Introduction by Claire
Jen Stacey is a geography teacher in the UK and has a passion for travel. She has traversed the globe and been to many places most of us can only dream of, visiting wilderness locations to climb and trek. I’m sure she has inspired many of her students to follow in her footsteps and as the school coordinator for outdoor education she has introduced thousands of children to adventure activities. This summer she visited the Ladakh region in India and has kindly written this article for PTR. Ladakh is a region in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir between the Kunlun mountain range in the north and the main Great Himalayas to the south. It is one of the most sparsely populated regions in the area. Ladakh is renowned for its remote mountain beauty and culture and an area any photographer would aspire to visit.
by Jen Stacey
Described as being more Tibetan than Tibet, the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir is a region of high altitude desert. Arriving at 3500m requires at least two days of doing very little before it is possible to walk up and down the street without becoming breathless. After three days, it is possible to begin moderate exercise – a downhill trip of twenty-five kilometres in 2.5 hours…. this doesn’t sound so bad, apart from being a raft trip on the Indus River on Grade 3 water. Excellent river guides ensured the safe arrival of the whole team at the lunch spot, before transfer by jeep to Chilling for the first night of camping. CAMPING!!!
This was the first night of an eight day trek in the region and was spent on a small campsite at Chilling. The village is the home of a disappearing brass and silverware trade – craftsmen working by hand, producing intricately wrought items.
Unfortunately, there are only four tradesmen left in the village – but well worth a visit if you are in the area.
The trek proper began the following morning by crossing the Zanskar river by a box and cable ‘flying fox’. The anticipation was definitely worse than the event!
Walking on the flat or a slight downhill gradient was no trouble at all after four days, but even at this stage any slight uphill incline could still cause a few problems. All of these were eclipsed by the fabulous scenery – likened at times to being similar to the moon! Dry, stark, dramatic. Superlatives do not do justice to the region. Add a blue sky, Buddhist culture and prayer flags and it is almost Heaven.
This is a land of monasteries, mane walls and parachute cafes. The route we took was not particularly remote and it was great to see local women being empowered to take control – the women of the Markha Valley produce apricot derivatives – dried, powdered for drinks, kernels (taste like almonds), cakes, biscuits…. and Seabuckthorne Juice. The women of the Rombuk Valley have embraced the WWF – they have a very rare resource – the snow leopard. I didn’t see one, but it was tantalising to think that I just might.
The trek route took in Ganda La (4900m), Stok La (5100m), and Chortenjen, with the ultimate aim to summit Stok Kangri, (6100m). Some long days were involved with up to 7-8 hours of walking uphill, but every turn provided new breath-taking scenery. Unfortunately, the classic combination of illness, altitude and deteriorating weather put a stop to the final summit attempt. ‘It never rains in Ladakh’. No, sometimes it snows …in August.
As the trek phase came to an end, a new emphasis turned to a local boarding school community project. Some fundraising had taken place prior to the trip, allowing some treats for the Shey Lamdon Model School. In Shey village, about 15km from Leh, the school appears to be prosperous. On closer inspection, it is only as a consequence of a number of significant donations, and a recent re-painting by some French students, that the school has the limited resources it does. Three days of hard work later, we, (the team), had provided and fitted a 5000 litre water tank, put rugs into five bedrooms (sleeping 105 pupils), and build a tarmac path between the dormitories and the shower room. The faces of the pupils were a complete, if unexpected, highlight of the trip.
Other places worth visiting in the valley are the Thiksey monastery, Hemis Monastery, Stok Palace, and Leh palace. Buddhist culture is still part of normal life in this area. Although electricity is now regular, and generator back-up the norm, street lighting does not exist, and so far, the region has escaped the western plague of the ravages of modernisation. Internet cafes abound – but broadband is a distant dream. Tea houses are thriving, a great pity about the water quality, but what is still evident are communities that care, where everyone has time for everyone else, where compassion is a way of life, and one is never far away from the sound of ‘Juley’ – the multipurpose word – hello..goodbye…please..thank-you…
When transport was required, we employed taxi’s from the union – by far the safest. Of driving, we came to the conclusion it was so dangerous that it was actually relatively safe (as long as someone else was doing it!). It only took going round a roundabout in the wrong direction to come to this conclusion!
Flying out of Leh signified the end of the trip, but no visit to India is complete without a visit to the Taj Mahal – it must be seen at least once! It exceeds all expectations and pre-conceptions. What more can be said?
The trip was organised by Adventurework, in the UK, with Rimo Expeditions being the in-country agent. Both offered excellent pre and during visit support. If you expect to lose weight on a trek in India, forget it – four nights into the trek and supper was pizza and chips, followed by Chocolate cake! Leh accommodation was at the Mogol Hotel – up-market by Leh standards, and relatively expensive at $50 per night. That did include three meals per day and all meals were prepared using pressure treated spring water (a.k.a. clean), which dramatically reduced the chances of catching anything nasty.
Links
Snow leopard search – tour
Share on Facebook
