Chapter silk-road: Silk Road | Short Questions

When they hit a patch of snow on a steep slope, the car's wheels began to slip, making it impossible to move forward. To solve this, Tsetan and Daniel threw handfuls of dirt and stones onto the frozen surface to create traction. This allowed the tires to grip the ground. The incident illustrates the constant dangers of the journey and the quick thinking and resourcefulness required by Tsetan to navigate the unpredictable mountain terrain safely.

The author was disappointed because Hor was a bleak, dusty place without any vegetation. It sat on the shore of Lake Mansarovar, which is supposed to be a place of great spiritual beauty. Instead of a holy atmosphere, he found a town filled with years of accumulated garbage and refuse. This lack of cleanliness and the overall sense of neglect bothered him deeply, especially because it didn't match the glowing descriptions he had read in other travelers' accounts.

In Darchen, the author suffered from a severe chest cold and blocked sinuses. Every time he tried to lie down to sleep, he felt he was suffocating because he couldn't breathe through his nose or mouth properly. He spent the night sitting up, fearing that he might die if he fell asleep. This extreme physical distress left him exhausted and fearful, making him doubt his ability to complete the pilgrimage he had traveled so far to perform.

The Tibetan doctor at the medical college treated the author for a 'cold and the effects of altitude.' He gave Nick a five-day course of Tibetan medicines, which included various powders and pellets. The morning dose looked like oatmeal and was taken with hot water, while the others were small brown pellets. Surprisingly, the medicine worked quickly, and after the first full day of treatment, the author was able to sleep soundly and felt much better.

Norbu was a Tibetan academic working at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. He was in Darchen to do the kora but was also quite fat and worried about the physical exertion. He was an ideal companion because he spoke English, had a great sense of humor, and wasn't a 'practising Buddhist' in the traditional, solemn sense. His practical approach and shared concerns made the author feel less alone and more optimistic about the trek.

Norbu laughed at the idea of prostrating himself around the mountain because he felt his 'tummy was too big' for such a physically demanding task. He found the idea of lying flat on the ground repeatedly for miles to be impossible for someone of his build. His humorous and realistic attitude toward the pilgrimage provided a much-needed contrast to the author's initial, more serious expectations of traveling only with devout, solemn believers.