Chapter 3 Set off

choose desolation Fly to Greece from Hong Kong tomorrow.This is the first focus of the expedition and will stay for a long time before crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Egypt.Starting from Egypt, the entire journey will be done in a jeep. The general route is: go down to Luxor along the Nile River, then go north through the Arabian Desert to the Suez Canal, and enter the Sinai Desert after crossing the river.At the end of the Sinai Desert, it is time to knock on the suspicious gates of Israel and Palestine. If you can knock it open, you must carefully examine it, especially Jerusalem, and then follow the Jordan River to the Golan Heights, enter Jordan, and take a rest , and then entered the dangerous area that attracted worldwide attention.

It is very difficult to enter Iraq, and it has not been approved yet, but it must be broken in, because there are the Tigris, Euphrates and Babylon that cannot be omitted.If it is possible to make the trip, it will take an inch and go through the trenches of the Iran-Iraq War to Iran. The importance of Iran lies in the fact that it embodies the strict form of Islamic civilization, and more importantly, it also buries the long-lost Persian civilization.If the dream of getting through the Iran-Iraq can be fulfilled, the next step is to face Pakistan and India, which are still engaged in a fierce nuclear competition. Indus | Ganges Civilization.After inspecting India, you should enter Nepal, where there are still many important relics of Buddhist culture.

From Nepal to the north, at the foot of the Himalayas, start the domestic journey. If such a plan can be realized step by step, our wheels will roll across the hinterlands of ten countries.According to the current situation, apart from Greece, the other nine countries have serious road safety problems.A large number of land areas are not under the effective control of the government, and religious extremists, anti-government armed forces, drug cartels and various bandits abound.We cannot avoid these areas, because they lie so vastly on the necessary road, and all terrorist forces will not let go of the necessary road.The only way to escape these dangers is by plane or train, which defeats the purpose of our cultural expedition.Most of the planes and trains stop in modern cities. Modern cities are the intersections of modern civilizations, but they may not be the acupuncture points of ancient civilizations.The meridians of ancient civilizations have been buried, and it is difficult to overlap with modern transportation lines.

Since we have chosen such an investigation target, we have also chosen desolation, and we can only do our best to pass through the difficult-to-reach areas one by one. When I visited the hills of my hometown in the early years, I often looked at those deserted tombs in a daze, especially those with a wide area and a great momentum. They were covered with vines and the roads were broken and rocks collapsed. interruption.This time we are looking for a few larger barren tombs. Similarly, we will judge their relationship with the descendants and the rise and fall of the descendants with the help of mastery.

From this point of view, the way of access itself is also the content of our investigation, so how can we be afraid of hardships and dangers. So, why choose to visit this series of old places of human civilization at the turn of the century? This turn of the century is also the turn of the millennium.When you are about to cross this thousand-year-old mountain ridge, you have to look back at the previous thousand-year-old mountain ridges.It doesn’t matter if you look at it, and you find that the bustle all over the world is actually happening in the nearest valley under your feet. Leaving aside the particularly young places such as the United States and Australia, even in the rusty Europe, counting countries one by one, most of the topics Only within a thousand years.Therefore, looking at the first thousand-year-old mountain ridge is already sparsely populated, let alone the second and third.

There must have been some strangers around our ancestors back then, where did they all go?Where did their footprints disappear?When did their figures drift away?Perhaps, in which cave do they still have their luggage? This requires going to the distant mountains, the distant mountains of geography and the distant mountains of time. I didn't come up with this study plan. The real implementer is Hong Kong Phoenix Satellite TV. They call this plan the Millennium Journey, and I am their special guest.One month ago, on August 28, 1999, I was commenting on the finals of the International Collegiate Debating Competition on CCTV. Phoenix TV, who was looking for me everywhere, found my whereabouts. Mr. Wang Jiyan, the director of the station, came from the airport Came directly to the hotel where I was staying, and explained the plan clearly in a few words.I was a bit hesitant at first because I couldn't turn off four months of work in a hurry, but finally nodded.So I went back to Shanghai to arrange the doctoral courses I supervised, and then flew to San Francisco, USA. Many Chinese engineers in Silicon Valley read my book and invited me many times to talk about the fate of Chinese culture in the century. The time I promised Overlapped with this trip, only in advance.

As for why Phoenix Satellite TV chose me, although they said many reasons that make me ashamed, the reason that makes me most happy is this: after years of observation, they trust my physical and mental ability to withstand the crisis. September 27, 1999, Shenzhen