15

I should go over to the other tent and get to know our Tibetan guides.

You risk the biting cold once more and struggle over to the guides' tent. Flickering lamplight casts shadows through the exterior tent walls, and you can hear voices within. You call out a greeting and squeeze inside.

Your four guides are sitting cross-legged on a thick rug in the center of the tent, playing a card game by the light of a flickering gas lantern. When you opened the flap, they were talking animatedly; as you slip inside, they stop talking and view you with a mixture of suspicion and hostility in their eyes. Sangpo, their baby-faced leader, looks at you expectantly as you crouch down next to them.

The guides don't speak English, so this could be challenging. How do you communicate with them?