Page 18 - IAV Digital Magazine #480

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
Indonesian Man Walks Backwards 800 Km To Meet the President
By Spooky
An Indonesian man has been making news headlines around the
world for embarking on a unique chal- lenge to save the environment. 43-year-old Medi Bastoni is walking back- ward some 800 kilometers, from his village in East Java all the way to the capi- tal Jakarta, to meet the presi- dent.
Bastoni set off from his home village of Dono, in East Java, on Jul. 18 and opes to reach the presidential palace in Jakarta in time to celebrate Indonesia’s 74th Independence Day on August 17, alongside
President Joko Widodo. The main goal of his unique endeavor is to ask Indonesia’s president for a symbolic tree seed, to be planted in the forests on
Mount Wills, near his village, to raise aware- ness about pre- serving the rain- forest. He
claims activists are already fighting to pre- serve the envi- ronment, but a symbolic ges- ture by the pres- ident would boost their efforts even more. And his willing to walk backwards for 800km just to meet Indonesia’s leader.
43-year-old Medi plans to walk around 30 km per day, and is wearing a contraption made of steal pipes with a rear-view mirror at the end to help him see where he’s going. He is car- rying an 8-kilo- gram backpack full of supplies
worth just Rp 300,000 ($21.50), and plans to rely on the kindness of strangers to reach his desti- nation.
“On long jour- neys I take my rest at mosques, police stations, and neighbor- hood security posts,” the retro- walker said,
adding that he plans to appeal to the kindness of roadside food stalls for suste- nance.
Speaking to Indonesian media, Medi Bastoni explained that his 800km retro- trek across across Indonesia is a symbolic way of “looking back” and remember- ing the service of heroes who have fought for the island nation, as well as a tribute to his motherland.
We’ve written about retro-run- ning before, but Bastoni is most likely the first person to walk backwards such a long distance.
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine