At Mani Genkok in eastern Tibet a big three-day festival, the first in ten years, is dedicated to the legendary King Gesar of Ling and has attracted thousands of nomads from far and wide. They have set up their tents on the big plain, and all are dressed in their very best clothes. The women are wearing large chunks of amber on their heads and heavy jewelry made from coral, turquoise and agate inherited from their grandmothers and great-grandmothers. The men are wearing coats edged with animal skins and long cutlasses in silver sheaths tucked through their belts. July 2004.