The place where Dr. Ren took Zhuang Rui to go had deviated from the ruins that had already been excavated. The vast Gobi Desert and desert have always been restricted areas for humans. Unless they are experienced guides who are familiar with the terrain, they would not dare to enter these areas.
of.
The old Liu Tou in front of him has been living on this land since he was born. The desert that seems mysterious to outsiders is just ordinary in his eyes. Within a radius of a hundred miles, Old Liu Tou almost uses both hands to navigate.
The feet were measured.
After Dr. Ren finished speaking, he suddenly saw a hesitant look on Old Uncle Liu's face, and couldn't help but asked strangely: "Huh? Old Uncle Liu, what's the matter? This trip is nothing to you.
Bar?"
The old man shook his head, looked at Dr. Ren apologetically, waved his hand to interrupt Ren Chunqiang's words, and said: "If this was two years ago, it would be nothing. As for now... Old Uncle Liu, I'm old.
, Xiao Qiangzi, don’t put a high hat on your old Uncle Liu. I am already over 70 years old. I haven’t been in there again since last year. My arms and legs are not good..."
The old man also had some disappointment on his face. Last year, when Old Liu was leading a tour group, he encountered a desert storm. At that time, a girl in the group did not follow Old Liu's instructions to hide beside the camel, but shouted
She screamed and went to take pictures of the wild sand rolling landscape. At that time, Lao Liutou was buried under the sand in order to save her and almost died.
Since then, Lao Liutou's health has been deteriorating. If he hadn't still been nostalgic for the land where he grew up, Lao Liutou would have gone to the city to enjoy his life at his son's home.
Seeing Ren Chunqiang's disappointed look, Old Liu Tou suddenly laughed and said, "I can't go, but my son can go. Your brother Mengzi is a famous desert guide within dozens of miles, but he led the group out.
, I won’t be able to come back until night, Xiao Qiangzi, you stay here for one day and go there early tomorrow morning..."
"Hey, why did I forget about this? OK, let Brother Mengzi come with us. We can tell you the cost..."
Dr. Ren was overjoyed when he heard what Old Liu Tou said. They were going to stay in the desert for several days this time. With Old Uncle Liu's son following them, there was no need to worry about the guide being exhausted. Moreover, Mengzi was one of the best in this area.
The guide is not much worse than the old man.
"Okay, let's just say this. You can talk to Mengzi yourself when he comes tonight, and I'll kill the sheep. We'll have a whole-sheep feast tonight..."
Old Liu Tou didn't pretend to be pretentious with Dr. Ren. Being a guide was meant to make money. No matter how good our friendship was, we wouldn't risk our lives by taking them across the desert, right?
However, business is business, and favors are favors. When guests come to the house, they must be entertained. After Old Liu Tou let a few people rest in the yard, he happily went to catch sheep. Although he could not go deep into the desert, these guests
Lao Liutou is still able to do small things with ease.
"Brother Ren, how much does it usually cost to hire a tour guide?" Zhuang Rui and Ren Chunqiang started chatting while sitting in the yard, feeling bored.
"This is not necessarily true. Sometimes a tour guide takes more than 10 people into the desert. If each person pays 100 yuan, he can earn more than 1,000 a day. If there are fewer people, there are still people willing to do it for a few hundred yuan, but old Uncle Liu's
My son can be a well-known guide from far and near, so don’t be reluctant to spend money..."
Dr. Ren and Zhuang Rui joked. The food and accommodation along the way had already cost Zhuang Rui 50,000 to 60,000 yuan. Ren Chunqiang also knew that Zhuang Rui didn't care about those small sums.
"Well, let's pay 2,000 yuan a day for five days first..."
Zhuang Rui nodded. From here to the North Gobi, there is almost a hundred miles in radius. All of them were originally inhabited. Even if Zhuang Rui had special powers in his eyes, he would not need more than a few days to complete the survey of such a large area.
may be accomplished.
…
Mengzi also lived in this small town, but he and Lao Liutou lived separately. At seven or eight o'clock in the evening, Mengzi took his wife and children to Lao Liutou's house.
Unlike Lao Liu Tougan, who has a skinny figure, Mengzi is very strong, about 1.8 meters tall, and is about thirty-five or sixteen years old. He speaks loudly and is very forthright. When he sees guests coming to his house,
, his butt didn’t even touch the bench, so he immediately went to his house and killed a sheep and brought it over.
A bonfire was set up in the yard, and two whole sheep were strung on iron bars and roasted on top of the bonfire. The flames licked the sheep, making a "sizzling" sound. Mengzi's wife rolled the mutton back and forth,
Various seasonings were sprinkled on it, and Mengzi's two children were playing around the bonfire. Old Liutou squatted on the ground and smoked a dry cigarette, scolding his grandson from time to time, but with a happy smile on his face.
"Brother Mengzi, we don't go to the Three Treasures Palace for anything. This time I ask you to be our guide..."
Just now, before Dr. Ren had time to tell him why he was here, Mengzi ran off and was busy killing sheep. Only then did he have time to talk to Mengzi about asking him to be his guide.
Mengzi was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and asked: "When? Can it be two days late? I promised a guest when I came back today, and I will accompany him into the desert in the next two days..."
"What? We are going into the desert tomorrow too, Brother Mengzi, what...what should we do?"
Ren Chunqiang didn't expect that there was a cut-off guy in the middle, so he couldn't help but feel anxious. If he waited for two days in this place where birds didn't lay eggs, he would be suffocated to death.
Mengzi thought for a moment, stood up and said, "Well, I won't confiscate his deposit anyway. I'll just go to Erdan's house and ask Erdan to accompany them in..."
"Okay, okay, Brother Mengzi, we will give you double the amount that person pays..." Dr. Ren was trying to show his generosity. Anyway, the money spent is not his, and Zhuang Rui doesn't care.
"Well, that's not necessary. Let's talk about it when we get back..." Mengzi waved his hand and walked out of the yard. This is a matter of business reputation. Tell others early so that others can find another tour guide.
There were dozens of households in the town. Within seven or eight minutes, Mengzi turned around and entertained Zhuang Rui and others to eat and drink. However, what made Zhuang Rui and others embarrassed was that the four elders did not show up.
I was able to drink the two old men, Mr. Liu, and finally they were put down on the ground. I don't know how I fell asleep on the bed.
At about five o'clock the next morning, Zhuang Rui and others were called up. Mengzi led ten camels to the parking place. Six of the ten camels were for people to ride on, and the other four were for people to ride on.
Horses are used for storing supplies, and can also be used for riding in emergencies.
It took more than half an hour to move the tents, engineers, shovels, drinking water and other supplies from the three vehicles into the baskets on both sides of the camel's hump. This will be all their logistical supplies in the desert.
It is also the lifeline for several people in the desert.
Everyone's face, regardless of male or female, is covered with gauze scarves and hats to prevent sand and dust from blowing on their faces. In the desert, almost everyone wears this kind of dress. The locals have long been accustomed to it. Only those who
The tourists from outside looked at Zhuang Rui and others pointing.
"Let's go..."
Following Mengzi's rough shouting, the six people sat on the camels and swayed toward the depths of the vast desert. The crisp sound of camel bells wafted in the desert.
Unlike riding a horse, riding a camel is very stable. The camel's feet are padded with thick skin, which is very suitable for walking in the desert. The thick hair in the ears can block the entry of wind and sand. The double eyelids and thick long eyelashes can also
Prevent wind and sand from entering the eyes, and even the nose can be closed freely.
These special "equipment" made the camels feel at home in the desert. Seeing the camels walking smoothly on the sand, Zhuang Rui and others gradually became bolder. With a loud shout, more than a dozen camels suddenly started trotting.
Let the people riding on it scream.
After walking in the desert for nearly two hours, rows of low city walls suddenly appeared in the distance as far as the eye could see. After getting closer, Zhuang Rui discovered that the area of this dilapidated ruins was quite large.
The layout of the streets and lanes in the past can be seen from the ruins of the buildings inside, and outside the ruins, there are still traces of farmland ditches.
The soil here has not yet completely transformed into desert, and the presence of soil can still be seen from some corners. Low plants grow tenaciously in the ruins, adding a touch of life to the remaining rocky walls.
This place is not very far from Qiujiawo, and it only takes four hours to go back and forth, so no one stays here to stay. Zhuang Rui and others are the first tourists to arrive here today.
"We're here, here is the ruins. Brother Qiangzi, do you want to come down and take a look?" Mengzi reached out and patted the neck of the camel under his crotch. The camel bent down very docilely, just enough for people's feet to touch the ground.
.
Zhuang Rui also imitated Mengzi's behavior, patted the camel's neck, got off the camel, and said: "Come down and take a look..."
Dr. Ren walked to Zhuang Rui, looked at the place where he once worked, and said: "Zhuang Rui, the degree of desertification here is not deep. Basically, the broken walls of the houses are exposed. They were basically destroyed back then."
All excavated..."
"Well, the value of excavation here is not very great. By the way, Brother Mengzi, you grew up here, have you heard of any other ruins around it?"
Zhuang Rui walked around the ruins, sensed the underground with his spiritual energy, and walked back to the camel with some disappointment. Although there were still some ceramic jars with spiritual energy left in the half-sand and half-soil underground, it was just those objects.
They are all common and have little value for exploration.
After hearing what Zhuang Rui said, Mengzi thought hard and said with some uncertainty: "I have never heard of the ruins, but I heard from the old people in the town that there seems to be a Buddhist temple near the North Gobi.
At the beginning of the last century, monks and Taoists often went there in Dunhuang..."
