The tale of the Gobi Desert
St. Mark’s School, Mandy Cheng, Fiction: Group 4
E
very spot is a fantasyland…” I read the headline, trying to recall my past travelling
experiences.
“The Gobi Desert, which is the fifth largest desert in the world, has an engrossing
past. Do you want to discover its tale by yourself?” The subtitle was rather engrossing
too, for it really catches my eyes.
I found the article a few years ago, and thought only through going for a trip could I witness
the mysterious history the enchanting place. Considering myself as an adventurous man fond
of history, I thought it must be rather daring of me to have a trip at the Gobi Desert. Visiting
a desert, an eyeshade is a must, and, right, those maps and information papers would going to
disclose the secret of The Gobi Desert with me.
So here I was. The Gobi Desert. Stepping on the yellowish-white sand, I started to wonder
how a forest could be formed some centuries ago. I squatted under the heat of the sun, and gently
held a pile of sand which then slipped from my fingers. They eventually vanished in my hand,
after that, I stood up and captured my book from my backpack to declare the start of my journey.
According to my “Dummy guide to Gobi Desert”, the Gobi was originally a luxuriant forest,
inhabited by a diversity of animals as well as the Mongols. Here, as a desert, was once a fertile
land, with various types of exuberant trees and exotic animals. How could it be? To me, it was
just a sandy land as far as the eyes could see.
I took another step, leaving my doubt to the previous step. While wandering, I took a curious
look at my footprints. Shallow patterns were printed in the sand, they seemed so superficial that
they looked weak as if a mild wind would grab them away. My shoes were an amateur artist.
Then, I thought of the humans living in a forest, like savages living without shoes.
Having such a primitive lifestyle, the Mongols must have been wise enough to make “good”
use of the trees. “They used to cut the trees off and use the wood for various uses, such as
building shelters for living and making weapons for wars.” The action was understandable, like
humans are born to know how to avoid being injured from enemies’ attack.
I sighed. I applauded at the resourcefulness of the Mongols, of course I did. I took a look of
my feet – the place I stepped on just now should not bear any footprints, should it? It absolutely
should not be a desert here. All at once, someone patted on my shoulder. I turned around and a
lady was looking at me helplessly. She must have followed my footprints.
“Err…sorry for disturbing you, but I’m lost. I am an archaeologist and so I’m here, err…I just
realized that I lost my map and …”. She seemed frail.
Soon after I told her that I was interested in the past of the Gobi Desert too and, most
importantly, I had got maps and compasses, and her reply surprised me.
“Oh, maps. Um… would you mind giving me one? Or… can I join you?” She felt a bit awkward.
So here we were. I got a company and Isabel started to share about her stay in the desert.
She told me that the Gobi Desert is the source of many important fossil fuels finding, including
dinosaurs’ eggs; The Silk Road is located in the desert and thus has been attracting tourists from
countries, as it has become a well-known tourist spot…but on the whole, I felt she did so out of a
compensation for disturbing my journey.
“
