The Silk Road was a vast trade network connecting Eurasia and North Africa via land and sea routes. Advances in technology and increased political stability caused an increase in trade. The opening of more trade routes caused travelers to exchange many things: animals, spices, ideas, and diseases.A network of mostly land but also sea trading routes, the Silk Road stretched from China to Korea and Japan in the east, and connected China through Central Asia to India in the south and to Turkey and Italy in the west. Those going by sea braved the uncertainties of weather, poorly constructed ships, and pirates.