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.
The day was gray, subdued. So was the first human being we met.
He was a slump-shouldered man of middle age. He wore a faded lungi and unkempt stubble, and he was out walking the muddy dike roads alone. His eyes were wary. He didn’t say much. He liked cricket. He didn’t like farming—farming was a losing game. He said he strolled the roads alone to think. “I think—what should I do in life? What have I done? What have I not done?” He allowed that he didn’t like Pakistan. Pakistan wasn’t reliable or trustworthy. It was Republic Day in India, after all. Patriotic songs floated into the fog from village loudspeakers: “Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo” or “O People of My Country.” It was a Muslim area, and the man was probably a Muslim. It wasn’t an easy time to be a minority in the world.
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
An unnamed Bihari farmer
About 50
Who are you?
[No name given. Declined to be photographed.]
Where do you come from?
I’m from around here. Everyone is warm to each other here. Nobody has trouble here.
Where are you going?
I do feel like going out from here, living somewhere else. But we’re not that educated. If it were up to me, I’d roam around like you—to Africa, Europe. I’d like to go to different places. But all wishes aren’t fulfilled.
A video showing the landscape around this Milestone
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