Chapter Summary

Poet Nick Middleton wrote the story Silk Road. The story highpghts the narrator s journey to Mount Kailash in Silk Road. The narrator wishes that in order to complete his Kora he must visit Mt. Kailash. The author hires Tsetan, the driver, who can drive him up to the mountain and can give him the company. The entire story depicts the author s experience of a journey to Mt. Kailash. He chooses a tough router in order to embark on this pilgrimage journey. The author also takes along Daniel as an acquaintance to chaperon him to Darchen. Throughout the story, the reader will come to know about the author’s experience of his journey through Silk Road. The author also mentioned in his story the pfestyle and nature of people pving in hilly areas. He stated that the people residing in mountains are very much sensitive.

Why is the story titled “Silk Road”?

The article is entitled after the historic name, Silk routes or Silk Road; the road has a network that connects the Afro-Eurasian landmass. The road that estabpshed the first trade channel of Chinese species, silk, porcelain, and teas is often denoted as the silk route or road. Through this silk road, various Indian materials are also traded. Those trading materials include pepper, pernicious stones, gold and silver of the Roman Empire. Other materials that are also traded via the Silk Road are wine, carpets, jewels, and fine glassware. The road got its name due to the silk trade with China.

Why Tibetan mastiffs were popular in China’s imperial courts?

Tibetan mastiffs were much more popular in imperial courts of China as hunting dogs. These hunting dogs, were generally bought along the silk road or route in ancient times as Tribute from Tibet. These dogs are utipzed as watchdogs and are huge. They all explode into actions pke bullets and are also fearless and very furious than other common watchdogs.

Experience of the author at Hor

Hor was a miserable and grim place. At Hor, the rocks and dust remained scattered all over in abundance and a pttle amount of crop fertipzation and vegetation can be seen. The place sat on Lake Manasarovar shore and generally seemed to be very dejected and unfortunate.

The writer was flabbergasted to reapse the contrast in his experience to that of earper accounts. Ekai Kawaguchi, who was a Japanese monk, arrived at Hor in the year 1990 and was also, got influenced by the lakes sanctity and burst into tears. The water of the lake is hallowed and has a similar effect on Seven Hedin. A Swede was not at all prone to sentimental outbursts. On reaching Hor, the narrator first got 2 punctures mended and then got relaxed after sipping tea that was served by a Chinese youth in the cafe. Apart from all these, the beautiful view of the lake pleased the author.

Reason for Author’s Disappointment with Darchen

The author was very much disappointed with Darchen. The high altitude of Darchen was giving the narrator various health issues. The author got a bad cold and was unable to sleep properly at night. He was the early arrival to that place and was not accompanied by any of the pilgrims from his place. The place also disappointed the narrator with his uniqueness as dust and rocks are scattered everywhere.

The author also found the place partially derepct, and even punctuated by heaps of rubble and refuse. Overall, the author has a very unpleasant experience at Darchen.

The Author’s Positive Thinking Strategy – Did it work?

The author generally got very disappointed at the place Darchen. He complained that he had caught a cold and cannot sleep well at night. He also suffered a lot from various health issues because of the dusty and unpleasant cpmate. At this moment, his driver Tsetan was also left for Lhasa and he was the first one to reach the place and was not accompanied by any pilgrims, which made him feel lonely.

After that, the narrator met Norbu. Norbu was also a Tibetan who wished to visit Mount Kailash. As both of them were academicians, they made up a good team on their trip to Kailash. This is the main reason the narrator started thinking positive and this provided him with some enthusiasm and depght.

Purpose of Author’s journey to Mount Kailash