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#18 Anderson's Long Walk Expedition
Participants: Ant Chapin, Keri Bean, Lauren Edwards and Dave Anderson
Ant Chapin, Keri Bean, Lauren Edwards and Dave Anderson successfully completed all of the objectives on The Long Walk 2004 Expedition. We retraced the journey that Slavomir Rawicz wrote about in "The Long Walk." We experienced, wild and scenic beauty from the enormous Lake Baikal to the endless Gobi dessert and the thin air and cold temperatures of the Himalaya. We met amazing people and learned about their cultures. We also delivered medical supplies to remote communities. Finally, we witnessed countries trying to adapt to the modern world and we learned patience in dealing with mountains of red tape and bureaucracies in our travels.
For three months in the fall of 2004, every day had been consumed with constant questions and unknowns of retracing Slavomir Rawicz's journey. What track does the train arrive on? How far can we expect to travel by camel each day. What if a storm comes in whiles trekking across the Himalayas? Will that meal of fried water buffalo pass smoothly through my digestive system? Now all those questions have been answered.
But I am left with one question. Are the events in "The Long Walk" true or did Slavomir Rawicz simply fabricate the journey with his own imagination? Despite a concerted effort before and during the trip we found no hard evidence that would support or deny Slavomir's alleged journey. Although more and more Soviet era documents about the Gulag system are being released every day, no records have yet surfaced that confirm his arrest, incarceration or escape. But with over 12 million people passing through the Gulag system the likeliness of such records ever surfacing is low. While in Calcutta, I interviewed administrators at the SSKM hospital were Rawicz might have recuperated after his journey; unfortunately the hospital admission records did not go back that far.
With no concrete evidence I am left with the comparisons between the events, people and places described in the book and my personal observations after re-tracing the journey of "The Long Walk."
Attempting to find truth in every written word of the Long Walk dooms the book to skepticism. The two most poignant examples of this are Rawicz and his companions crossing the Gobi desert without water for 13 days and sighting the yeti in the Himalayas. However, both of these events occurred when Rawicz was close to death due to extreme environmental conditions. Other sections of the book, such as the descriptions of the local people and their customs are so accurate it seems impossible a Polish immigrant living in England could have made up such details without experiencing them first hand.
Giving Rawicz some creative leeway, considering English was his third or fourth language and he wrote the book more than 15 years after the walk occurred, the events in the book take on a more believable tone.
Still, traveling 4000 miles by foot with no map, compass or supplies through some of the most inhospitable terrain on earth does not seem humanly possible. Thankfully the human spirit is not a simple mathematic equation. The variables of mental and physical determination cannot be delineated or exactly quantified. In this world of continued environmental, social and political instability, where the problems seem insurmountable we need heroes like Rawicz who persevered despite the horrendous odds. The truth is, we all want to believe The Long Walk is a true story and I for one believe.
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