Walking the Gobi: A 1600 Mile Trek Across a Desert of Hope and Despair [Paperback]

Helen Thayer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2008

Walking the Gobi takes readers on a trip through a little-known landscape and introduces them to the culture of the nomadic people whose ancestors have eked out an existence in the Gobi for thousands of years. Thayer's respect and admiration for the culture of the Gobi and her gentle insights on the desert's natural history shine throughout this remarkable story. The author proves that Baby Boomers don't have to take life lying down--their adventures have just begun.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This harrowing travelogue reads like a nail-biting adventure, sure to enthrall fans of Jon Krakauer and Bill Bryson." -- Publishers Weekly

About the Author

HELEN THAYER has skied to the magnetic North Pole, lived among wolves in Alaska, kayaked in the Amazon, walked across the Sahara, and represented three countries as a track and field athlete. She is the author of Polar Dream and Three Among the Wolves and the recipient of countless awards. Helen was named "One of the Great Explorers of the 20th Century" by National Geographic and is the president of Adventure Classroom, an international educational project

Product Details

• Paperback: 251 pages
• Publisher: Mountaineers Books (October 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594851123
• ISBN-13: 978-1594851124
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #788,257 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring, March 15, 2009

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ReviewThis "CEOMOM X6" (USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Walking the Gobi: A 1600 Mile Trek Across a Desert of Hope and Despair (Paperback)

Wow! The author, and adventurer, Helen Thayer gives an excellent portrayal of her journey through the Gobi! I could have read this in a day, but I kept re-reading chapters over and over. I felt like I was right there in the desert with Helen and Bill. I even got thirsty while reading the book!

To be honest, I didn't even pick this book. I am part of a book group and the book was picked for me. And my first reaction was why did they walk through the desert, give me a break. But as I read the book, and learned in detail of the Nomads in the dessert, I realized that I would have never 'met' these wonderful people had Bill and Helen not shared this experience with me.

Also, now this is deep, but it is somewhat metaphoric as we are all walking our Gobi's right now. Whether you are a person recovering from cancer, looking for a job, getting married, suffering a loss, fighting an illness, going to school, or you may be a college student who is getting ready to graduate and start life. We are all walking our Gobi's.

It reminds me, us, that we can not just sit and let life pass us by but we must take advantage of this FULL wonderful life and seize every moment.

POWERFUL! Inspiring! Full of Hope!

I look forward to reading more of the Thayer's adventures!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT TRAVELOGUE - ABSOLUTELY INSPIRATIONAL, December 11, 2009

By 

D. Blankenship (The Ozarks) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Walking the Gobi: A 1600 Mile Trek Across a Desert of Hope and Despair (Paperback)

What an amazing story and read this one was! What an amazing woman this author is. I seldom pick up a book and find it interesting, exciting, informative, and inspirational and on top of it all, well written...all at the same time. This is one of those books.

What is a person to do when they all of a sudden turn around and find themselves at "retirement age," 63, and their husband is standing 74? Where do you find that perfect little retirement community or perfect apartment our country home, where you can settle in and enjoy your golden years? Well Helen Thayer and her husband Bill, rather than searching, jumped up, grabbed a couple of camels and walked the length of the Gobi Desert...in summer...alone!

I first heard of the Gobi Desert when I was a small boy as I absolutely immersed myself in the writings of Roy Chapman Andrews, in particular his written adventures fossil hunting in the Gobi and various parts of Mongolia. It has been a passion of mine since, and when I saw the title of this work, well I just had to read it. Thank goodness I did.

This work in many ways in one of the better travelogues I have read in quite a number of years. The obstacles this couple had to overcome just to make the trip, much less actually do it, were rather daunting. From logistics to bureaucratic tangles to extremely debilitating injuries suffered in a traffic accident just before the trip, the odds were stacked against this husband and wife team. And all that was the easy part...they still had a 1,600 mile trip on foot through what could arguably be the most formable environment on earth. The story of course, is of their journey through this ancient, harsh and down right scary part of the world.

During their actual trip they faced temperatures up to 120 degrees, day after day, sand storms that would block out the sun that literally lasted for hours and hours, lack of water, bandits, smugglers, belligerent boarder guards, dangerous wildlife, isolation and constant pain of one sort or the other. I can eat almost anything, but some of the food the consumed during this visit would have pushed even my past my cut off point of things I will not touch. All in all, I do not know how these people did it!

This work is a day by day account of this epic journey. It is extremely well written. Mrs. Thayer's descriptions of the landscape, animals, people and weather are all quite remarkable. You felt like you were actually there in many cases.

I must admit I was delighted on several other fronts as to this work also. First, the author has gone out of her way to describe just how delightful, open and friendly the Mongolian people are. The nomadic peoples of that country who are living just to the right of the early Bronze Age deserve the compliments the author hands them. Secondly, throughout the work the author has pointed out and emphasized just what years and years of living under Soviet and Communist (or Stalinist rule if you will) has done to the people and their culture, religion, education, life style and future. Much the same thing is happening in Tibet this very day and the world as a whole is simply looking the other way. Yup, another culture smothered and destroyed. A lesson can be learned here...when you take an entire culture or civilization over, and then just dump it, for what ever reason, it is not the politicians and leaders who suffer, it is the people. A friend of mind was discussing this aspect of the book a few days ago and she made the comment that the Prime Directive in the original Star Trek series was not far off the mark.

This is one of the better reads I have had this year. I enjoyed every single page and wish it had been longer. I am getting a bit long in the tooth myself now, being closer to her husband's age than Helen's and could well identify with their outlook and attitude. What I could not do though is physically or mentally accomplishing this trek as these two did...much to my chagrin. As Dirty Harry would say, "A man's got to know his limitations." On the other hand, the entire book gave me hope and inspiration to get off my duff and go out and accomplish much more than I have since I started sinking into my dotage.

For a good adventure travelogue I feel you would search far and wide and not come up with a better choice for reading than this one.

NOTE: Just to be fare, and as a warning to others of my near age, Mrs. Thayer is not just your ordinary lady you would meet on the street. The author was a world class athlete (track and field) who represented 3 different countries in various events. She was the first woman to walk solo to the Magnetic North Pole, the first American to circumnavigate the Magnetic North Pole (see `Polar Dream"). She was the first woman to walk across the Sahara Desert. She lived with wolves in Alaska for one year and kayaked 1,200 miles up extremely remote Amazon Rivers. She did not just fall off the turnip wagon!

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fantastic real life adventure, June 27, 2009

By 

Jeanine Kavanaugh - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Walking the Gobi: A 1600 Mile Trek Across a Desert of Hope and Despair (Paperback)

I absolutely loved this story. The author knows how to write and the reader feels like he or she is sharing the adventure. Her relationship with her husband, the camels, and the desert inhabitants made me feel like I knew them as well. She and her husband were over 60 and she was recovering from an automobile accident when they took this journey. It is inspirational and a great motivator for overcoming adversity and triumphing.

Her other books are of the same caliber. Highly recommend.