comfortable to walk on. But it was a road, and he would take what he could. He was not in any
condition to complain anyway, considering knowing where to go was a huge improvement on
walking in empty desert.
He packed everything he can, and starts to walk along the road. Road meant settlement, and
civilization, and his ticket to safety.
The road was long. The sun was stronger than ever. But this time he was prepared.
It took him a few days before he see any settlement. This time it qA not empty. There was an
old woman in there.
‘Excuse me…’ He asked.
The woman replied in an unintelligible way. He asked again, and she replies in the same way.
It did not take the man long to figure out that the woman was speaking in Mongolian. He
drew pictures to help her understand that he needs supplies, and then he took his supplies and
went on his way.
But something shrouded his mind. His camp was at the south side of the Gobi desert, far away
from the Mongolian border. Why did that woman not know how to speak Chinese?
‘Mongolians live in Chinese part of Gobi desert also. Don’t worry too much.’ But deep in his
heart, he somehow senses that something is not right.
It was many days before he finally saw something that he needed: a town. A place where he
could finally be rid of the desert.
It was the same as the settlement, almost no one there could speak Chinese. He finally found
one man who could, and when he asks him where he was, the man gave a disturbing answer.
‘You are not within Chinese borders! What are you talking about?’
It did not take him long to find a way back to a major city, and back to his home. His daughter
who was waiting had worried about him. Since that day, something haunts his mind, whenever he
is alone.
He certainly cannot have walked 800 km in the time he was walking. So how did he end up
where he had been?
