Episode 20: Indecent Exposure
14,000 km Back Home: A Woman's Silk Road Journey
By Min Hsieh
Part 1: The Plan
Chapter 4: Setting Foot on the Silk Road
"I am doing something that will make me like myself more after I've done it."
Indecent Exposure – Italy, DAY 59
After two days of rest, I felt much better. Next time I really shouldn't be so greedy—getting caught in the rain for half a day in near-freezing weather, it would be strange not to catch a cold.
Heading toward Brindisi, I found myself on the highway again, which I disliked the most.
Actually, cycling on highways is quite flat and comfortable, but the cars whizzing past and the monotonous landscape diminish the joy of bicycle travel.
A white van stopped on a small path in the field, adding a visual focal point to this remote, boring scenery. As I passed, I couldn't help but glance back: a man stood behind the vehicle, naked from the waist down, facing the highway and standing straight.
"What is this man doing?" I wondered silently, my heart skipping a beat.
I immediately turned my head back, facing forward and continuing to ride, hoping that guy hadn't noticed my glance. My heart began pounding harder and harder. I didn't dare look back, just pretended to be serious and pedaled desperately forward.
After riding for some distance, I was still safe on the road. I caught my breath and reassured myself that everything should be fine now.
Suddenly, a car sped past behind me toward an exit ramp, honking twice at me. Instinctively looking back, I saw it was the white van. The man in the driver's seat had his window down and was grinning lecherously, exposing his lower half to me. My brain felt like it had been hit hard—I had no idea how long this car had been following me. The blood vessels at my temples throbbed violently. I gripped the handlebars with all my might, repeating to myself: "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid!"
The sign indicated Brindisi was still twenty kilometers away. God! I still had to ride twenty kilometers on this road. I just wanted to escape this place quickly!
After a while, my heartbeat gradually calmed down. I tried to adjust my emotions, focusing on the distant road to divert my attention. A blue sedan parked by the roadside once again became the focus of my vision. Behind the car was a person—looking carefully, it was another man standing there, naked from the waist down.
"Damn! Damn! Damn damn damn damn damn!" My heart, which had just settled down, instantly began boiling again. I started screaming internally, completely at a loss for what to do.
Calm down! Calm down! Pretend this person doesn't exist. I'm going to pretend I didn't see him and ride past steadily.
I rode past, good! Don't look back, just like before. It'll be fine, it'll be fine!
"Beep beep!" A car from my left rear honked at me and drove to my left.
It was that blue sedan! He had opened the passenger window, but I decided to continue ignoring the car's existence, riding straight ahead.
"Go away! Go away! Get lost!" I screamed in my heart, but it was useless. He kept driving parallel to me.
My Swiss Army knife was in the hidden pocket on my chest. Perhaps I should take it out, but what then?
The blue sedan, due to its slow speed, was honked at urgently by cars behind, forcing him to speed up and move forward. Seeing him forced ahead, I immediately reduced my pedaling power to lower my speed.
The blue car was continuously urged by several more cars behind, forcing him to accelerate again. I watched the car getting farther away, inwardly cheering loudly!
"You bastard! Get lost!" I kept cursing in my mind. I was truly terrified and didn't know what to do. I could only pray for him to leave quickly.
The blue sedan kept being pushed forward by approaching cars and finally exited at an off-ramp.
This was truly a huge relief—the despicable fellow had finally left! Brindisi was approaching. I'd put in a little more effort to finish today's journey quickly. The adrenaline had already made my entire body tense and unable to breathe. I accelerated, pedaling hard forward, passing the off-ramp where the blue sedan had exited. I couldn't help but look down. The car was still there, and he must have seen me, slowly driving back up the on-ramp to the highway.
Now I couldn't move forward or backward; I could only continue riding with determination. At this point, the blue sedan returned to the highway, again behind me.
He tried to squeeze in on my right side, making me closer to the driver's seat.
The moment he approached, I made a sudden brake, allowing his car to continue forward, avoiding any possibility of getting close to that man. Now he was ahead of me again, and the approaching cars behind forced him to continue forward, so he exited the highway at the next off-ramp.
This time I had learned from experience and didn't speed up. Instead, I deliberately moved forward at a turtle's pace.
Sure enough, as I expected, the blue sedan seemed to grow impatient waiting below and drove back up, appearing ahead. When he discovered I was still behind, he wanted to stop at the on-ramp but was again urged forward by cars behind.
I realized he didn't seem to have the courage to do anything to me on the highway, but this harassment had already made my entire body tremble. I could only deal with it cautiously.
This cycle repeated several rounds. Sometimes he would still get behind me, but he only kept forcing his car closer. I could only continue pretending to leisurely move forward slowly, waiting for cars behind to push him forward again. My entire nervous system was stretched to the breaking point.
Finally, I reached the end of the highway. As I returned to the surface road, I desperately rode toward the city center signs, rushed into the crowd and traffic, stopped, and took out my phone, pretending to make a call.
The blue sedan passed by me at this moment, held down the horn, and turned right to leave.
I was safe! I was among people—this bastard wouldn't dare do anything to me!
My hand holding the phone was shaking, and my foot supporting me on the ground was also trembling violently. Tears began flowing from the corners of my eyes. I was truly frightened, but thankfully nothing had happened. I breathed deeply and quickly, trying to gather my emotions. Today's journey wasn't over; I needed to pull myself together quickly. The ferry to Greece at 8 p.m. wouldn't be delayed because of my sadness and fear.
Steadying my emotions, I went to a pharmacy to buy motion sickness medication. I recalled feeling like I was about to vomit my stomach out on the journey from Taitung to Orchid Island a few years ago. Back then, Kamil was taking care of me, so I didn't worry even when I vomited to the point of near unconsciousness. This distance compared to the Orchid Island experience would be "a small witch meeting a big witch," and I was alone this time. Despite knowing I'm prone to seasickness, something was wrong with my nerves that I still planned such a route. My heart weighed the decision between trying three methods—sea, land, air—and the physical suffering, with the former winning out. So now I had to face the consequences of this stubborn decision.
There was still plenty of time before the ferry departed. Now I needed to solve a few more problems.
I found a café to sit down, wrote a farewell diary entry to Italy, and published a blog post seeking travel fund support.
Before departing, I had estimated that my travel funds would be completely spent in Italy. I'm very grateful for the warm hospitality of Couchsurfing hosts along the way, allowing me to still have half of my budget. But the journey home had not yet reached even one-third completion, and ahead lay substantial visa fees. If I didn't quickly find a solution, the time to suspend my plans wouldn't be far off.
So I thought of an approach—initiating a sponsorship plan on my blog, from the perspective of paying to read my travel articles, hoping that people who enjoy these stories could support me in completing this journey together.
After posting the article, I wrote a letter to Kamil: "Hey, I just encountered a pervert! He followed me in his car for a long time. I was very scared, I just kept riding and riding, thankfully he finally left. I'm about to take a ferry to Greece. I'm already starting to feel seasick. I don't know what to do if I vomit until I pass out like last time. I've bought seasickness medication. I wish you were here."
After writing, I read it twice, then deleted the letter.
I was scared and wanted to cry out, but I was more afraid he would reply: "Riding to Italy is enough," or "You can return after reaching Greece."
I took a napkin and wiped the unceasing tears from my face. This was my own choice; I didn't want to complain about it. I just felt very helpless, with no one to rely on or hide behind. Besides, the next stage of the journey was about to begin, leaving no time even for self-pity.
Looking at the empty chair at the next table and the lazy, idle waiter nearby—the entire café had only me, just like this journey home.
Tears wiped dry, I forced myself to stand up again. Now, I had to face the problems of the next stage of the journey.
✨ Your Turn: Have you ever encountered a threatening situation while traveling alone? What strategies did you use to keep yourself safe and escape danger? I'd appreciate hearing about your experiences and safety tips.
📅 Time Frame: This story chronicles my journey across two continents between November 2013 and October 2014. Published independently in Taiwan in 2021, it is now shared as an English serialized novel through AI translation, connecting with friends worldwide to share this journey of personal growth.
📅 Next Episode: "Goodbye Italy"
