Jong-yul of the Desert

Published May 2, 2004 12:00AM


Outside magazine, September 1996 Jong-yul of the Desert On Thursday, June 6–seven months, seven pairs of shoes, and innumerable sandstorms after leaving Nouakchott, Mauritania–38-year-old South Korean Choi Jong-yul strolled into Suakin, a Sudanese port on the Red Sea, to become the first person ever to walk the entire 4,500-mile width of the Sahara, albeit with constant resupply. His first impression upon rejoining civilization? “After walking the ultimate silence,” he says, “I am disturbed by all the noise.”

Outside magazine, September 1996 Jong-yul of the Desert On Thursday, June 6–seven months, seven pairs of shoes, and innumerable sandstorms after leaving Nouakchott, Mauritania–38-year-old South Korean Choi Jong-yul strolled into Suakin, a Sudanese port on the Red Sea, to become the first person ever to walk the entire 4,500-mile width of the Sahara, albeit with constant resupply. His first impression upon rejoining civilization?
“After walking the ultimate silence,” he says, “I am disturbed by all the noise.”

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