In 1271 Niccolo and Maffeo Polo went to China again and took with them Niccolo's son Marco, who was 17 years old. The Polo family returned to Venice only 25 years later. Marco Polo's vivid travel stories, recorded by a man named Rusticano, became known as the "Book of the Wonders of the World."
Hard way
Marco Polo (1254-1324)
Two years later (1271) after their return, the Polo brothers received a letter from the Pope and gifts for Kublai Khan. This time Niccolo took his 17-year-old son Marco with him. The journey to China was long, it took about four years. Together with the Polo family, two missionaries went to the Great Khan Kublai. Having reached Armenia, both monks refused to continue their journey. But the Polos continued on their way, the length of which was believed to be 8000 km. However, Marco soon fell ill.
Having missed a year, they set off on the road again, they had to cross the Pamirs at an altitude of more than 3000 m. They rode on horseback for 12 days, meeting neither housing nor a living soul. Marco wondered how cold it was in these places. After that, the Polo family had to cross the Gobi Desert, where the heat was up to 45 ° C during the day, and the temperature dropped to 10 ° C at night. It took a month to cross the desert. Finally, the travelers reached the Chinese city of Campichion, where they lived for a year. Marco Polo, describing the city, mentions the statues "ten steps up", among which "there are wooden, clay and stone, all gilded."
At the court of the great khan
In May 1275, the Venetian merchants were introduced to Khan Khubilai, who liked Marco very much. For the next 20 years, Marco spent in the service of the great khan, while Maffeo and Niccolo were engaged in trade at this time. Marko has traveled to many parts of China, from coastal cities to eastern Tibet.
The Polo family at the reception of the great khan
Attentive observer
Khan sent Marco to investigate his domain. Marco was surprised that the Chinese are using paper money, which then did not yet exist in Europe. He was delighted with the postal system, which kept hundreds of thousands of horses for Kublai's messengers. He admired Chinese cities. One of them, he said, had 12,000 bridges thrown over huge rivers. For such exaggerations, Marco was nicknamed Marco Million. For example, he described a rhinoceros, but could not refrain from fiction and added a horn studded with thorns. He even invented that at the court of the great khan, when he was thirsty, cups of drink would fly up to the khan with the help of witchcraft. It is difficult to say whether Marco himself invented the fantastic details, or Rusticano added them.
Return
25 years after leaving their homeland, Polo decided to return to Venice. Kublai Khan asked them to accompany the Mongol princess to her fiancé, the Persian shah. In 1295 they set off on the return voyage by sea. In Indonesia, they had to wait five months for monsoons - winds that were supposed to drive the ship to India. After two years of wandering around India, the Polos arrived in Hormuz and handed the princess to the groom. When they arrived home, no one recognized them.
