Turis Kampungan Among the many train routes I have taken across Japan, the one between Uwajima and Kubokawa is, for me, the most scenic. The landscape along the Shimanto River felt more like China than Japan. I can run the scene from my train window through my head a hundred times. But there’s one moment I’ll never forget. The passenger seats were arranged alongside the windows, so we sat with our backs to the windows. Passengers had to turn their heads to see the scenery, or enjoy the view through the window across the aisle. When the Shimanto River came…

Pompeii of the Animal Kingdom When I saw the dots of fire on the map of Kalimantan, my mind went straight to the animals. I ache to imagine how many endangered species have already been lost, and yet the fires are still burning. The national treasure and the pride of Indonesia—wooosh! Gone. I picture a National Geographic edition published a hundred years from now: Once upon a time, there were this and that animal on an island called “Kalimantan.” But due to a fire that spread throughout the island’s forests around 2026, they all went extinct. It would be like…

Crossing the Line Besides sunrises and sunsets, when it comes to traveling, I’m especially keen on crossing land borders. Here is a short list of the land borders I have crossed. Singapore – Malaysia, by train.Malaysia – Thailand, by train.Thailand – Cambodia, by bus.Cambodia – Vietnam, by boat through the Mekong River.Vietnam – China, by bus.China – Russia, by train + bus.Russia – Mongolia, by train.Mongolia – China, by train.China – Pakistan (almost), by car.Asia – Europe (in Russia), by car. I exclude the Bosporus, the border between Asia and Europe in Turkey, from this list because it’s not a…

A Criminal’s Mind When I was about 9 years old, my housemaid talked about an article in Kompas newspaper. It was about a lady who forced her housemaid to lie face down on an ironing board. She then ironed that maid’s back. Hearing that, I thought to myself, “How on earth could someone think of ironing a human’s body?” To me, it was as if the article wrote about a bajaj that flew to Hong Kong. But as I grew up and met more ‘real people’, I began to understand. I understood the pain of feeling mistreated, the agony of…

The Robbers I was so excited when I saw a pair of Kekeno fur seals dancing on the beach. I set up my camera and prepared to capture the best moments. Then a group of foreign tourists from the country of my ancestors ran onto the beach, with their thunderous voices. While splashing through the water, they began posing and taking each other’s pictures. With that, the Kekeno pair dove back into the sea. If there was ever a time I regretted never making time to learn my ancestors’ language, it was right then, and right there, on Taiaroa Head….