Page 67 - Introduction to Tourism

Indeed, it is a misnomer even to call it a road.

From the beginning, some Silk Route sections

were mere directions across trackless steppe or

desert rather than visible paths: “ the majority of

states on the Silk Routes traded with their nearer

neighbors, and travelers were like participants in
a relay race stretching a third of the way around

the world. ”
Marco Polo, who traveled to China from Italy in

the thirteenth century, became the first Western
explorer to compose a popular and lasting

account. Though his chronicle is probably more

fiction than history, since it draws from the tales

of many traders, his observations often ring true.

In spite of omissions and exaggerations, his book

has remained an international best seller.

Just as the Silk Road was not a road, so silk was

but a part of the trade. Westbound caravans

carried furs, ceramics, spices, the day lily for its

medicinal uses, peaches, apricots,

and even rhubarb. 16 Eastbound ones carried

precious metals and gems, ivory, glass,

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