Summary of the lsn, SILK ROAD by Nick Middleton
Answers
hey mate there is your answer,
The author chronicles the challenges and hardships he faced in the Silk Road regions as they
are now. The reader finds it refreshing to traverse such vast tracts of physical geography,
expanses of the natural world that remain largely untamed.
As a trade route, the Silk Road has been less a single highway and more a network of
overland routes linking Europe with Asia, making trade possible between those with a
passion for silk, horses and exotic fauna and flora. Just about every transaction imaginable
has occurred along its many trails over the centuries.
Middleton's particular passion consists of exposing himself to nature's vicissitudes like facing
oxygen starvation in Tibet as he climbs towards the "navel of the universe," and other
hardships during the journey.
The author is an adventurer, but at heart more a meticulous academic than a daredevil.
Researching the different forms of altitude sickness, he is alarmed to discover it can lead to
swelling of the brain or to the lungs slowly filling with fluid.
Having no religious inclinations himself, he begins to speculate on Tibetan Buddhism as a
prerequisite for survival at such an altitude, yet makes the classic Western error of putting
bodily discipline before mental striving.
This account of the Silk Road, with its contrasts and exotic detail, certainly describes the
challenges and hardships Middleton faced. However, if he had sacrificed some of the sense of
his own heroism, and introduced instead more of a sense of wonder or of the absurd, the
book would have proved a more entertaining read.
Mark me as brainliest...
Answer:
hey swiftie
this is your answer
The story is about the trek that the author took with Tsetan, a guide and his mate Daniel from Ravu to Mount Kailash to do ‘kora’ (Buddhist spiritual practice/ritual). He had heard a lot about the spiritual magic of the Lake Mansarovar and Mount Kailash and wanted to experience on his own.
They packed some sheepskin clothes for extreme cold weather and then hired a car that Tsetan drove. They took a path lading South West form Lhasa to Kashmir, the ancient fabled trade path called as ‘Silk Road’.
They came across beautiful natural sights of fleet gazelles and blooming valleys. They saw the dominant yaks and tarrying Tibetan Mastiffs that guarded the habitations of the nomadic tribes of the mountains.
As the elevation started to increase, the air pressure dropped. So Tsetan opened the gas tanks to release the vaporized fuel in order to avoid any leakage. The author and Daniel got out of the car as the turns and bends on the road became acute and the snow made the road slippery.
Tsetan was able to drive it till the small town on the banks of Lake Mansarovar called ‘Hor’. The author found the sight of the lake disappointing and the town even more desolate and morbid. They had some tea and then Daniel boarded a truck back to Lhasa.
The author and Tsetan went ahead with the journey to Darchen. Here, the health problems of the author worsened and his sinus got completely blocked. He started having trouble breathing and after a sleepless night, Tsetan took him to the city hospital and medical college.
The doctor attributed his troubles to cold and fatigue and gave some medications to help him sleep. After a relaxing sleep, the author decided to cover the final stretch to Mount Kailash.
However, Tsetan had to go back to Lhasa to find other tourists. The author sat at the local café waiting to find other pilgrims who could accompany him to do the ‘Kora’ at the mountain top. However, he was disappointed by the lack of pilgrims, especially those who could speak English.
Suddenly, the author is approached by Norbu, a Tibetan who worked at the University of Beijing. He was not a practising Buddhist but was wring a research paper on the spiritual Mountain and the ‘Kora’.
They both chatted for a whole and then hired yaks to haul their things. When they reached the summit of Mount Kailash, the author performed his ‘Kora’ and prostrated while Norbu observed the place for his research.