October 21, 2003	Tuesday	Sha'aban 24, 1424

BEIJING, Oct 20: Seven years after he almost died in his first attempt to cross the heartland of the Gobi Desert, German explorer Bruno Baumann on Monday completed the first solo crossing of the 500 kilometres of mountains and sand dunes.

“The end was tight, very tight,” he said Monday by telephone from the city of Lanzhou.

Even more than hunger, thirst, and tiredness, he had to battle against the cold during his solo trek as temperatures fell as low as minus 10 degrees during the night. —dpa