Leaving Ravu

In 'Silk Road', the travel writer Nick Middleton describes his journey across Tibet to Mount Kailash, the holy mountain. He wants to complete the kora: the pilgrims' walk around the mountain, an act of devotion for Hindus, Buddhists and others.

Before he leaves Ravu, where he has stayed with nomads, Lhamo, a nomad woman, gives him a long-sleeved sheepskin coat as a farewell present. His driver, Tsetan, laughs that he now looks like a real drokba, a Tibetan herder.

Tsetan decides to take a short cut south-west, across high mountain passes. Will it be safe? 'No problem, sir,' he says, 'if there is no snow.'

On the wide plains, they see gazelles, a herd of kyang (Tibetan wild asses) wheeling round in tight formation, and herders with their flocks of sheep and goats.

At the nomads' tents, huge black Tibetan mastiffs charge at the car, barking fiercely. Such dogs were once so valued that they were sent along the Silk Road to the courts of China as tribute, gifts to the emperor.