I was in Bangkok having my breakfast when I meet group of young tourists from Argentina. I didn’t notice them until they jumped from their chairs, cheered, and started to make noises,  in their Argentinian Spanish, which I didn’t understand at all. I turned around to see what happened, and those youngsters were busy watching the movie played on TV. It was about the young Che Guevara, traveling across South America.

Che, an Argentinian-born legend,  undoubtedly is one of the most inspiring person in the world, well… especially in South America. His image decorates walls everywhere, even in the US, a country he was against. In Indonesia, Che is not only popular, it’s like spirit here among young people. You can easily find Che’s photo everywhere, even in football matches. Che is family, here.

Guess Who (source: KOMPAS)

But I am pretty sure, only few people knew that Che once visited Indonesia in 1959 and he was so amazed by Borobudur temple. He took many many pictures during the visit and looked so serious. Most probably he was surprised by the rich heritage of Indonesia. A year later, Soekarno made a historic visit to Cuba and greeted by Che and Fidel Castro at the airport.

Seven years after that Che was  captured in the deep jungle of Bolivia and then executed.

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