The idea of following Marco Polo is a provocative one. I enjoy Dalrymple's accounts of the journey. However, I did not anticipate the amount of the text that would be devoted to elaborate descriptions of architecture. It seems as though every time the action lags, (for whatever reasons) the author resorts to some sort of florid default. I do not know if the author was schooled in architecture, but it sure seems so from the persistent convention of architectural description. I have nothing against this discipline, but I specifically chose this book because I thought that it would NOT be like a thousand textbooks I have seen on similar subjects. Happily, the "traveller on-the-go" sections were remarkably funny and entertaining.