dihuni oleh minoritas Kazakh yang beragama Islam. Sejumlah besar penduduk Kazakh di Mongolia Barat telah bermigrasi ke Kazakhstan. [...]

February 13, 2014 // 2 Comments

#1Pic1Day: Warna-warni Gurun | Colors of the Desert (Pakistan, 2006)

Colors of the Desert (Pakistan, 2006) Desert inhabitants in South Asia are known for their sophisticated costumes, full of ornaments and colors. The women in Thar Desert of Pakistan, especially the Hindu ones, still wear colorful costumes, with dozens of bangles all over their body, and are totally at ease with cameras. Warna-warni Gurun (Pakistan, 2006) Bangsa-bangsa gurun di Asia Selatan punya keunikan pakaian yang sangat rumit, penuh dekorasi, berwarna. Kaum perempuan di gurun Thar, Pakistan, khususnya umat Hindu, masih memakai pakaian yang berwarna-warni, gelang di sekujur tubuh yang berlusin-lusin, dan sama sekali tidak antipati terhadap kamera. [...]

January 24, 2014 // 0 Comments

#1Pic1Day: Menyibak Harapan | A New Hope (Pakistan, 2006)

A New Hope (Pakistan, 2006) Survival is still the biggest question in the middle of Thar Desert, Pakistan. Aside from serious problems in water and healthcare, economic situation is also not quite optimistic. Some humanitarian projects have arrived here to introduce to the locals their own tradition they have already lost: carpet making. This is a new source to generate income for the desert dwellers. Menyibak Harapan (Pakistan, 2006) Di tengah gurun kering Thar, Pakistan, bertahan hidup adalah pertanyaan terbesar bagi penduduk. Selain masalah air dan kesehatan yang sangat serius, keadaan ekonomi juga sangat parah. Beberapa organisasi kemanusiaan datang dengan mengajarkan penduduk mempertahankan tradisi mereka untuk membuat permadani, sehingga mereka punya tambahan pemasukan untuk keluarga. [...]

January 23, 2014 // 1 Comment

#1Pic1Day: Dusun Kering | Dry Village (Pakistan, 2006)

Dry Village (Pakistan, 2006) Some areas in interior of Thar Desert, Pakistan, had not got rain for four years consecutively. Some villages were even deserted by its inhabitants, as they were looking for a new place with more water. These deserted villages turn to ghost villages. Dusun Kering (Pakistan, 2006) Beberapa daerah di pedalaman gurun Thar, Pakistan, sama sekali tidak mendapat hujan dalam empat tahun berturut-turut. Beberapa dusun bahkan ditinggalkan begitu saja oleh penduduknya, untuk mencari tempat yang masih ada airnya. Dusun-dusun yang ditinggalkan kemudian menjadi desa mati. [...]

January 22, 2014 // 3 Comments

#1Pic1Day: Empat Tahun Tanpa Hujan | Four Years with No Rain (Pakistan, 2006)

Four Years with No Rain (Pakistan, 2006) Water and rain are very scarce in Thar desert, Pakistan. Some areas even had not got rain for consecutive four years. The inhabitants have to walk very far just to get water. Water is very precious here; some people even keep their water with gridlock and bury it under the sand. Empat Tahun Tanpa Hujan (Pakistan, 2006) Hujan sangat langka di gurun Thar, Pakistan. Di beberapa lokasi bahkan hujan sama sekali tidak turun dalam empat tahun. Penduduk harus berjalan jauh hanya untuk mendapatkan setetes air, sehingga air teramat berharga di sini. Beberapa warga bahkan menggunakan kunci gembok untuk mengamankan air yang [...]

January 21, 2014 // 6 Comments

#1Pic1Day: Pulang | Going Home (Pakistan, 2006)

Going Home (Pakistan, 2006) Thar is one of the driest deserts with the highest population density in the world. Thar stretches from Pakistan to India. The inhabitants have to walk for kilometers on boiling sand just to gather water. The desert dwellers usually travel to the nearby town of Umerkot in interior Sindh Province for shopping or selling their animals. The public transport departs from the desert villages in early morning, and return back from the town at afternoon. That’s the time for the desert dwellers to go back to the dry desert they call home. Pulang (Pakistan, 2006) Gurun Thar adalah salah satu gurun paling kering namun paling padat penduduknya di dunia. Gurun ini melintang dari Pakistan hingga India, dihuni oleh bangsa gurun yang harus mencari air hingga berkilo-kilometer. Penduduk Thar biasanya bepergian ke Umerkot, kota terdekat di pedalaman Provinsi Sindh, untuk berbelanja. Angkutan umum biasanya berangkat dari kampung-kampung gurun pada pagi buta, dan kembali lagi dari kota ke tengah gurun di sore menjelang petang, karena itulah waktunya bagi warga gurun untuk pulang ke tengah padang gersang yang menjadi rumah [...]

January 20, 2014 // 5 Comments

Garis Batas – Perjalanan di Negeri-Negeri Asia Tengah (Borderlines)

My second published travel writing book, on journey to Central Asian countries (The “Stans”). Indonesian language. Borderlines – Journey to the Central Asian States Everyday, Afghan villagers stare to “a foreign country” which is just a river away. They look at passing cars, without even once experiencing sitting inside the vehicles. They look at Russian-style villas, while they live in dark mud and stone houses. They look at girls in tight jeans, while their own women are illiterate and have no freedom to travel. The country across the river seems magnificent—a magnificent fantasy. The same fantasy brings Agustinus Wibowo travel to the mysterious Central Asian states. Tajikistan. Kyrgyzstan. Kazakhstan. Uzbekistan. Turkmenistan. The “Stan brothers”. This journey will not only bring you step on snowy mountains, walk accross borderless steppes, adsorbing the greatness of traditions and the glowing Silk Road civilization, or having nostalgy with Soviet Union communism symbols, but also finding out the mystery of fate of human beings who are always being separated in the boxes of borderlines. Paperback, 528 pages Published April 14th 2011 by Gramedia Pustaka Utama ISBN13 9789792268843 primary language Indonesian original title Garis Batas: Perjalanan di Negeri-Negeri Asia Tengah url http://www.gramedia.com/buku-detail/84515/Garis-Batas ————– Garis Batas: Perjalanan [...]

April 25, 2011 // 4 Comments

Mashhad – The Empty Border

The dusty border Two years ago, when I came to Iran for the first time through the Islam Qala border, I was astonished by the scene of hundreds of wild Afghan men fighting to pass the border line, to quit their homeland and reach hope in rich Iran. But now, it’s not anymore the scene. The Afghan-Iranian border in Islam Qala is quite empty. Iran has tightened up the visa approval for Afghans. Land crossing is no more permitted for ordinary Afghans. The Iranian visa from Kabul is mostly stamped “For Air Travel Only”, putting them to obtain roundtrip ticket only with Iranian airlines. In some cases, visa applicants need to spend at least 1000 dollars just to get the entry visa. Indeed, one’s passport determines his or her fate. I arrived in Afghan immigration hall after 100 meter walk. People are sitting idly to wait for the officers come back from their lunch break. There are three officers behind the table. One is examining the passports, one is stamping, and the last one is noting down t he data before distributing the passports. All Afghans have to pay 10.000 Rial or 40 Afghani to the man who stamped the [...]

June 9, 2009 // 1 Comment

Bam – The Flattened Civilization

From what is left, you still can be amazed by the grandeur of an advanced ancient civilization 27 December 2003, the small town of Bam – located in southeastern Iran, about 300 kilometers from Kerman – was shocked by 6.8 Richter-scale earthquake. More than 40,000 were killed. Asides of the human casualty, Iran has another thing to grieve, as one of its civilization jewels was nothing but flattened. The ancient mud city of Bam used to be one of the strongest tourism magnets in Iran. People claimed it has 3,000 years of history, at least from the Sassanian period. Thousands of interesting old mud houses, sprawl under a giant mud citadel, giving exotic fairytale impression. I adore the old pictures of Bam, which are still hanged everywhere to remind how majestic the place used to be. But, the view of Arg-e-Bam (the ancient citadel surrounded by the mud city) today makes me weeping. The place is in severe desolation. The citadel which was appraised by Marco Polo and other ancient travelers now turned to be rubble. The old town become sad crumbling remains and debris. Workers are everywhere, hoping to restore the old town to its ancient glory, but not [...]

June 14, 2008 // 0 Comments

Kerman – Life of Afghan Children

New life for Ismail here in Iran, totally different from what he dreamed of before. Ismail, 15 years old, is another ordinary story of an ordinary Afghan who is desperate of better life outside their homeland, and then found that life is not always as beautiful as dreams. The place where Ismail now work in live in southeastern Iranian city of Kerman cannot be called fancy. When others come to the Bazaar-e-Vakil for shopping or sightseeing, Ismail and his three Afghan compatriots work underground, digging holes for septic tanks of public toilets in the old bazaar area. From the dark hole, they brought out stones and sand, to be transported somewhere else. They work from 8 morning until 5 afternoon, earning about 15 dollars per day, much a better wage than the average income in Afghanistan. These young boys came from the northern Afghan province of Takhar, tuck between Kunduz and Badakhshan, about one full day journey from Kabul. Takhar, as I visited in 2006, was a dusty province with similarly dusty provincial capital town of Taloqan, wrapped in time where turbaned men and traditionally dressed nomads from the surrounding villages and grassland fill in the weekly animal market. Was [...]

June 12, 2008 // 0 Comments

Shakhimardan – An Uzbek Island Surrounded by Kyrgyz Mountains

Shakhimardan, an Uzbek “island” surrounded by Kyrgyzstan As artificial as any other thing in Central Asia was the border lines between the countries. The nations created by the Soviet rulers now had to be provided their homeland. Stalin might say, land populated by most Uzbek should be Uzbekistan, those inhabited by mostly Mongoloid Kyrgyz then became Kazakhstan (the Kazakh was called as Kyrgyz) and Kyrgyzstan (of which people was called as Black Kyrgyz). But the matter was not simple in the Ferghana Valley. Ferghana Valley was always a boiling pot in Central Asia. The people were renowned as deeply religious Muslim, if not fundamentalist. It was more than necessary for the Russian to divide this huge mass with the highest population density all over Central Asia. Then, besides the division of ethnics (who were Uzbek, who were Kyrgyz, and who were Tajik), there was a clever intrigue by dividing the border lands to divide the people. Then, the identity in Ferghana Valley was not single ‘Islam’ anymore, but new artificial entities of Kyrgyz, Uzbek, and Tajik. But this was not something special if it was just borderlines. Borderlines created by Stalin were so complicated, zigzagging, and nobody understood the reason. [...]

April 7, 2007 // 1 Comment

Turkmenabat – Good Bye Turkmenistan

The crowded train journey before the New Year The cheap train ticket price for the 15 hour journey to Turkmenabat (formerly Charjou) placed me in the hard seat wagon of the train. I already expected what the seats to be. As its name, hard seat, the seats were all concrete hard wooden. Just imagine if you have to sit on wooden chairs like in primary school classrooms for 15 hours. After surviving the journey my butt became as flat as the chairs. But that was indeed what you get with 15,000 Manat (60 cents), incredible price considering the distance. Now was close to Navruz, known here as well as Bayram (Festival). All people wanted to go home. The seats and sleepers in this train were all booked some days in advance. Many of the people couldn’t get tickets. The train officers allowed people without ticket to be boarded as well, in a limited quota, after all passengers with ticket boarded. It was a chaos. Those passengers without ticket fought hard to enter the train. None of them wanted to be left in the train station, as current taxi price to Turkmenabat was shocking 300,000 Manat (12$) as prices went up [...]

March 20, 2007 // 2 Comments

Ashgabat – The Golden Man

“The 21th century is the Golden Age of the Turkmens” – A poster in Ashgabat “The Great Leader is Eternal” Mashhad bus terminal was as busy as the Southern Terminal (Terminal e Jonub) of Tehran. The closer the day to the Persian New Year (Nooruz in Iran, Navruz in Central Asia), the more difficult and expensive transport would be to come by. I was told that the bus ticket was already booked until the next 20 days. I was indeed lucky to get the yesterday’s ticket one day before departure, after struggling around Tehran’s various bus terminals. Nooruz might not be the best time to travel in Iran. The 15 hour bus journey to Mashhad cost 95,000 Rial, was still a good price for holiday season like this. I sat next to a Persian boy, Javad, from Zahedan who was living in Karaj as a student. His hometown, Zahedan, near the Pakistan border at the far south point of Iran, is home to the Balluchis. The Balluchi men wear shalwar kameez dress, just similar to the Pakistanis and Afghans. Javad wore western clothes though. “I am a Persian,” said him, the 20 year old boy, in Farsi, “not a Balluchi. [...]

March 16, 2007 // 2 Comments

Tehran – Flying West

March 1, 2007 The Iran Air midnight flight from Kuala Lumpur to Tehran was surprisingly crowded. The Iranian passengers came with loads of their luggage – seemed to be enormous number of shopping goods during their holiday in Malaysia – queued in font of the check-in counters in Kuala Lumpur’s new, modern international airport. Iranians were always as what I have knew before, curious and friendly as usual. It was not hard for me to start conversations with other passengers. First there was a woman who just finished her shopping holiday. Then there was another man who had to open his carry-in luggage (as the police saw him bringing too many powders in his suitcase but it seemed that the man was too obsessed in buying milk powder, instant coffee, instant juice, and all other powder drinks – strange things to buy from a country as far away as Malaysia). While waiting in the crowded, messy lounge (somehow didn’t match the modernity of KL International Airport), I chatted with Omid, a 30 year-old-man who had been working for more than 7 years in Malaysia but spoke only a few Malays sentences. We chatted in English and Farsi. “This plane is [...]

March 1, 2007 // 1 Comment

Tashkent – Flying Home

The Uzbek Airways flight HY553 flight of Uzbek Airways left Tashkent airport at 11:30 exact heading to Kuala Lumpur. I was among the few passengers on that plane. Kuala Lumpur, compared to New Delhi, Lahore, and Bangkok, is a dry destination from this country in the central of Central Asia. This morning there were several flights to Asia, and all were full of passengers, but less than 20 people boarding from Tashkent to Kuala Lumpur. This morning started very messy. It seemed I was not prepared yet to leave Central Asia this sudden. The notorious Uzbekistan immigration officer was not that bad though. My embassy has prepared me with magic letter so that if they tried to find trouble I still have a way out. During my two month stay in the country, I had never registered myself to the OVIR office (Passport and Immigration office), thus my stay was illegal. Luckily the immigration officer was too happy to speak Tajik language with me, chatting about the luck of living in a Muslim country like Indonesia (?) and forgot checking my registration dockets. I was lucky. I think he was also lucky, not every day he met Indonesian speaking Tajik [...]

February 7, 2007 // 6 Comments

Ferghana – Police Department Visit

The journey to Ferghana, passing through very high snowy passes. Ferghana valley might be the widest valley in the world. A huge area surrounded by great mountains, sliced into portions of three countries (Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan) by only-God-knows-how-it-works border lines. I am always interested in visiting Ferghana Valley and experience the life here. Ferghana is said to have the purest Uzbek culture. The people of Andijan is said to speak the purest form of Uzbek language. Ferghana (Fergana, Farghona) is also a hotbed in Uzbekistan. The radical Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan forced Karimov to send troops to secure the area (thus sacrificing some of the civilians) and even force the smaller neighboring countries to support Uzbekistan’s government move against the militants. Karimov actions not only gained protest worldwide (remember demonstration in front of Uzbek embassy in Jakarta) but also difficult times with other Central Asian republics. The people of Ferghana is said to be religious, much more compared to other parts of Uzbekistan. But this also result cynical jokes from other parts of the country. The term ‘Namangani’ or ‘Namanganlik’, literally means ‘someone from Namangan’, now have extended meaning of ‘to be gay’. It is said that men of [...]

January 16, 2007 // 1 Comment

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