Summary of the poem silk road
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Summary of the poem silk road :
The author of the poem, Nick Middleton, describes his journey to Mount Kailash in Silk Road. In order to complete his Kora, the author wishes to visit Mt. Kailash. Thus, he hires Tsetan so that he gets someone for driving him up to the mountain. While he was parting with Lhamo, he receives a long-sleeved sheepskin coat. In order to get companionship, the author takes Daniel with him till Darchen.
Upon starting their journey, Tsetan takes a short-cut to the south-west. He says it is a direct route to Mt. Kailash. In order to reach their destination, they would have to cross the high mountain passes. However, Tsetan assures them that due to lack of snow, it would be easy to do so. On their way, they cross through a small number of gazelles, a herd of wild asses and shepherds that were tending the flocks.
Upon reaching the hill, they notice dark tents. They learn they were nomad’s homes and see a Tibetan mastiff guarding the tents. When they reach near the tents, the dogs with large jaws ran after their car. Upon entering the valley, they witness mountains and rivers covered in snow and ice.
The ride on the hill starts turning sharper and bumpier. As they reached higher, the author could feel the pressure and noticed they were at 5210 meters above sea level. After clearing the first hurdle of snow-filled roads, they were on and about. The author starts feeling uneasy due to height and pressure. At around 2 o’clock in the afternoon, they stop for lunch.
Finally, they reach a small town ‘Hor’ in late afternoon. The author took a break in Hor and sat at the local café sipping on tea. During this time, Tsetan got the car fixed and Daniel left for Lhasa. The author did not like Hor too much.
Upon resuming the journey, they stay the night at a guest house in Darchen. We see how he suffers from nose-congestion due to the altitude change and chilly weather. He goes to see a Tibetan doctor and receives a five-day course medication.
After that, he feels better and enjoys his stay at Darchen where he meets another pilgrim, Norbu. As Darchen had no pilgrims, the author finds relief and decides to complete his pilgrimage with him. Finally, they hire yaks for their luggage and Norbu gives up while collapsing across the table and laughing. Norbu’s says it would not be possible for him and he also had a big tummy.
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The protagonist wanted to go to Mount Kailash to complete the kora. He hired Tsetan to drive him up to Mount Kailash. As a farewell gift, Lhamo gave him a long-sleeved sheepskin coat. He took Daniel as his companion till Darchen.
When they started the journey, Tsetan took a short cut to the south-west which was a direct route to Mount Kailash. They had to cross high mountain passes to reach their destination. Tsetan assured him that it would be no problem if there would be no snow. They crossed through few gazelles, a herd of wild asses and shepherds tending the flocks.
When they reached the hill, they passed dark tents which were home for nomads. He saw a Tibetan mastiff standing outside the tent as a guard. These mastiffs ran after his car as he reached near the tents. These dogs had large jaws.
As soon as they entered the valley, they witnessed snow capped mountains with rivers flowing which were blocked with ice. When they were riding through the hill, the turns became sharper and roads became bumpier. Tsetan was driving in third gear. The protagonist could feel the pressure in his ears. He held his nose, snorted to clear the congestion. He checked his wristwatch, they were at 5210 meters above sea level.
They reached their first hurdle which was a road filled with snow. Tsetan threw dirt on the snow and drove carefully on that road. They resumed their journey. The protagonist felt his head was hurting. He took a few sips of water from his water bottle. They were still climbing up the hill. They reached at 5515 meters above sea level. They stopped again and this time the fuel tank hissed when Testan unscrewed the top. As the petrol was expanding due to low atmospheric pressure, Tsetan told them not to smoke around it.
Soon in the afternoon around two o clock, they stopped for lunch. The protagonist’s headache was gone by now. By late afternoon, they reached a small town called ‘Hor’. They reached the east-west highway again. It was the old route from Lhasa to Kashmir. Daniel got off the car and took a lift to Lhasa. Their car had a few punctures which worried Tsetan. He got them fixed and the protagonist waited at a local café of Hor while having a glass of tea. He found Hor a miserable place. After a while, Tsetan reached to him and they resumed their journey again.
At night around 10.30 pm, they stopped at a guest house in Darchen to spend the night. The protagonist got ill and suffered from nose-congestion due to the change in altitude and cold weather. He stayed awake all night. Next morning, Tsetan took him to Tibetan medical college where a he consulted a Tibetan Doctor who gave him a five-day course medicines in a brown envelope.
After taking a full day of medicine, the protagonist was feeling good. Tsetan left him thereafter assuring his health condition. The protagonist was staying at Darchen. That place had a general store where Chinese cigarettes, soap, and other things were available. In the afternoon, the men gathered at a shabby table to play pool every day. Women would wash their hair in the narrow stream. Darchen had one problem, it had no pilgrims. According to the local people, in the peak season of pilgrimage the place would be filled with travellers. He met a person in the Darchen’s only café. His name was Norbu who was a Tibetan working in Beijing at the Institute of Ethnic Literature of Chinese Academy of Social Science. He came to Darchen to complete the kora just like the protagonist. He was fat and found it difficult to walk. The protagonist decided to go on the pilgrimage with him. They hired yaks to carry their luggage. Norbu finally said it is not possible for him while he collapsed across the table and laughed hilariously. His tummy was also too big.