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Silk Road Summary - Grade 11

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1K views2 pages

Silk Road Summary - Grade 11

Uploaded by

leenatashalixlix
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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SILK ROAD

SUMMARY

Departure from Ravu


The author left Ravu along with Daniel, an interpreter, and Tsetan, who was a
tourist guide. Before leaving, Lhamo, the lady who had provided them
accommodation at Ravu, gave the author a gift of a long-sleeved sheepskin
coat, as they were going to Mount Kailash, where it would be very cold.
Tsetan knew a short cut to reach the mountain. He said the journey would be
smooth if there was no snow.
They Saw Drokbas on the Way
As they passed through the hills, they saw individual drokbas (nomad
shepherds) looking after their flocks. Both men and women were seen. They
were wearing thick woollen clothes. They would stop and stare at their car,
sometimes waving to them as they passed.
Encounter with Tibetan Mastiffs
As they passed the nomad’s tents, they saw some Tibetan mastiffs, which
were dogs used by the shepherds. When the car came close to their tents,
they would bark furiously and fearlessly. They would chase the car for some
distance and would then go back. In earlier days, Tibetan mastiffs became
popular in China’s imperial courts as hunting dogs. They were brought along
the Silk Road as a tax payment from Tibet.
Ice Blocks the Road
The turns became sharper and more difficult as they climbed. The author
started getting a severe headache. Suddenly snow started falling and soon
blocked the route. Daniel and the author got out of the car to reduce its load
on sharp bends. The altimeter watch on the author’s wrist indicated that they
were at a height of 5210 metres above sea level. The icy top layer of the snow
was dangerous, as the car could slip off the road. When they reached a height
of 5515 metres, which was the top of the pass, the atmospheric pressure
became so low that Tsetan had to open the lid of the petrol tank to release the
evaporated fuel.
Back on the Highway
By late afternoon, they had reached the small town of Hor on .the shore of
Lake Manasarovar, which was on the old trade route between Lhasa and
Kashmir. Daniel returned to Lhasa from there. Tsetan got the flat tyre of the
car repaired there. Hor was a grim, miserable place. There was no vegetation
whatsoever, just dust and rocks. There was accumulated rubbish everywhere.
Unlike the past, the place no longer appeared holy.
By 10.30 PM they reached Darchen, where they found a guesthouse to stay
in. It was the end of the road. The author had a very troubled night. His
nostrils were blocked and he was not able to get enough air into his lungs.
Most of the night he sat up, as he was unable to sleep.

The next day Tsetan took the author to the Darchen Medical College. The
doctor told him it was just the cold and the altitude which were giving him
trouble. The doctor gave him some medicine and that night the author was
able to sleep well.

Tsetan left the author in Darchen and went back with the car to Lhasa. He did
not mind if the author would die in Darchen. He was a good Buddhist and
believed in life after death. However, he was worried that the author’s death
could affect his business, as he may not get more; tourists who required to be
accompanied till where the road ended.

The Author Looks for a Companion and Meets Norbu


Like Hor, Darchen was dusty and a lot of rubbish could be seen all around.
The town appeared to be sparsely populated. There were no pilgrims there,
as the season had not yet started. He had reached there too early. He actually
wanted to reach Mount Kailash to do kora to get a feel of what a pilgrimage
was like. But he didn’t want to do it alone. He was looking for someone who
could speak or understand English.
When he was sitting in the only cafe at Darchen, Norbu, a plump Tibetan
working in Beijing at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, saw him
reading an English book. So Norbu introduced himself to the author. He also
was there to do kora, although he was not a religious person. So both of them
decided to do kora together.

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