I was sitting down yesterday on the metro thinking about all the things that I wanted to accomplish and what I wanted to do, when I saw a sign that read "where do you see yourself in 3 years?" It was an ad for an online school, but seriously it couldn't have been more appropriate. Life, the universe...whatever...was giving me a sign. So I started to thinking; where do I see myself in 3 years?
To be honest I don't know. I have a vague conception of what I want, but no real goal, or details. For example, a lot of my friends want to be married in three years, or starting a family. Granted a lot of my friends are older than I am, but not by much. I, personally, don't have that particular drive. I'm not ring hungry- nor am I baby hungry. I believe that I can wait for a while. This doesn't say I may not eventually have those things, but they are not in the forefront of my brain. So having established that I have life goals, but nothing specific I started narrowing down my thinking to something more tangible (and far less stressful)...where would I like to have vacationed in 3 years? Now that was something I could work with, and they are as follows.
I have many life-long travel goals and one of them is to travel the silk trail. I am fascinated by ancient trade routes, which is hardly surprising because I am enthralled by people and civilizations. While other little girls were wanting to be princesses (of the Disney version), I wanted to be a vampire princess of ancient Egypt. Strange? Perhaps. But I digress, I want to travel all the major trade routes, and one of the most infamous, is the silk trail. The silk trail is (also known as the Silk Road) is a series of trade and cultural routes connecting the Asian, European and African continents. Thousands of people across various periods of time have traveled through these routes ranging from religious pilgrims and monks, to soldiers, nomads, empires, and the very first hominids transgressing out of Africa to the rest of the world.
The trade routes extend over 5,000 miles on land and sea. It was a significant factor in the development of the great civilizations of China, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, Indian subcontinent, and Rome, and has helped lay the foundations for the modern world (then again what hasn’t these days?). There are two main routes in the trail: the northern route and the southern route.
The northern route goes through the Chinese province of Gansu, and then splits into three routes. One passes north through the Taklimakan Desert (in Kyrgyzstan and Xingjian), to rejoin in Kashgar. The other, going north as well, shifts towards the Tien Shan Mountains, through Turfan, Talgar and Almaty (in Kazakhstan). All the routes join up in Kokand in the Fergana Valley, and across the Karakum Desert towards Merv, before joining the southern route for a short while. The northern route follows for a portion the Amu Darya River, and from here there are small tributaries to the silk trail that go through the Aral Sea, into the Crimean peninsula, around the Black Sea, through the Balkans and into Venice and Constantinople.
The southern route is mainly a single route running through northern India, into Mesopotamia and Anatolia. It runs south through the Sichuan Basin in China and crosses the high mountains into the northeastern part of India, following the ancient tea route. It then travels west along the Brahmaputra and Ganges river plains before passing through Pakistan and the Hindu Kush Mountains before joining the northern route (briefly) near Merv. It then follows a nearly straight line west through mountainous northern Iran and the northern tip of the Syrian Desert to the Levant. From here, Mediterranean trading ships plied regular routes to Italy, and North Africa.
Now if you were to follow the third trail, it’s only via sea, which passes through the Red River near modern Hanoi and into the Malacca Straits to Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka, and India before heading onto the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. From the ports in Egypt there were other branches that led down the east African coast as far down as the delta of the Rufiji River in modern Tanzania.
It’s amazing how there is so much evidence of the silk trail being used before actual history records it. People in the Sahara imported domesticated (nonnative) animals from Asia between 6000 BC and 4000BC. Foreign artifacts dating to the 5th millennium BC in the Badarian culture of Egypt indicate contact with distant Syria. The gemstone Lapis Lazuli was being traded from its only known source in the ancient work-Badakshan (right now in northeastern Afghanistan) as far as Egypt, as well as Chinese jade and steatite plaque in Egypt.
A Major step in the opening the Silk Road between the East and West came with the expansion of Alexander the Great’s empire into Central Asia. It was then followed by the various roman and Persian empires, becoming most famous in the Mongol empire stage with explorers like Marco Polo. I don’t’ want to bore you with everything, but now you can see why I find it so fascinating, and why I want to go through this area. To be able to follow an ancient trail, in a completely different time era. It’s amazing.
The trade routes extend over 5,000 miles on land and sea. It was a significant factor in the development of the great civilizations of China, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, Indian subcontinent, and Rome, and has helped lay the foundations for the modern world (then again what hasn’t these days?). There are two main routes in the trail: the northern route and the southern route.
The northern route goes through the Chinese province of Gansu, and then splits into three routes. One passes north through the Taklimakan Desert (in Kyrgyzstan and Xingjian), to rejoin in Kashgar. The other, going north as well, shifts towards the Tien Shan Mountains, through Turfan, Talgar and Almaty (in Kazakhstan). All the routes join up in Kokand in the Fergana Valley, and across the Karakum Desert towards Merv, before joining the southern route for a short while. The northern route follows for a portion the Amu Darya River, and from here there are small tributaries to the silk trail that go through the Aral Sea, into the Crimean peninsula, around the Black Sea, through the Balkans and into Venice and Constantinople.
The southern route is mainly a single route running through northern India, into Mesopotamia and Anatolia. It runs south through the Sichuan Basin in China and crosses the high mountains into the northeastern part of India, following the ancient tea route. It then travels west along the Brahmaputra and Ganges river plains before passing through Pakistan and the Hindu Kush Mountains before joining the northern route (briefly) near Merv. It then follows a nearly straight line west through mountainous northern Iran and the northern tip of the Syrian Desert to the Levant. From here, Mediterranean trading ships plied regular routes to Italy, and North Africa.
Now if you were to follow the third trail, it’s only via sea, which passes through the Red River near modern Hanoi and into the Malacca Straits to Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka, and India before heading onto the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. From the ports in Egypt there were other branches that led down the east African coast as far down as the delta of the Rufiji River in modern Tanzania.
It’s amazing how there is so much evidence of the silk trail being used before actual history records it. People in the Sahara imported domesticated (nonnative) animals from Asia between 6000 BC and 4000BC. Foreign artifacts dating to the 5th millennium BC in the Badarian culture of Egypt indicate contact with distant Syria. The gemstone Lapis Lazuli was being traded from its only known source in the ancient work-Badakshan (right now in northeastern Afghanistan) as far as Egypt, as well as Chinese jade and steatite plaque in Egypt.
A Major step in the opening the Silk Road between the East and West came with the expansion of Alexander the Great’s empire into Central Asia. It was then followed by the various roman and Persian empires, becoming most famous in the Mongol empire stage with explorers like Marco Polo. I don’t’ want to bore you with everything, but now you can see why I find it so fascinating, and why I want to go through this area. To be able to follow an ancient trail, in a completely different time era. It’s amazing.
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