# Excerpt: The Desert of Death on Three wheels By Antonio Graceffo



## Bob Hubbard (Oct 13, 2005)

Excerpt from:
  The Desert of Death on Three wheels
  By Antonio Graceffo
  Available at amazon.com

  The fantasy: On the fifth day, the water ran out. Thousands of kilometers  of parched earth lay between me and the next Uyghur village, where I hoped to  trade my fathers watch for food and water. Having no other choice, I hacked  open the camels hump with a machete, and drank the water stored in the spongy  white flesh. It smelled of rotten fish, but, slowly, I felt it bringing me back  to live. The sand, which blew at fifty miles an hour, drew blood on my exposed  skin. I collapsed beside the carcass of the suffering camel, and snuggled tight  against its lifeless belly, hoping the sandstorm wouldnt burry me  alive.

  The reality: Actually, that was how I pictured a sandstorm in the desert  would be.  But when I was provisioning up back in Aksu, I found out that camels  were out of my price range. Instead, I was feeling extremely un-macho, pushing a  silly looking three-wheeled bicycle. The flower covered basket and the bell had  already broken off, but a few of the brightly colored streamers still dangled  from the handlebars.

  And as for my fathers watch, it was plastic.

  In the rainforest of central and South America, there is a species of frog,  which comes in a variety of fluorescent colors Eorange, yellow, red, and bright  green. They are shinny and enticing, like living candy. The first thing you want  to do when you see one is touch it. If you are a predator, the first thing you  want to do is pop this exotic creature in your mouth. This species of frog bears  the name Poison Arrow Frog, because its skin secrets a chemical so toxic that  the natives rub the edges of their weapons on it before setting out on the hunt.  Touching this frog would be the last thing you would ever do. And yet, the  desire is there.

  A deadly thing can be compelling.

  The Taklamakan Desert, also called The Desert of Death, is located in  Chinas Xinjiang Province, formerly East Turkistan. It is the second largest  desert on Earth. Scientists consider it to be the most dangerous desert in the  world. But I am not sure how they measure these things.

  All deserts look pretty dangerous to me.

  I met my first sand storm early in the morning. After hours of traveling at  a snails pace, I had given up on ridding. The wind was too fierce. Even  standing up on the pedals I could make no headway. So, I limped along, dragging  the useless hunk of metal behind me, like Jacob Marley, Scrooges old partner,  damned to dragging the weight of his sins chained to his body. I would have  liked nothing better than to have just thrown the bike away. But that would have  left me with no wheels. And, I would surely have died of thirst before I could  make it to the next oasis. The other thought which crossed my mind was to find  shelter and wait out the storm. But this was out because even sitting still I  would need to drink ten to fourteen liters of water a day. The storm could last  indefinitely. Glancing at my reserve, I counted only five liters. I had no  choice but to press on.


  The book, The Desert of Death on Three Wheels, by Antonio Graceffo is  available at amazon.com

  Contact the author Antonio_graceffo@hotmail.com


----------



## The Kai (Oct 13, 2005)

I,ve always thought that walking across a desert would be a coll thing to do, maybe not so much anymore


----------



## arnisador (Oct 13, 2005)

"I've been through the desert on a camel with no name, it felt good to get out of the rain...In the desert, you can remember your name cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain..."


----------



## lonecoyote (Oct 26, 2005)

Is this the same antonio graceffo who wrote the piece on training in china and also Thailand? I really enjoyed the stories, only problem was that he wrote two completely different pieces with different tones (training in china) one for black belt and one for kung fu magazine. The ending of the kung fu magazine article was pretty sad, probably didn't fit in with what black belt's editors wanted.


----------

