Caravanserais were like pit stops along the Silk Road, but they were also like fortresses. They were places for travellers to rest and drink water and to spend time safe from bandits who might like to steal their goods or animals.

 

Each caravanserai was looked after by a porter and his assistants. They let travellers and their animals in, then locked the large doorway to keep bandits and thieves out.

 

Inside, the travellers had free water and rooms where they could rest, shelter and cook. There was enough room in a caravanserai for hundreds of camels or mules.

People all around the world make silk, but the real silk-maker is the silkworm.

 

When it’s still a caterpillar and before becoming a moth, the silkworm spins a cocoon from a single strand of white or yellow silk. This one strand is about 915 metres long! To make the strand, the silkworm squeezes liquid from a tube in its body. When the liquid dries it becomes silk.

 

To remove the silk from a cocoon, one end of the thread is pulled until the whole strand is unwound. It’s then boiled in soapy water to clean it. The end product is one of the finest materials in the world.