Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?…
from the ever-estimable xkcd
As we sublimate our similes, we might recall that it was on this date in 1254 that William of Rubruck, a Flemish Franciscan missionary and explorer, broke camp to begin the final leg of his journey to the court of the Great Khan at Karakorum. William’s account of the trek, The journey of William of Rubruck to the eastern parts of the world, 1253-55: as narrated by himself with two accounts of the earlier journey of John of Pian de Carpine, is a masterpiece of medieval geographical literature comparable to the account of Marco Polo.
The journey of William of Rubruck (source- and larger version)
Your correspondent is himself headed back to Mongolia– not to Karakorum, but near enough– so regular service will be suspended until mid-April.
Conquering the world on horseback is easy; it is dismounting and governing that is hard.
– Genghis Khan