If a ranking were made of Earth's desolate regions, there is no doubt that the Sahara would top the list with its bleak demeanor and reputation as a no-go zone for life.
This is exactly why venturing there to challenge both physical and mental limits became the dream of many brave souls.
But it was just a dream.
From the South Pacific to the Northern Sahara, if the journey were measured by the plane's stops, it should have started in Ghana, but Ghana was nothing more than a moving landscape outside the window for Bi Fang.
There are many ways to enter the Sahara, and driving a four-wheel drive is the simplest and quickest.
From Ghana to Burkina Faso, once the off-road vehicle left the city, the outlines of the dwellings were swallowed by the dust kicked up behind it.
The faint light of dawn was not enough to see the road clearly, but the intense jolting of the vehicle already made one feel the vastness and continuity of the land.