Walata, 1324, Morning
My caravan and I have been traveling for a few days now. This oasis is blessed; I hadn't had a good drink of water for quite a few days now. Although we have plenty of water now, the journey ahead of us is really long, so the king ordered conservation of this rare necessity. Right now, I am sitting under a palm tree and observing the activities in town; there are traders coming from Sudan and some Berbers. The Sudanese come from far south, so they are in the same shape as we are. Gold and salt mines are pretty close by, so those are some of the items that are being traded. A lot of the salt comes from the northern village of Taghaza, which is our next stop on this pilgrimage.
I have overcome my fears about this journey and am trying to look at the best parts of it. Of course, it will be a pleasure to actually be in Mecca, but sometimes, I like the travel. Since it is pretty solitary, I have a lot of time to think about things that I don't usually get time to think about. For example, after a lot of thought, I have finally come up with a topic for my next book; I plan to start working on it once I am done with this. Well, I hope that this journey continues to be jovial and happy, and a little water would also be appreciated.
I have overcome my fears about this journey and am trying to look at the best parts of it. Of course, it will be a pleasure to actually be in Mecca, but sometimes, I like the travel. Since it is pretty solitary, I have a lot of time to think about things that I don't usually get time to think about. For example, after a lot of thought, I have finally come up with a topic for my next book; I plan to start working on it once I am done with this. Well, I hope that this journey continues to be jovial and happy, and a little water would also be appreciated.