Hiking the Glenn Highway through Alaska. Published in Asphalt Pilgrims.
Paul Salopek
Every hundred miles Salopek pauses to record the landscape and a person he meets, assembling a global snapshot of humankind. Milestones reflect straight-line distances, but his walked distances are generally much longer. More on these waypoints here.
Every hundred miles Salopek pauses to record the landscape and a person he meets, assembling a global snapshot of humankind. Milestones reflect straight-line distances, but his walked distances are generally much longer. More on these waypoints here.
Heat. Dust. A blast-furnace sun… Standing on a pile of goat dung. The guide, Alema. John, the photographer. My wife, Linda. The children of Herto village were asked to clap. They didn’t know why.
A wraparound soundscape at this Milestone
This Milestone’s location on a map
Photos of the ground under Paul’s feet and the sky above at this Milestone
A brief question and answer with the first person Paul meets at this Milestone
Idoli Mohamed
Afar pastoralist, Age 40
Who are you?
I am a pastoralist. It is a bad life. I don’t want my sons to be pastoralists. I want them to go to school. I want them to study. Our problem here is the wayane bush. It is everywhere. The animals don’t eat it and it blocks out pastures. The second problem is water.
Where do you come from?
I don’t know. People say we Afar come from Tadjoura, in Djibouti — from the north. That’s what the people say. But if Adam and Eve were human, then I don’t believe any other story. All people, black or white, we all come from them.
Where are you going?
Maybe, after we become educated we can all go to Semera. Anyplace. All over the world. America.
A video showing the landscape around this Milestone
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