Deserts past and future

Excerpts from journal entries while in the Sahara:

2-19-04 (large tent of nomad family) 4:21pm …Currently I’m excited by the sand storm raging outside. It built up slowly at first and then all at once it kicked off. I keep having to wipe sand off these pages. I’m in a nice, large, camel fur tent. It keeps the wind out but the not sand. Too much sand, write later. 2-20-04 (large tent in nomad house) 8:41am …The sand storm was “very strong” according to Ahmed. The wind was hard and fast by any standard I know. Sand coated everything. It was in our food, our clothes and the crevices of our skin. When I woke up I had to wipe a layer off my eyes and face. I had many dreams through the night.

[…]

I think the dreams may have been brought on by the surreal experience of going into the storm at night. The tent was pitch black inside. I lifted up the wall to go outside and it was another world. The wind was screaming past my ears and tearing at my clothes. The sand stung my skin. All I could see was greyness with blurry black spots where the nearby nomad buildings were. It was like I was floating because there was no ground and no sky. Nothing was near and nothing was far. I walked into the desert to go pee. Even though I walked about 30 feet it still felt like someone could pull me right back into the tent. I’d lost a great deal of my ability to judge distance by sight. All I knew was how many steps I’d taken. It was an unforgettable moment.

I’ve been reminiscing and wanting to feel like that again. I think it’s time to plan the next desert trip. I had been thinking about the Gobi in August but a 30 hour plane trip sounds like my idea of Hell. I think I’ll do the Gobi and Siberia at the same time after 2005. I’m looking at September 2005 then for the Atacama desert in Chile, the driest desert in the world. The 7-10 hour flight into Santiago and bus ride to San Pedro is a lot more appealing.

I wonder if anyone else would go?