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.
We met a farmer. I said his fields were beautiful. He laughed and said, “Really? You think it’s pretty? It’s not pretty. You stay here in my village for two weeks, and I bet you wouldn’t think it’s pretty.”
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
Mahendra Yadav
Farmer, age 27
Who are you?
I’m a farmer. We’re all farmers here. We mostly grow chickpeas and millet here. This year the monsoons were OK. But when they’re not, we have to go do manual labor work somewhere else. You have to go for two months, four months. Some people can’t manage to find jobs and come back after two weeks. Others stay away for years. One child stays behind to manage the house. When things are good, things are good. When it’s not, it’s not.
Where do you come from?
Here. My family’s been here for two, four, six generations—I don’t really know.
Where are you going?
I’m not leaving. I’ll stay here. I don’t want to go out. I’ll find some odd jobs here if I have to.
A video showing the landscape around this Milestone
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