You are about to leave Ravu to cross the cold, uninhabited high-altitude plateau towards Mount Kailash. Lhamo, your nomad host, offers you a long-sleeved sheepskin coat ('drokba' coat). What do you do?, Respectfully decline—it looks bulky and traditional, and you prefer your modern western jackets., Accept the coat gratefully—you realize arctic temperatures on high passes require heavy local protection., Offer to buy it for cash instead of accepting it as a farewell gift., Ask Tsetan if you can pack extra cotton blankets in the car instead., Your car ascends to 5,215 meters. A sharp, narrow mountain turn is blocked by frozen snow and sheer ice over a steep drop. The car tires slip dangerously. What is your survival move?, Get out of the car to lighten the load while Tsetan throws dirt over the slippery ice for tire traction., Cancel the expedition and turn back to Ravu immediately., Speed up and drive over the frozen ice quickly before it cracks., Have everyone push the car manually from behind while Tsetan revs the engine., You reach Hor on the shores of Lake Manasarovar expecting a sacred, heavenly paradise described in ancient travelogues. Instead, you find piles of garbage, dust, and broken concrete. How do you react?, Ignore the trash and write a mystical, romantic entry in your travel diary anyway., Record the grim reality of environmental pollution and contrast it with ancient accounts (Kawaguchi / Sven Hedin)., Refuse to stay in Hor and demand Tsetan drive all night without stopping., Try to organize a clean-up drive with the local tea shop owner., You reach Darchen (4,760m). At night, your chest feels heavy, one nostril is blocked, and you gasp for air. You are terrified that if you sleep, you won't wake up. What do you do?, Take strong sleeping pills to force yourself to sleep through the pain., Demand Tsetan drive you back down to sea level immediately in the dark., Stay awake all night sitting upright, and visit the Darchen Medical College in the morning., Perform high-altitude breathing exercises until sunrise., You are stranded in Darchen off-season. There are no pilgrims, and you don't want to do the *kora* alone. You meet Norbu, an academic from Beijing who has a big belly and hates carrying luggage. What do you do?, Reject Norbu because he lacks physical fitness and mountaineering experience., Give up on the *kora* completely and return to Lhasa., Wait in Darchen for a month until devout religious pilgrims arrive., Team up with Norbu—embrace your shared status as "academics escaped from the library" and hire yaks for luggage., Driving past a nomad's (*drokba*) woven yak-hair tent, a massive, black dog with a red collar spots your vehicle. It explodes into motion, charging straight toward your car at terrifying speed. What do you do?, Slam on the brakes and get out of the car to show you are not a threat., Keep driving as Tsetan swerves and accelerates; the dog aggressively chases the car for hundreds of meters before giving up., Throw food out the window to distract the dog., Honk the horn repeatedly to scare it away., Driving across the vast, arid Changtang plateau, you see a massive, billowy cloud of dust rising on the horizon, moving rapidly across the stony wilderness. What is it?, A sudden desert sandstorm that requires you to pull over immediately., A flock of nomad sheep being driven by 'drokbas.', A local military convoy patrolling the high border plateau., A herd of wild Tibetan asses (kyang) galloping together in tight, synchronized formation across the plains., You reach the highest point of your mountain road—a 5,515-meter pass marked by a cairn of rocks and prayer flags. The car engine struggles, and Tsetan gets out and unscrews the fuel tank cap, releasing a loud 'HISS.' What is happening?, The engine is overheating and about to burst into flames., Extremely low atmospheric pressure has caused fuel vapors to expand inside the tank, requiring safe pressure release., The fuel has frozen solid in the arctic temperatures., Tsetan is draining excess fuel to lighten the car for the steep descent., You arrive at the dusty town of Hor. Daniel (who accompanied you from Lhasa) needs to return to Lhasa and finds a passenger seat in a truck carrying salt. You are left behind in Hor with Tsetan. How do you feel?, Isolated and despondent, feeling the weight of your solitary journey as a companion departs., Relieved because you prefer traveling completely alone., Angry at Daniel for leaving you before reaching Mount Kailash., Indifferent, because Tsetan is still driving the car., Suffering from a headache and disappointment in Hor, you enter a cold, draughty concrete cafe to get a hot drink. A young Chinese boy serves you. How is it served?, In a pristine porcelain cup filled with fragrant, hot butter tea., In a thermos flask meant for long-distance truck drivers., In a plain glass brought by a youth who spreads grease across your table with a filthy rag., You are handed tea leaves and a kettle to boil your own water., Sitting alone in Darchen's cafe feeling sick and out of options, a man sees you reading an English book and strikes up a conversation in fluent English. He turns out to be Norbu. What surprises you about him?, He is a devout, ascetic monk who walks barefoot., He is an academic from Beijing with a large belly who admits he is far too out-of-shape to carry his own pack or prostrate himself in the dirt., He is a wealthy tourist with a team of mountain guides., He is a local doctor offering a cure for altitude sickness.

SILK ROAD

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