Documentary, 108 min.
Coproduction

Title E:	The Saltmen of Tibet
Title F:	La caravane du sel au Tibet

by Ulrike Koch

Switzerland / Germany, April 1997

Since time immemorial, the nomadic herdsmen of northern Tibet have lived in an extremely harsh environment on the high plateau of the Himalayas, pasturing their yaks in the highest meadows of the world. In the spring of each year, the men of one tribe of nomads sets off with their robust pack animals on the long and difficult journey to the salt lakes. These lakes in the Himalayas are among the world’s largest reserves of salt, which is increasingly exploited on an industrial basis, and transported away by truck. The film follows one of the traditional nomadic caravans, steeped in religious ritual but doomed by technological progress, as its sets off to the salt lakes with well over a hundred yaks which will be used to haul this “white gold” back to their native valleys.