In Tibet's Changtang region, a clan prepares four of its men for the annual trek to Lake Tsento. Each year, these nomads, and their caravan of 160 yaks make a highly ritualized three-month trek to harvest salt for use in future bartering. After picking an auspicious day to depart, they feast, sing, tell stories, and race horses. During the trek, all is ritualized: they speak the secret language of saltmen; they pray; they observe exemplary behavior. Women are forbidden on this sacred trip. This annual pilgrimage has been taking place for 2,000 years, but never recorded. The saltmen have not yet left their traditions behind for the materialism of the outer world, but due to encroaching modernization their way of life may be soon extinct.