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 were walking a blistering canal road along the Irrawaddy when we came upon a stupa with a tree. The tree made noise. It laughed, giggled, and squealed. This was three schoolgirls climbing inside its leafy, green boughs. They were harvesting star flowers—kah ye pan.
“We’re just gathering for ourselves,” said Cherry Pwint Oo, 15. “The flowers have nectar. It’s sweet, like sugar.”
They collected a few flowers for us to sample. The dirt road shimmered in the midday heat. But the flowers cooled the tongue, like ice. The daily miracle.
Burma sometimes is like this.
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
Cherry Pwint Oo
Secondary school student, age 15
Who are you?
I’m a grade 11 student.
Where do you come from?
I’m from Padauk Chone. That’s the name of this place.
Where are you going?
I’d like to go to university to study engineering. I’m already studying algebra and trigonometry. I’m just hoping.
A video showing the landscape around this Milestone
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