160 Helen Thayer: Walking the Gobi Desert

Travel with Rick Steves

Rick Steves

Rick Steves, Public Radio, 721132, Europe, Society & Culture, Places & Travel, Npr, Travel

4.3 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 25 January 2009

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Helen Thayer, one of the most remarkable adventure travelers of our time, dreamed of trekking across Mongolia since she was a schoolgirl. At the age of 63, she and her husband became the first people to walk the entire length of the Gobi desert -- the long way. Find out what they learned about the desert, the local nomads they met, and the deadly dangers they faced while on foot in the Gobi for three months. For more information on Travel with Rick Steves - including episode descriptions, program archives and related details - visit www.ricksteves.com.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You take one step at a time and you never give up.
0:03.0	That's Helen Thayer's motto.
0:05.0	Hi, I'm Rick Steeves.
0:07.0	Today's edition of Travel with Rick Steeves is a special conversation with the woman that National Geographic
0:12.0	calls one of the great explorers of the 20th century.
0:15.2	Ellen Thayer was the first woman to trek solo to the north and south poles and to hike across
0:20.0	the Sahara. She joins us today to describe how she and her husband, aided by two
0:24.3	trustee camels, set yet another record by walking 1600 miles across the
0:28.9	Gobi Desert in Mongolia. Undeterred by blistering heat, stony terrain, trigger-happy smugglers and
0:35.3	border patrols, or even the aches and pains of a 60-something body, Helen proves that
0:40.4	with a little preparation and a determined spirit you can reach whatever goal you set your mind to.
0:45.0	We'd be the first man and woman to do this, but that really wasn't why we did it, was because we had to experience the entire desert to live among those people and really learn everything we could.
0:54.6	Helen Thayer shares her adventures in the Gobi Desert in just a moment on Travel with Rick
0:59.1	Steves. Travel with Rick Steves is made possible in part by American Airlines.
1:04.0	New vacation options in Latin America, plus getaways in the U.S. Europe and the Caribbean are at
1:09.0	AA Vacations.com.
1:11.0	American Airlines knows why you fly.
1:13.0	Picture a 63-year-old woman and her 74-year-old husband taking a long hike with two camels for
1:22.2	1600 miles across Mongolia's Gobi Desert.
1:27.0	I'm Rick Steeves. This is Travel with Rick Steeves.
1:30.0	I'm joined by Helen Thayer who did exactly that.
1:33.0	Helen, thank you for joining us today.
	...

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