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The book describes the adventures, encounters with the land and people, and psychological journey of the author during a trek across Mongolia from China to Russia in the summer of 2002. It offers the reader an adventure on both the physical and spiritual plane, with the second terra incognita possibly the more perilous of the two. It traces the author’s progress in coming to terms with the loss of his mother, compulsiveness and isolation, and the developing relationship with his future wife. Among the physical challenges encountered are lost roads, food poisoning, exhaustion, a violent rainstorm, tendonitis, and scarcity of food and water. Set in the region where Central Asia’s natural zones converge, the book provides a rare, diverse ecological tour. First written a dozen years after Mongolia’s independence from Russia, the account provides first-hand evidence of rural Mongolians’ response to the transition from a planned to a capitalist economy. Often utilizing Mongolian and Russian texts and interviews with Mongolian scholars, the book contains a wealth of information on the region’s culture, history, and environment. This narrative relies heavily on the author’s detailed and up to date journal from the hike and offers a sympathetic, accurate portrait of a fascinating people by an appreciative Western observer. The book’s unique value lies in its balanced combination of personal adventure and scholarly research.
