Page 1 - SILK ROAD-LN

Silk Road -By Nick Middleton

The lesson ‘Silk Road’ is an extract form the author’s travelogue. Here the author

describes only a small part of his journey form Ravu, a small mountain village to
Darchen which is at the foot of Mt. Kailash.

Journey towards Mount Kailash

• Lahmo gives a farewell present to author, a long sleeved sheep skin coat. Worn
by men.

• The author left Ravu in the company of Daniel and Tsetan. Tsetan knew a short-
cut. He said the journey would be smooth if there was no snow.

• From the gently rolling hills of Ravu they took a short route through vast open
plains.On the way they saw a few gazelles and a herd of wild asses.

• Again passing by the hills they could see the lonely drokbas tending their flocks.

• Men and women would pause and stare at their car, occasionally waving as they
passed by.

Tibetan Mastiff:

• As they passed the nomad's tents there were the Tibetan mastiffs. They would

explode into action as they neared the tents.

• They barked furiously and were completely fearless.

• They would chase the car for some distance and would then go back

• When they were at 5210 meters above the sea level, the road became bumpier.

• The icy top layer of the snow was very dangerous; the car could slip off the
road. The snow continued blocking their way.

• As they reached 5515 meters above the sea level, the atmospheric pressure
became very low and Tsetan opened the lid of the petrol tank to release the

evaporated fuel. The author experienced severe headache.

The town of Hor:

• By late afternoon, they had reached the small town of Hor situated on shores of
lake Mansarovar. • Mansarovar a source of four main Indian rivers the Indus, the
Ganges, the Sutlej and the Brahmaputra.

• Hor was grim, miserable place. There was no vegetation, just dust and rocks.