Part graphic novel travelog part tongue-in-cheek travel guide here are the adventures of caustic cartoonist Rall in the wild and wooly central Asian countries; a powder keg sitting on tomorrow's oil. Combining articles with comics chapters this volume relates his experiences re-tracing the old legendary Silk Road starting with the sublime history of China and ending in the absurdity of the petty dictatorships of the 'The Stans' where Rall had the temerity - or was it blustery stupidity? - to go back including once with a group of listeners to his radio show on a dare. It's exotic adventure satire and a fun way to find out more about a part of the world that looms in importance with its immense reserves of oil.