# data[].attributes.body
While trying to get to Iran, Denis and Francis had to reroute their travel because they weren't able to get into Iran the way they had attempted to. There weren't many foreigners according to Denis. Denis and Francis claimed it was a really beatiful silk road city. In Uzbekistan, it was required that Denis and Francis had different visas for every city they visited there. On their attempt to leave, they struggled to get across the friendship bridge because they didn't have a visa for the bridge. Denis and Francis got held up and couldn't continue. After waiting for a while, Denis and Francis went up to the guards and said that they were Americans and they didn't want an international incident. The guard then said that all they had to do was pay a fine and they could pass. The travellers faced troubles in Uzbekistan with the necessary visas whereas Marco Polo didn't struggle with such things because international travel wasn't as guarded as it is today.

# data[].attributes.body
Denis and Francis experienced a lot of exotic foods here. In 1993, Afghanistan's war with Russia had finnished. Armed Mujahideens then took rule over the country. Denis and Francis encountered scary situations with fire fights involving rockets and machine guns. Marco Polo had been given a golden tablet that said they should be given lodging and horses as they needed. Something similar occurred for Denis and Francis. Denis and Francis recieved a letter of introduction from a Afghanistan comrade. They entered Mujahideen territory. They were brought into a room with the commander whose brother had written the letter. He offerred them a helicopter because where Denis and Francis were goign were dangerous places. Denis and Francis were then supplied with twenty-five guards.

# data[].attributes.body
Marco Polo had described a recling Buddha in China. Denis and Francis had visited the reclinging Buddha. Denis siad " We spent so many hours in front of it that it became like a meditation on not the past but the present, and that's what the Buddha said." Denis and Francis described how this old artwork that was described by Marco Polo taught them to focus on the present not the past and they really used this because they were starting to get tired because they had been travelling for a year at this point. They were tired and then realized that they must live in the moment.

# data[].attributes.body
I would personally like to travel to Sumatra. Sumatra doesn't particularily sound luxurious, but it's rich in culture. Francis and Denis had visited Sumatra and described how the people lived naturally and of the land. The people of Sumatra had art in the form of tattoos. Their belief in tattoos being like clothing that they wear proudly reminds me of my family's backgroundin Hawaii where tattoos were a cultural thing that is important.

# data[].attributes.body
Denis and Francis had started in the city Kashgar just as Marco Polo had. Denis and Francis had entered the dangerous, cold, Taklamakan desert. The desert was known to cause travellers to hear whispers and make them wander off track and get lost in the desert forever. As Denis and Francis went through the desert, they fell upon homes with names on the doors of every individual living inside. Marco Polo had also described these doors with names on them. These names determined the tax for each home. While in China, the travellers struggled with officers asking them for their passports. The travellers decided to fight back. They had then travelled through the desert of Lop just as Marco Polo had. The difference was that near the road through the desert of Lop was a nuclear testing plant where the Chinese tested their weapons. The travellers also saw these wise philosophers and physicians that were also described by Marco Polo.

# data[].attributes.body
When Denis and Francis arrived in Mongolia, they had said it was like entering the 13th century. As Marco Polo had described these circular houses covered with felt and could be carried on wagons, Denis and Francis saw these as well. Marco Polo had described how they served sheep and how they prepared them. Marco Polo said that they would cut open the chest of a sheep and take out some of the organs. They would then let the blood collect in the chest and they would use the blood to make their meals with the meat they collected from the sheep. Francis and Denis had also experienced this preparation of sheep. Denis was a photographer and described the lighting in Mongolia as spectacular. Densi and Francis said they really loved Mongolia.

# data[].attributes.body
Denis and Francis had struggled trying to get to the Indonesian island of Sumatra. They couldn't get any cargo shipping company to sponser them and let them board as passengers. Denis and Francis had done a radio show saying they needed sponsership. The company P&O offered to assist. The cargo ship took them to Sumatra. While in Sumatra, the people there strongly expressed their culture. The people expressed their art of tattoos. They used a soot/ash mized with water or oil and tapped the ink into the skin with a sea ray spine. Their tattoos had been like clothes to them, they felt that they were and expression of who they were. A struggle for the travellers was getting to Sumatra on a boat while Marco Polo was given royal passage by Kubla Khan.

# data[].attributes.body
Francis and Denis were the first Americans since 1979. Marco Polo described the country as large and had eight kingdoms. The heat was so extreme they needed ventilators.  Marco Polo had described a struggle in his journey. He described the Valley of Assassins. This was a murderous midevil sect where young men were drugged and were essentially controlled by other people that told them to kill. Denis and Francis didn't experience this aspect of the Valley of Assassins. While in Iran, the travellers experienced a chanting parade of people screaming death to America. This was a dangerous time for Denis and Francis because they were americans.