Marco Polo's Travel Account Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Marco Polo's Travel Account - Essay Example After having analyzed Marco Polo`s travelogue in detail along with the second hand accounts on his writings written afterwards, a few patterns can be identified conveniently. These accounts suggest that the Mongolian Empire which belonged to the Kublai Khan (1214-1294) was a highly glorified one, in the sense that the architecture of the farfetched land, especially Kublai`s palace was beyond imagination, also the Mongolian culture unlike that perceived by the Westerners is a highly enriched one which escalates the senses of anyone experiencing it. Moreover, though Marco Polo had also mentioned the hardships and distance which he had to face in detail, which implies that the journey was a highly difficult one, even after they possessed the VIP pass, however on experiencing their cultures and having the experience of staying close to Kublai Khan for so long, he finally concludes that the hardships were worth it. However, those who have reflected on the works of Marco Polo have further doubted the credibility of Marco Polo on the account that neither had he learnt the Chinese language during all those years, and adding insult to injury, some of the accounts which he had presented are way too amazing to be true. "When a man is riding through this desert by night and for some reason -falling asleep or anything else -he gets separated from his companions and wants to rejoin them, he hears spirit voices talking to him as if they were his companions, sometimes even calling him by name. Often these voices lure him away from the path and he never finds it again, and many travelers have got lost and died because of this. Sometimes in the night travelers hear a noise like the clatter of a great company of riders away from the road; if they believe that these are some of their own company and head for the noise, they find themselves in deep trouble when daylight comes and they realize their mistake.† ---- Marco Polo  Travels Quoted above is an account from the Marco Polo travels, an excerpt which indicates the hardships which he and even his companions had to face on their way to Cathay. Analyzing the excerpt, like the one quoted above, one may literally experience the intensity of hardships on the way, also the feelings of helplessness and extreme hunger and isolation while there is no way back. One might even start imagining that he is rather accompanying Marco Polo on his journey, given the quality of writings produced by Marco Polo where he has poured his heart out. Since Marco Polo`s father was a great merchant who had visited Cathay early on for trade, he had the honor of having met Kublai Khan, the emperor of Cathay, and thus the emperor had bestowed the merchant with a VIP passport, which allowed them to access horsebacks and other necessities and luxuries when the Polo brothers were to accompany their father. Relying on these where he experienced an adrenaline rush all that time while he was away, having gathered both good and bad tim es with him driving on either extreme like a pendulum. However, his stay in Cathay being close to Kublai Khan was rather more of a compensation for all he had experienced during his journey, and once Kublai Khan died, the miseries of Marco Polo still continued however these miseries contributed towards the writings

Pacoima City Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Pacoima City - Research Paper Example It is the state of the city which determines whether the areas safe for living that is in terms of physical factors and social factors which are known as city form. Analysing political and social factors clearly describe how the city looks like and it will be so important for investors and people who may have interest in taking part in the activities of the city. Walkability is defined as a measure of how an area is friendly for walking. Walkability has many economic benefits, environmental benefits and health benefits. Walkability is influenced by a number of factors; these factors include the absence or the presents of quality sidewalks, footpaths or other right of way of pedestrians, road and traffic conditions, building accessibility, and land use patterns among others. Pedestrian travel provides both individuals and society with a wide range of benefits. Planners and public health officials alike have been promoting policies that improve the quality of the built environment for pedestrians: mixed land uses, interconnected street networks, sidewalks and other facilities (Cao, 2006). Whether such policies will prove effective remains open to debate. In particular, two issues need further attention. First, the impact of the built environment on pedestrian behaviour may depend on the purpose of the trip, whether for the purposes of utilitarian or recreational. Second, the connection between the built environment and pedestrian behaviour may be more a matter of residential location choice than of travel choice (Cao, 2006). This study aims to provide new evidence on both questions. Studies have found out that although residential self-selection impacts both types of trips, it is the most important factor explaining walking to a destination for instance, shopping. After accounting for self-selection, neighbourhood characteristics, more specifically the perceptions of these characteristics, impact strolling frequency, while characteristics of local commercial area s are important in facilitating these trips such as shopping. Additionally, walkability has proved to have more community health benefits and individually, those activities appears to increase the number of friends and the number of people to associate with in life and also social interaction at large. Carbon monoxide emissions will be reduced because when people prefer walking opposed to driving there will be less emission of carbon gases. Walkability has also economic benefits apart from other benefits, this include the accessibility, it saves cost to both the public and individuals, it will increase the use of land and there will be no land to be wasted, increase in liveability and also the economic benefits which will be found by improving public and individual health and economic developing among the other benefits. The benefits are mostly guaranteed to the entire city not only limited to certain routes which are specialized. According to the American institute for cancer resea rch and the world cancer research fund they released their report that the people should be encouraged walking, because that walking will decrease the cancer infection. Literature Review Walkability is that measure of how a particular area is friendly to walking. It has health-wise, economic and environmental benefits. There are many factors that influence walkability which include land use patterns, building accessibility, traffic and