HORNBILL CH-5

SILK ROAD

Introduction

The writer describes his pilgrimage to Mount Kailash. He wants to be more adventurous than

to be religious. As he starts from Ravu towards Kailash he describes all the things he sees—

landscape, people and animals. He goes to Mount Kailash to do the Kora with other pilgrims.

Departure from Ravu:

The author left Ravu along with Daniel, an interpreter, and Tsetan, who was a driver-cum
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.

Took Short Cut

Tsetan was the driver of their vehicle. He knew the route to Mount Kailash. He told the author

that if there was no snow there would be no problem, Tsetan took a short cut from Ravu. This

took them across the vast open grassy plains to the stony plains. The air was clean. Sometimes

they saw a few gazelles and wild asses.

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.

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.

The First Big Hindrance

They could see snow capped mountains far away as they entered a valley where the river was

wide. The turns now became sharper and the ride more uncomfortable. After a while the driver
Tsetan had to stop. The author’s companion Daniel also came out of the car. There was snow

capped route ahead for about fifteen metres, after which the dusty trail could be seen again.

The three men took handfuls of dirt and flung it on the icy surface. Then Tsetan got in and

drove the car carefully across the dusty snow. It happened at the height of 5210 metres.

Next Hurdle

There was another blockage after about ten minutes but somehow. Tsetan negotiated it. The

author felt a terrible headache.

The Cairn

Finally, they reached the top of the pass at 5515 metres. It was marked by a large cairn of rocks.

They all took a turn round the cairn according to the tradition. Then they careered down the

other side of the pass. Now, the author’s headache had cleared and they stopped for lunch.

The town ‘Hor’

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 p.m. 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.

Short answers

Question 1. How does the author recount his experience at the Darchen Medical College?

Answer: The doctor at the Darchen Medical College did not wear the traditional white coat of

a doctor. He observed the author and diagnosed his problem as the effect of cold and high

altitude. He gave him brown powders and pellets to be taken with hot water. The author

benefitted with this treatment.

Question 2. Where is the town of Hor situated? Describe the town.

Answer: Hor is located on the east-west highway when one travels from Lhasa to Kashmir. It is

a grim desolate place littered with accumulated refuse. There is no vegetation in this town. It

is located on the shore of Lake Mansarovar. On the whole, it has badly painted concrete

buildings.

Question 3. What have you learnt about the Tibetan mastiff from the essay?

Answer: After reading the essay, we found that Tibetan mastiffs are too violent and ferocious

with big heads. They are black in colour with their red collars. They attack like bullets fired

from guns. They possess massive jaws. Their bark is furious. These mastiffs are so fearless that

they can also attack cars and jeeps.

Question 4. Why was the narrator relieved on meeting Norbu?

Answer: The narrator was quite relieved on meeting Norbu firstly because he was all alone at

Darchen. He found a companion in Norbu. He could speak English fluently. He was educated.
He didn’t believe in doing Kora on foot in the conventional manner. Both of them decided to

hire yaks. In every aspect, Norbu appeared to be an ideal companion for the narrator.

Long question answers

1. Why does the narrator think that the snow was dangerous yet beautiful?

Ans: Silk Road by Nick Middleton is a thorough account of the author’s visit to Mount Kailash.

Tsetan on his way reviewed snow on the path by stomping on it. The snow was not deep enough

but they feared the car would turn over in case they slipped and so they flung a handful of dirt

across the frozen surface to cover this risk. After that, they were able to drive without any

trouble. A few minutes later, they stopped at one more obstruction. This time they determined

to drive about the snow. However, the risks did not weaken the attractive beauty of the place.

In the valley, they saw mountains that were covered with snow, and the river was wide but

mostly jammed with ice, and sparkling in the sunshine.

2. Enumerate the difficulties that the group faced in Hor.

Ans:The group reached the small town of Hor by late afternoon. Daniel, who was returning to

Lhasa, found a ride in a truck and left. They had suffered two punctures in quick succession on

the drive down from the salt lake and they got them replaced. Hor was a gloomy place devoid

of vegetation. It only had dust and rocks, liberally scattered with years of accumulated refuse.

Hor’s only cafe which, like all the other buildings in town, was constructed from badly painted

concrete and had three broken windows. The good view of the lake through one of them helped

to compensate for the draught. The narrator was served by a Chinese youth in military uniform

who spread the grease around on his table with a filthy rag before bringing him a glass and a

thermos of tea.

3. Narrate the narrator’s meeting with the Tibetan doctor.

Answer:

After an awfully uncomfortable and breathless night, Tsetan took the narrator to the Darchen

Medical College. The college was new and looked like a monastery from the outside with a

very solid door that led into a large courtyard. The consulting room was dark and cold and

occupied by a Tibetan doctor who did not have any kit that the narrator had been expecting.
He wore a thick pullover and a woolly hat. The narrator explained the symptoms and the doctor

shot him a few questions while feeling the veins in his wrist. Finally he said, it was the cold

and the effects of altitude. He said that the narrator would be well enough to do the kora. He

gave him a brown envelope stuffed with fifteen screws of paper. Each package had a brown

powder that had to taken with hot water. It tasted just like cinnamon. The contents of the

lunchtime and bedtime packages were less obviously identifiable. Both contained small,

spherical brown pellets. Though the medicine looked like sheep dung, it helped him recover

quickly.

4. Describe the difficulties and disillusionment faced by Nick Middleton during his

journey to Mount Kailash.

Answer:

Nick Middleton, the narrator had to journey through the difficult terrain to reach Mount

Kailash. The path was totally snow covered, the snow was so steep that they could not go

around it. They somehow went over it. The danger was that they could slip. They flung handfuls

of dirt and covered the snow completely with soil.

The narrator and Daniel got off the vehicle to lighten the load while Tsetan drove the vehicle

over the snow. Due to low atmospheric pressure, he got a headache. The fuel of vehicle also

expanded due to the low pressure, which would prove perilous for them. In Darchen, the

narrator also suffered from blocked sinuses that resulted in extreme cold and breathing

problems. The town Hor was shabby, dirty and very depressing. Overall, the journey of the

author was adventurous.

Extract based questions:

1. A flawless half-moon floated in a perfect blue sky on the morning we said our goodbyes.

Extended banks of cloud like long French loaves glowed pink as the sun emerged to splash

the distant mountain tops with a rose-tinted blush. Now that we were leaving Ravu,

Lhamo said she wanted to give me a farewell present. One evening I’d told her through

Daniel that I was heading towards Mount Kailash to complete the kora, and she’d said

that I ought to get some warmer clothes.

(i) Where was author going to?

(a) Ravu

(b) Lhamo

(c) Mount Kailash

(d) None of the above

(ii) Which figure of speech has been used in the phrase ‘banks of cloud like long French

loaves’

(a) Metaphor

(b) Alliteration

(c) Oxymoron

(d) Simile

(iii) Which of the following objects could be seen in the sky on that day

1. Moon

2. Sun

3. Bread

4. Trees

5. Clouds

6. Mountains

(a) 1, 2 and 3

(b) 1,2 ,5 and 6

(c) 2,5 and 6

(d) 2,3 and 6

(iv) Who wanted to give a farewell gift to the author?

(a) Daniel

(b) Lhamo

(c) Ravu

(d) Moon

2. Further on, where the plains became more stony than grassy, a great herd of wild
ass came into view. Tsetan told us we were approaching them long before they

appeared. “Kyang,” he said, pointing towards a far-off pall of dust. When we drew

near, I could see the herd galloping en masse, wheeling and turning in tight

formation as if they were practising manoeuvres on some predetermined course.

(i) By what name wild ass has been called in the extract?

(a) stony

(b) kyang

(c) pall

(d) herd

(e) wheeling

(ii) What do you infer from the phrase ‘plains became more stony than grassy’.

(a) The terrain now had less greenery

(b) The terrain had become hilly

(c) The terrain had many stone rocks along the way

(d) All the above

(iii) The expression ‘more stony than grassy’ has been used in the extract. Which of the

following expression is not similar to it?

(a) more rosy than gloomy

(b) more bright than dull

(c) more reddish than greenish

(d) more apples than oranges

(iv) Which of the following word as used in the extract does not indicate a type of

movement.

(a) galloping

(b) manoeuvres

(c) pointing

(d) turning

3. As we continued to draw closer, they would explode into action, speeding directly
towards us, like a bullet from a gun and nearly as fast. These shaggy monsters,

blacker than the darkest night, usually wore bright red collars and barked

furiously with massive jaws. They were completely fearless of our vehicle, shooting

straight into our path, causing Tsetan to brake and swerve. The dog would make

chase for a hundred metres or so before easing off, having seen us off the property.

(i) Speed of the dog has been compared with

(a) gun

(b) vehicle

(c) bullet

(d) chase

(ii) Which of the following can be conclusively inferred about the dogs

1. their colour is black

2. they are very quick

3. they are tiny creatures

4. they have massive jaws

5. they usually wear yellow collars

(a) 1, 2 and 3

(b) 1,2 and 4

(c) 2,3 and 5

(d) 1,3 and 5

(iii) Which of the following action was not done by the dogs

(a) they ran towards the vehicle

(b) they ran into the path of the vehicle

(c) they swerved the vehicle

(d) they barked furiously

(iv) For what distance the dog is likely to chase a vehicle

(a) 100 meters

(b) more than 100 meters

(c) less than 100 meters

(d) about 100 meters

4. The snow didn’t look too deep to me, but the danger wasn’t its depth, Daniel said,

so much as its icy top layer. “If we slip off, the car could turn over,” he suggested, as

we saw Tsetan grab handfuls of dirt and fling them across the frozen surface. We both

pitched in and, when the snow was spread with soil, Daniel and I stayed out of the

vehicle to lighten Tsetan’s load.

(i) What according to extract is not a danger with snow?

(a) its icy top layer

(b) its depth

(c) possibility of slip off

(d) none of the above

(ii) Who among the following was driving the car

(a) the author

(b) Daniel

(c) Tsetan

(d) none of the above

(iii) What was done to negotiate the snow laden part of the road?

(a) soil was spread on the snow

(b) author and Daniel got down from the vehicle

(c) both (a) and (b)

(d) none of the above

(iv) Who among the following threw dirt and soil on the snow?

(a) Daniel

(b) Author

`(c) Tsetan

(d) All the above

5. My headache soon cleared as we careered down the other side of the pass. It was
two o’clock by the time we stopped for lunch. We ate hot noodles inside a long

canvas tent, part of a work camp erected beside a dry salt lake. The plateau is

pockmarked with salt flats and brackish lakes, vestiges of the Tethys Ocean which

bordered Tibet before the great continental collision that lifted it skyward.

(i) Which word in the extract mean ‘moved quickly’

(a) careered

(b) stopped

(c) erected

(d) lifted

(ii) What did they have for their lunch?

(a) salt flats

(b) noodles

(c) continental food

(d) Chinese food

(iii) Which of the following is not true about the place where they took lunch?

(a) a canvas tent

(b) work camp

(c) by the side of a dry salt lake

(d) none of the above

(iv) What features can be observed about the plateau?

(a) salt flats

(b) brackish lakes

(c) vestiges of the Tethys Ocean

(d) All the above