"We started early in the morning to catch the ferry across the Tsangpo. For the last time on the expedition, Tsering got out his spade and dug a grave in the ground to bury the remains of the visit to the camp. The two Land Cruisers, the truck, and all of us were loaded onto the ferry. The ferry was attached to a twisted steel cable that joined the two opposite banks of the river. The operators, men and women, adjusted the cable, so the ferry magically reached the other shore. Magically, because it was difficult to comprehend how the mechanism worked against the powerful current when there were no motors involved. I admired the genius and social commitment of bodhisattva Thang Stong Rgyal Po and his disciples, who had first conceived the ferry at Saga. This crossing saved us about two hundred and fifty kilometres of driving on roads riddled with potholes."

--from Here Be Yaks by Manosi Lahiri

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