“Are you… tired?”
“Yes.”
“Come, come I prepare food.”
“Thank you!”
“No problem,” he said calmly. He led me inside his hut. It was very warm and cosy. The man
showed me to my seat and gave me a steaming bowl of noodles. “Eat,” he said. The man said “I Ming
Da. You?” “I am Gantulga Yemaun.” He stared at me looking confused. “You want to go China?”
“Yes, I need to help Mongolia, many people are captured and are slaves,” I replied in sadness.
“Where your Mother and Father?”
“They passed away when I was 17.” Tears started rolling down my cheeks. There was a long
silence. “I’m sorry,” said Ming Da quietly. “Rest now, go tomorrow.” “Thank you.” I replied.
The next morning Ming prepared breakfast. When it was time to go Ming Da wished me luck
and gave me a woolly fleece and I set off. Once again I was feeling determined to keep on going.
I must say it was an amazing experience. The searing sun was blazing on in front of me. Lots of
different animals like camels, Gobi bears, wolves, horses, eagles, and oxen live in the Gobi.
It was late morning and I was just passing over another sand dune, and in front of me the land
turned hard. It was no longer soft sand, it was hard sand. As I went on I stared to the horizon. A
panicky feeling chilled past me. I looked closer, as the sun shone in my eyes. I breathed heavily,
what I was looking at was a towering sand storm that was slowly building its way towards me.
Terror and fear filled me. I had never encountered a storm so terrifyingly massive. I knew what to
do. I would wrap the fleece Ming Da gave to me around my face covering my eyes and nose. The
space was wide open so not having to see was not that big of a problem.
I padded onwards facing the storm. It was getting closer every step I took. The sand was starting
to whirl in the air. The wind was whipping my legs. As I took my last step, the storm towered me. I
braced myself and wrapped my face in the fleece and jumped in…
I felt sheer excitement, as I kept running onward. I could hear the howling dust as it went over
me. I peeked out of the fleece and saw nothing but brown dust and the flaming sun outlined over
the shield of the roaring sand. The wind was blowing heavily at me. I was starting to think this
was fine when I slammed into something really hard. I was in pain on the sand breathing heavily.
My vision blurred and the sun was no longer to be seen.
I woke up feeling heavy. The sky was dark blue. It was night! I stood up. The cold blasted once
I stood up. I couldn’t think straight, what happened to me? It was so cold I fell right to the ground
snuggling in my warm fleece. I flinched to the frosty air. I saw a cave that seemed to be carved
out of rocks. No time to question, I ran over and held myself trying to lose the chilly feeling. It
was better here. I gasped. Where was I? I looked out of the narrow hole. There was thousands
of sparkling stars out tonight. The moon was the brightest. I started to feel lonely. The stars
reminded me of Mongolia. I soon fell into a deep slumber.
Another morning arose. My bones ached from the blistering whips of the sand, and the
walking. I crawled out of the small crack and tumbled forward. I looked behind me. There was a
rocky cliff. I startled at the cliff. Its grazing height shocked me. There was another cliff right next
to it except there was a narrow path that led straight down the middle. I said to myself “What
amazing things nature has.” I sauntered down the rugged passage, treading on the rocks. When the
end was near it opened up into a huge area with a lake. Thank God! Water! I shouted in glory, as
the feeling of glee spread within me. I haven’t drunk for two days! I dived in the water. The fresh,
