Stranded in Gobi Desert
Kennedy School, Urvi Bhatwadekar, Fiction: Group 2
H
i, my name is Evana, I am a journalist, and I love adventures. I am 25 years old. This
is a story about how I ended up in Gobi desert and my two days there. It all started
on the 22nd of December 2008 when I was choosing my first out of town trip as a
journalist. I had so many ideas like Italy, France, London and so on, but I wanted to go
to a place that while I go there it would also be an adventure. Then an idea hit me…I would go to
Ulaan Bator, Mongolia. I found out what transport to use to get there while having an adventure.
I would first take a plane from Hong Kong to Beijing and from Beijing I will rent a jeep to go to
Ulaan Bator. That way, I will be having an adventure going through the Gobi desert. I quickly
booked my tickets and packed my bags because the earliest flight to Beijing was the next day.
23rd December 2008
I reached Beijing. I had already rented the jeep and I was driving towards Mongolia. I was kind of
lost in the Gobi desert, but my GPS said to go straight to reach Mongolia.
I felt thirsty, so I got my bottle out. I accidently spilled my water onto the GPS and it broke. I
continued to drive on the same road in the same direction. After sometime, when I tried to press
the accelerator, it had stopped working!
Now I was stuck in the Gobi desert. I had plenty of water in the jeep and the covered jeep
provided some shelter, but I had no food. There was no mobile signal so I could not call for help.
I decided to walk for some distance North to check for villages or a mobile signal. I started
walking but thought that I had to get back to my jeep before night. So I started marking the
ground on the way to find my way back. I walked for a long time and while I was still searching
I saw a Gobi bear. I was kind of scared so I backed away but the bear came closer. I turned and
started walking back to my jeep. I realized it was following me. I thought it wanted something
from my backpack so I took my bottle of water out of my bag, but it looked like it did not want my
bottle. It wanted me, not as a snack but as a friend! I went toward it and petted it. It snuggled my
leg. So I decided to take it back to the jeep. It was pretty cold, and I guess the bear was magical
because it got some rocks for me. At first, I didn’t know why he gave them to me, then after a
while I find out that he gave me the rocks to make a fire. I rubbed the stone to create sparks to
light a pile of dried grass that I had collected. I ate whatever food I had left. After some time, we
put the fire off and I went back into the jeep to sleep. I had to leave a bit of the window open so I
could get some fresh air. I used all clothes and scarves I could find as blanket to protect from cold.
24th December
It was a bright morning. I looked out of the window, the bear was eating its breakfast of some
meat that it also gave me. I had no idea what kind of meat it was but I just ate it because I was
starving. It tasted and smelt really weird but I forced myself to eat since I needed strength. After
breakfast I started walking south from my jeep. I marked the ground so I could find my way back.
The bear started following me. The bear and I walked for a long time and found some Saxual
