Summary of silk road

Silk Road is an extract from a travelogue written by Nick Middleton. The author describes his pilgrimage to Mount Kailash. As the narrator starts from Ravu towards Kailash to perform Kora, he describes all the things he sees-landscape, people and animals. He wants to be more adventurous than to be religious. The Silk Road was the main trade route between Kashmir to China. Silk was one of the main commodities that were traded in those areas. So, it was rightly named as ‘Silk Road’. It was early morning when the author left Ravu with his companions Daniel and Tsetan. Tsetan, the driver of his vehicle, knew the short cut route to Mount Kailash. They moved across the vast open grassy plains to the stony plains. Sometimes they saw a few gazelles and wild asses. The way through the hills started. On the way they met solitary drokbas tending their flocks and also the dark tents of the nomads. Giant Tibetan mastiffs would chase the author’s car for a hundred metres or so. They could see snow capped mountains far away. The ride became bumpier because of the sharp bends near the valley. After a while Tsetan had to stop the car because of snow. They flung dust on the snow capped route to ease the car. There was another blockage after about ten minutes. But somehow Tsetan negotiated it. At the height of 5515 metres they took a turn round the cairn of rocks. By late afternoon they had reached the small town of Hor from where Daniel left to Lhasa. Hor seemed a grim place even though it was on the shore of Lake Manasarovar, the most venerated stretch of water. The author was eager to forge ahead towards Mount Kailash. They reached Darchen at night. The author had to pass a troublesome night in Darchen. In the morning Tsetan took him to Darchen Medical College. The Tibetan doctor gave him some medicine and assured him that he would be able to do the Kora. Tsetan went back leaving the author alone after his recovery. Author was worried because there were no pilgrims at Darchen. He couldn’t find any person who speaks enough English to answer his questions. He met Norbu in Darchen’s only café. Norbu after introducing himself told the author that he had come to do the Kora. The author was happy to find his company. He decided that Norbu would turn out to be the ideal companion.