Blast from the Past… Catching up with the Future
by Bruce Curran

In the days that I met up with these two guys in the Desert, the only real means of communication was by postal services worldwide. There were no cell phones and no internet.

Yesterday, on Thursday 26th August 2010, I sent the story above to an associate by email, and he replied; “I remember that story about the Kunst brothers from 1972”. After 39 years, this was the first time I had ever known their names.

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In response I did a simple search on the internet under ‘john kunst afghanistan’. And low and behold up came the ‘Earthwalker’. This is what happened to the Kunst brothers about one month after I had met them on the road to Kandahar. “Halfway around the world in Afghanistan, Dave and John walked through the Desert of Death where temperatures hit 128 degrees. But it was in the foothills of the Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan that bandits attacked. They thought the brothers had money in the Turkish Wagon. An Afghan newspaper printed by mistake that the walkers were collecting money for UNICEF. The fact is that were telling people to send money to the Children’s Fund but the Afghan reporter misunderstood because of the language problem. On the night of October 21, 1972 a gunshot echoed through a gorge in Afghanistan. Bandits attacked the Kunst brothers. Dave was shot and wounded. John was shot and killed.”

Remarkably some four months later, Dave returned to the same spot and continued the walk around the world with is other brother Pete. They walked through India with their new mule called Willie Makeit II and another dog called Drifter II, and one year later, and when they were half way across Australia Pete had to get back to his job in California, while Dave continued to Sydney. He then flew to the west coast of the US, and walked home to Minnesota.

He had worn out 21 pairs of shoes, walked 14,450 miles and taken more than 20 million steps. He had carried a scroll, which was now stamped and documented by officials all along the route, as proof of his journey, and after four years three months and fifteen days on October 5th 1974 Dave Kunst completed “The First Verified Walk Round The Earth.” Or as the modern American would say it was an “a.w.e.s.o.m.e circumambulation.”

Yesterday I emailed Dave Kunst on his site Earthwalker, with an enquiry saying, “Do you remember me, yellow motorbike…Afghan desert?” I sent him my story. Dave did me the great courtesy of a reply with lots of photos and their story WHOLE STORY including the part of the trip which ended in tragedy in Afghanistan.

Since I met the Kunst brothers I myself have travelled through 16 countries on that same motorcycle, which I still own after 39 years, which still lives with me here in Manila. I have also cruised 35,000 miles by sailboat, across oceans and off the coastlines of five continents In the Island of Mauritius I met the Polish woman. Krystyna Liskiewicz, who was on her way to becoming the First Woman to Circumnavigate the Globe Single Handed… there is a theme here somewhere… but that is for another story!

In the meantime Dave Kunst should have the last say:

“MY CHALLENGE TO YOU:

If you have a serious desire to do something extraordinary in your life. Take a minute and think about my earth walk feat. Its true that extraordinary things are accomplished by ordinary people.

To achieve your dream or dreams during your lifetime reach deep inside your inner self and find the passion it takes to arouse deliberate action. I did and you can too.

Set your goal to accomplish the purpose you pursue and stay motivated, determined and committed to make your dream come true for you.

—EarthWalker Dave Kunst”

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