Thank you, Ladakh

 

Thank you, Ladakh

Leh Diary - 4 last

Though a great suggestion, BRO stands for Border Roads Organisation here

We had already decided not to go further to Chushul, ahead of Pangong, but return to Leh town and spend a day in the area. Taking the same road back to Diskit in Nubra Valley, we reached the fork where the tines lead to either Chang La or Diskit and we turned towards Chang La, the pass which connects Leh and Shyok river valley.

By the way, Shyok means ‘the river of death’ but this tributary of Indus has been the lifeline for the people of the area.

Geographically a daunting area, it is also avalanche-prone. The journey is arduous and the rocky heights make you dizzy. The roads are perennially under repair or widening which makes the stretch very dusty. It was so dry that my exposed skin got red and itchy and if I touched the inside of my painful nose, it’d bleed a micro-drop. Chapped in a mild word to what happened to my lips even under the mask. When you pack for the trip, take moisturizers for your skin and Boroline/Boroplus or use lip balm/lipstick/lip conditioner.

I was told that construction work pays very little money. Therefore, the local people prefer to go to the plains for work, especially in restaurants and eateries. Almost all the migrant labourers I talked to, were from Dumka and Giridih districts in Jharkhand. Most of them come in April-May and leave before Diwali and Chhath when the area starts to close for the winter. They are brought for this hard physical labour by mates or contractors who sadly keep a large percentage of the payment for themselves and give extremely basic meals and a small lump sum for the six months that they work here.

Although notified through an SMS message that traffic would stop for road repairs, there was some confusion about the timing (10 am - 2.00 pm or 12 noon to 4.00 pm.). We were fortunate that we had to wait at the work site for only ten minutes because the workers had not yet arrived and we drove through.

My experience at Chang La was as underwhelming as at Khardung La. We stopped only to take a couple of pictures and a cup of kahwa. The yellow steaming beverage - sickly sweet and smelling and tasting only of kesar (saffron) and cardamom, was nothing like the kind a senior colleague Mukta Magazine had treated me to (ages ago and the memory of which lingers), but it brought some relief to my rasped throat.

The road from Kharu to Leh is rough on your system. I wonder how people used to travel before rubber technology improved to the present level when thankfully you do not face flat tyres or vehicles spluttering, slowing and finally jerking to a stop.

En route to Leh we stopped for a while at the Hemis monastery. We went into the souvenir shop, looked at and admired the articles, cluck-clucked our tongues at the prices and came out. I went up the few steps to the prayer wheel (it is also called Mani wheel!), spinned it, and told God it was His fault for making me the way I am, came down and out, shirking from climbing up the steps as I had done at the Thiksey Monastery, near Diskit, (with the Maitreyi Buddha) So much for tapasya to attain bliss!

The next stop was Druk Padma Karpo School or Rancho’s school as we know from 3 Idiots. The giant gate leads you into a regular school with an impressive building and large grounds. It has visiting hours and we could not afford the two hour wait for the evening slot, so the least I owe you is sharing this, extracted from 

https://www.hindustantimes.com/education/3-idiots-fame-rancho-s-school-in-ladakh-wants-to-be-known-by-real-name/story-KcsfpJHi1Ix8FL0hX8UUWP.html:

Keeping in mind, the influx of tourists from all parts of India and few parts of the world, a duplicate wall has been created on the other side of the school in another area, with an iron mesh door separating the two sides, carrying a sign - ‘Private gate, no public thoroughfare’, so that no tourist can wander in the academic campus.

 “We have created a visitor’s centre and a Rancho’s Cafe, photo zone to allow them to enjoy without disturbing the school which has over 800 students,” said the school’s vice-chairperson Tsering Motup.

Yet the boards outside the school and the souvenir shop beckon the visitors using Rancho’s name.

The light and sound show on Kargil war at the Hall of Fame in the evenings is not something to be missed. It brings to life the tough fight that our valiant soldiers put up during this war in 1999 without stopping to think of their own present or future or to hesitate in making the supreme sacrifice, just so that we can live safely.

Now tell me - don’t you sometimes feel that words or images cannot recreate wondrous beauty the way eyes soak them in or the mind captures them? That is the exact feeling I had during the visit next morning to Sindhu Sangam, about 35 km from Leh on the superb Leh-Srinagar highway.

The muddy water of river Zanskar meets the sparkling blue water of Indus River resulting in the brown of a poorly made cup of tea (sorry for the simile). Let the photo speak for me, please. (During summer, people enjoy rafting on the waters.)

It was time to attend the ardaas at Paththar Sahib Gurudwara. The legend goes that Guru Nanak came here to alleviate the suffering of the people tormented by a demon. Angered, the giant threw a rock at the Guru to kill him, but the latter stopped it with his body and the imprint of his body got made on the rock which is still there. (It is somewhat similar to the story about Panja Sahib, now in Pakistan).

Left: Map showing Guru Nanak's travel route Right: Board tells the story connected with the site of the gurudwara

Photos: Gyanesh Tiwari  

The langar (free community meals) has been discontinued in these Covid times and tea and biscuits are offered. As the warm kadah parshad (wheat flour halwa made in clarified butter) went down my throat, I was overwhelmed with gratitude that I had the opportunity to visit this unique sacred site. The gurudwara is maintained by the army.

Takeaways from Ladakh

…because the trip was a new lesson in life for me.

• The young local boys working at the petrol stations are mostly students who had to give up school and college and return home due to Covid lockdown. It is so easy for us to ramble about online education when the fact is that cellphone reception and network is spotty in these towns and internet is almost non-existent. (Yet if you want a break from your life revolving around social media, pack your bags and trudge up north.)
• There are very few petrol filling stations in the area, so top up before you start.  
• The small hotels were to close for winter around Oct 20. The owner explained that there is negligible winter tourist inflow to this snowbound area. This makes it uneconomical to run them considering high heating charges.
• Thousands of litres of bottled water is consumed by the incomers to the valley because they are not sure if they can 'digest' the water people drink here.
• My guess is Julius Maggi     https://www.nestle.com/aboutus/history/nestle-company-history/julius-maggi-cubes-consommes-creativity   would not have earned so much from the patent as Nestle has from the sale of its well-loved favourite with his name. One omnipresent item on the menu of all eating joints in the area is Maggi (noodles). It is not so easy to find thukpa, momos or any other traditional foods at roadside stalls or small restaurants, but Maggi is served everywhere.     

Perhaps it is time Nestle, Royal Enfield, bottled water companies and oil firms come forward to pay back the people who are keeping them in business without any ego issues.

• Saluting the struggle of those unknown construction workers who leave homes and towns to earn their livelihood in such ruthless conditions, perhaps visitors can carry donations of bread/biscuits/healthy food options, and woollens instead of handing out chocolates worth a few rupees to silence their own conscience.

https://devilonwheels.com/turtuk-detailed-travel-guide/

• Can ecologists tell us if the green fee of Rs 400 is enough to repair the damages to the environment by the hundreds of vehicles and indifferent tourists?
• Of course, it is the duty and within the capacity of the authorities to widen roads, build more toilets and pillars on viewpoints, yet the tourists and visitors also need to show more understanding, patience and more importantly, civic sense. (I would love to find a way to take up with the BRO authorities, Mr Krishna Mohan’s suggestion for putting up bio-toilets in these areas.)
• Our team member AVS suggested that every capable Indian should visit this place once in his lifetime, not just to admire the pristine beauty but to appreciate the work our army is doing and experience the hard life the people of this mostly unfriendly terrain, lead.
• For those of you who have asked, we carried an oxygen concentrator with us because two members of our team had fought Covid this summer. I smiled when at every security check, the person in uniform looked askance. Were they wondering - can’t these people just sit at home and watch TV or surf internet?

I wish that the gentleman who writes the signboards for the BRO (photos above and below) does not retire or else we would be deprived of enjoying his wit. (Concluded)

         

                                                                                               -Anupama S Mani