This chapter by Nick Middleton details his challenges while traversing the Silk Road to Mount Kailash on a pilgrimage. It introduces key characters including his guide Tsetan and interpreter Daniel, while documenting encounters with local shepherds and Tibetan mastiffs. The narrative highlights the author's hardships, the desolate landscapes, and his eventual companionship with Norbu for the kora ritual.

3. SILK ROAD
by NICK
MIDDLETON
THIS CHAPTER IS A
TRAVELOGUE ABOUT
THE AUTHOR’S TRAVEL
ALONG THE ANCIENT
TRADE ROUTE CALLED
‘SILK ROAD’.
THE CHAPTER
DESCRIBES THE
CHALLENGES AND
HARDSHIPS THE
AUTHOR FACED WHILE
JOURNEYING TO
MOUNT KAILASH ON A
PILGRIMAGE.

4. CHARACTERS
• AUTHOR [NICK
MIDDLETON] HE IS A
PROFESSOR OF GEOGRAPHY
OXFORD UNIVERSITY.
• TSETAN – HE IS THE OWNER
OF THE CAR HIRED BY THE
AUTHOR FOR THE JOURNEY,
WELL AS BEING A GUIDE.
• DANIEL- HE IS AN
INTERPRETER FROM LHASA
WHO TRAVELLED PART OF
TIME WITH THE AUTHOR.
• NORBU- HE IS A TIBETAN
WORKING AT AN ACADEMY
BEIJING WHO WANTS TO
CARRY OUT THE PILGRIMAGE
TO MOUNT KAILASH.
TSETAN
NORB
U
DANIEL NICK
MIDDLETON

5.  RELEVANCE OF THE TITLE
• THE ‘SILK ROAD’ REFERS TO A NETWORK OF OVERLAND
LINKING EUROPE WITH ASIA.
• THIS HAS BEEN THE TRADE ROUTE OF THE EUROPEANS SINCE
ANCIENT TIMES.
• TRADERS TRAVELLED ALONG IT BUYING AND SELLING
ITEMS INCLUDING SILK AND SPICES FROM CHINA AND WOOL,
SILVER AND PRECIOUS MATERIAL FROM ROME.
• THE AUTHOR RECORDS THE CHALLENGES HE FACED ON THE
SILK ROAD REGION IN THIS TRAVELOGUE.

6.  LEAVING RAVU
• THE AUTHOR WAS LEAVING RAVU
AND HEADING TOWARDS MOUNT
KAILASH TO COMPLETE THE
KORA[TAKING A ROUND OF A
PILGRIMAGE]
• THE AUTHOR LEFT RAVU
ACCOMPANIED BY DANIEL AND
TSETAN.
• LHAMO, THE LADY WHO HAD
PROVIDED THEM ACCOMODATION
GIFTED LONG-SLEEVED SHEEPSKIN
COAT TO AUTHOR.
• IT WAS COLD SO SHE FELT THAT HE
OUGHT TO GET SOME WARMER
CLOTHES.
• TSETAN KNEW A SHORT CUT TO
REACH THE MOUNTAIN.
• HE ASSURED FOR A SMOOTH
JOURNEY IF THERE WAS NO SNOW.

7. SIGHT OF DROKAS
• FROM THE GENTLY RISING AND
FALLING HILLS OF RAVU, THE
SHORTCUT TOOK THEM ACROSS
VAST OPEN PLAINS, DRY GRAZING
LAND THAT HAD NOTHING IN IT
EXCEPT FOR LONELY
DROKAS[NOMAD SHEPHERDS]
LOOKING AFTER THEIR FLOCKS.
• WELL WRAPPED MEN AND WOMEN
WERE SEEN WEARING THICK
WOOLEN CLOTHES.
• THEY WOULD PAUSE AND STARE
AT THEIR CAR, AND SOMETIMES
WAVE AT THEM AS THEY PASSED.

8. ENCOUNTER WITH TIBETAN MASTIFFS
• AS THEY PASSED THE DROKBA TENTS, THEIR GUARD DOGS, WHICH WERE TIBETAN
MASTIFFS, CHASED THEIR CAR FOR SOME DISTANCE.
• THESE DOGS HAD A THICK FUR AND WERE AS BLACK AS THE DARKEST NIGHT.
• THEY BARKED DANGEROUSLY WITH THEIR HUGE JAWS.
• THEY WERE COMPLETELY FEARLESS OF THE ADVENTURER’S VEHICLE, AND RAN STRAIGHT
INTO THEIR PATH, DUE TO WHICH TSETAN HAD TO APPLY BRAKES AND THAT MADE THE
VEHICLE SWERVE.
• THE DOGS WOULD CHASE THEM FOR A HUNDRED METERS OR SO BEFORE STOPPING
GRADUALLY AND MAKING SURE THAT THE OUTSIDERS WERE OFF THE PROPERTY.
• IT IS DUE TO THESE QUALITIES THE FEROCIOUS TIBETAN MASTIFFS BECAME POPULAR IN
CHINA’S IMPERIAL[ROYAL] COURTS AS HUNTING DOGS.
• THEY WERE BROUGHT ALONG THE SILK ROAD AS A TAX PAYMENT FROM TIBET.

9. SNOW
BLOCKED
THEIR WAY
• THE TURNS BECAME SHARPER
AND BUMPIER AS THEY CLIMBED.
• THE SUDDEN AND UNEXPEXTED
FALL OF SNOW BLOCKED THEIR
WAY A NUMBER OF TIMES.
• DANIEL AND AUTHOR GOT OUT
OF THE CAR TO REDUCE THE
LOAD ON SHARP BENDS
• THEY WERE AT A HEIGHT OF
5210 METERS ABOVE SEA LEVEL.
LEVEL.
• WHEN THEY REACHED A HEIGHT
OF 5515 METERS, WHICH WAS
THE TOP OF THE PASS, THE
ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE
BECAME SO LOW THAT TSETAN
TSETAN HAD TO OPEN THE LID
OF THE PETROL TANK TO
RELEASE THE EVAPORATED FUEL.

10. REACHING HOR
• AFTER PASSING THROUGH
THE TOP OF THE PASS,
THEY WENT DOWN TO
REACH THE SMALL TOWN
OF HOR, ON THE SHORE
OF LAKE MANSAROVAR,
BY LATE AFTERNOON.
• IT WAS A
GRIM[unattractive/gloom
y],MISERABLE PLACE
WITHOUT ANY
VEGETATION; IT ONLY
HAD A LOT OF
ACCUMULATED RUBBISH,
DUST AND ROCKS.
• THE PLACE NO LONGER
APPEARED HOLY
• DANIEL RETURNED TO
LHASA FROM THERE.
• TSETAN GOT THE FLAT
TYRE OF THE CAR
REPAIRED THERE AND
CARRIED ON.

11. • THEY REACHED DARCHEN AT
10:30 PM AND FOUND A
GUESTHOUSE TO STAY IN.
• IT WAS THE END OF THE ROAD.
• THE AUTHOR HAD A VERY
TROUBLED NIGHT BECAUSE OF
OF THE COLD.
• HIS NOSTRILS WERE BLOCKED
AND HE WAS NOT ABLE TO GET
ENOUGH AIR INTO HIS LUNGS.
LUNGS.
• THE NEXT MORNING, TSETAN
TOOK HIM TO CONSULT A
DOCTOR AT THE DARCHEN
MEDICAL COLLEGE.
• THE DOCTOR GAVE SOME
MEDICINE AND THAT NIGHT HE
WAS ABLE TO SLEEP WELL.

12. • 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
BELIEVED IN LIFE AFTER
DEATH.
• HOWEVER, HE WAS WORRIED
THAT THE AUTHOR’S DEATH
COULD AFFECT HIS
AS HE MAY NOT GET MORE
TOURISTS WHO REQUIRED TO
ACCOMPANIED TILL WHERE
ROAD ENDED.

13. AUTHOR MEETS
NORBU
• AS THE PILGRIM SEASON HAD
NOT STARTED, THE AUTHOR
FELT LONELY. HE WAS LOOKING
LOOKING FOR SOMEONE WHO
COULD SPEAK OR UNDERSTAND
ENGLISH AS WELL AS ACCOMPANY
HIM TO DO KORA.
• THEN HE MET NORBU, A PLUMP
TIBETAN WORKING IN BEIJING AT
THE CHINESE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL
SCIENCES AT A CAFÉ AT DARCHEN.
• NORBU COULD UNDERSTAND
ENGLISH AND WAS THERE TO DO
DO KORA AT MOUNT KAILASH.
• BOTH OF THEM DECIDED TO GO
GO TOGETHER.

14. CONCLUSION
We learn about the
author’s journey
through the silk road
and the determination
of pilgrims and the
hardships they face.