Nick Middleton | Karavansara

middleton-extremes-on-the-silk-road It took me a while (…) but I’m finally getting into Nick Middleton’s Extremes along the Silk Road.
I’m kicking myself for having waited so long, as the book is turning out to be a lot of fun, and filled with information and nicely-observed detail.

Middleton’s a good writer – to the point and amusing, very British in his approach to the idea of crossing the Gobi Desert as part of his exploration of the Silk Road.

And there’s a point where I had to stop and pause for a moment.

Early in his adventure, Middleton is spending some time as a guest in a local family’s ger, the round yurt typical of Mongolian nomads, and he observes how the daily routines and the lifestyle of these people has not changed in generations.

And I thought, well, neither has it changed hereabouts. Continue reading →

middleton extremes on the silk road Yesterday the postman delivered a nice hardback copy of Nick Middleton’s Extremes along the Silk Road, thus stopping a gaping hole in my collection of Silk Road-themed books. The volume details Middleton’s expedition from China to Istanbul following the classic routes through Central Asia.

The book had been on my to-read list forever, but so far I always had something more urgent to add to the collection. Then I spotted this copy, and it was a wonderful bargain and a nice catch: a used book I paid about five bucks, and in pristine condition.
Or rather I should say, it was in pristine conditions.

You see, I was not at home when the postman came, and he decided to slip the book package between the bars of my courtyard’s gate.
It’s now three days that it rains heavily.
Yesterday I was out for various errands, and I came back home around 8 p.m.: the packet remained under heavy rain for about ten hours.
The effect was the same as leaving it under an open faucet for the best part of the day.

So now I have a water-damaged, second-hand copy of Nick Middleton’s Extremes along the Silk Road.
A little warped, but still readable. Which is more that I can say of the gas bill that was left together with the book, and that spent the night drying on the stove.

I’ll let you know about the book. Just give it time to dry.