French writer Bernard Olivier is the author of “Longue Marche,” a straightforward account of his travels. The 61-year-old journalist-turned-voyageur wrote the book after travelling solo 12,000km on foot along the Silk Road from Istanbul in Turkey to Xian in China over a period of four years.
Some say walking the 850 km-long Camino de Santiago in northern Spain, also known as the “pilgrimage trail,” for about 50 days, is a life-changing experience. If so, walking all alone along the most treacherous 12,000 km Silk Road must have turned Bernard Olivier into a living Buddha.
When it comes to the Silk Road, seventh-century Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang cannot go unmentioned. Completing an epic sixteen-year-long overland journey (approximately 20,000km) to India in search of the original scriptures of Buddha’s teachings, Xuanzang created a new sect of Buddhism called Chan. Though Xuanzang (fictional character) was accompanied by his three travelling companions— namely Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing — in the classical novel “Journey to the West” (which is loosely based on the real pilgrimage undertaken by the monk Xuanzang), Bernard Olivier walked 12,000 km all alone, so sariras (pearl or crystal-like bead-shaped objects that are purportedly found in the cremated remains of Buddhist spiritual masters who practiced religious austerities and penances) must have been formed in his body.
Intrepid Backpacker Bernard Olivier ran into danger so many times during his journeys along the Silk Road stretching from Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to Kyrgyzstan and China. When he was travelling through Turkey where Turkish troops were warring against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels, he was mistaken for a terrorist and detained. Besides, his life was put in serious jeopardy: he was even hounded down by an ax-wielding lunatic and hunting dogs.
He frequently lost his way in a completely strange land where no one spoke French. And there was a medical emergency: he was transported back to Paris by an ambulance due to an illness. He walked over 68 km a day while he was going across the Gobi. However, he said, “Still, such travel snags were outnumbered by all of my memorable encounters with good-hearted people. I made 15,000 friends on the Silk Road.”
During Bernard Olivier’s visit to Jeju Island to attend the 2012 World Trail Conference, hosted by the Jeju Olle Foundation, he was quoted by a local newspaper as saying: ” It is no mere coincidence that walking is catching on in Korea. In poor nations, walking has yet to be regarded as one of the leisure activities. This is because walking is a physiological behavior that helps us reflect on ourselves through physical movements using two feet. I believe that the fact that walking is now in fashion in Korea hints that (economically advanced) Korea has entered a new era that prods us into having moments of quiet introspection.”
Anyone who takes a long walk alone will notice that though he is trapped in his body that is busy taking steps forward, his unbridled spirit calls up various kinds of thoughts. Thinking whiling walking is often more effective than thinking while sitting. So, let’s hit the walking and hiking trails or go on a pilgrimage to soothe our minds scarred by stress.
