Ladakh, India in 60+ Shots

If I am to recommend one place of all the amazing spots we had the privilege to visit, it will be this remote corner of India. The light shines brighter here, the rivers are crystal clear and the air is so crisp that the green of the trees appears to be a shade of emerald I have never seen before. Ladakh is like a little Tibet, with culture deeply rooted in meditation, devotion and peaceful kindness similar to the one we experienced in the high mountains of Nepal.

For centuries this area has been an important crossroad of South Asian trade caravans. Its culture has been shaped by transmission of goods and ideas from Tibet, Yarkand, Kashmir, Afghanistan and city states like Samarkand and Bukhara, all connected together by the ancient Silk Road.

Here we traveled in our favorite mode: slowly and on foot savoring sights so magnificent that I had to pinch myself often as to make sure I was not dreaming it all up. The simple rhythm of each day lulled us in a state so tranquil that we could have kept on walking forever… Really! This time around we were light as feathers with no heavy backpacks strapped to our backs as we made our way down the Markha Valley. It was a surprise to find very few hikers, no trail blazes and wilderness that charmed us beyond words. We climbed again to 5.200 meters above sea level to see desert mountains stretching till the eye can see. The bare hills kept changing colors from sandy to purple to blue and then to streaks of multicolored rocks sandwiched together vertically. Flowers were in full bloom and the mountain was enveloped in sweet fragrances and decorated in bursts of bright colors. The sky though made the biggest impression on me. On clear days it is pure ultramarine blue as if squeezed straight from a paint tube and animated with cute fluffy white clouds.

We stayed with local families along the way getting an authentic taste of Ladakhi life. Our guide Stanzin enhanced our experience tremendously as unlike in Nepal, home stays here had none of the guesthouse feel. Without him we would feel a little like intruders as none of our hosts spoke much English. We ate on the floor with the family, helped prepare traditional meals, slept on little carpets and covered with questionable blankets just like them. We bathed in freezing waters and used the much functional dry toilets – a little factory for garden manure.

Life in the mountains of Ladakh is full of simple chores. Both women and men scurry around always busy – feeding the animals, chasing goats for milking, cooking, tending the garden, sweeping … but always with a smile on their faces and enough time for a chat and a cup of tea.

Ladakhis have prospered in one of the most unforgiving corners of our planet. Winter here is harsh and it lingers for eight months. Heavy snow cuts out the area from the rest of India and roads are open for only four months of the year. Summers are scorchingly hot. Yet, people here have succeeded to make the high plateau of Tibet a welcoming home. Their secret: a sustainable economy based on cooperation, self reliance and fierce preservation and protection of natural resources. Knowledge is guarded, cherished and passed on from generation to generation. Children are raised to know farming, house building and all the skills one needs to survive here.

We in the West can learn a lot from the Ladakhis – a model society not driven by profit but care for the community as a whole.

Jullee!

~ M.