This Guy Just Crossed the Mongolian Gobi Desert Solo
In August, Mateusz Waligóra left for a long solo trip that began in the western part of Mongolia, his goal was to cross the Mongolian section of the Gobi Desert.
He made the 1,785-kilometre crossingin 58 days and became the first person to cross the Mongolian part of the largest desert of Asia alone.
Before the expedition, Waligóra assumed that he would be self-sufficient. Previously, the Mongolian part of the Gobi – Chinese desert is greater, but it’s almost impossible to get permission for its passage, besides it is more urbanized – managed to pass the travelers thanks to camels, food deposit, assisted by cars that relieved the adventurer and found a route and wells.
Waligóra navigated with help of several maps, on which he marked all potential wells before the expedition. Few times he got lost on one of the thousands of desert paths left by the inhabitants of the desert and wandered in search of the right route.
He came to Mongolia two months ago, not sure if the expedition would begin. It has been the driest year on the Gobi since measurements have been carried out. And after the drought Mongolia was visited by storms and floods.
After the hard time of the Altai he entered the desert. Sandstorms were a threat there. He survived a few of them in the tent.
In the second part of the expedition he had a problem with inner tubes. At the end of the expedition, he glued them every few hours to keep going. Seven spokes broke in wheels, and even a few days ago he was not sure whether he would finish the trip.
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