August 28th (Ladakh Lakes #7)

Shashank’s birthday might have been the best day of the trip for all of us! We had been working to put together a little card for him- with Gabriella’s doodles and messages from us all that we glued together with candle wax. We were heading to a new field site that day. It was the first time we were leaving the tourist circuit and we were all excited to see what we would find. The journey was incredible. Stoic brown mountains would open out in bits into green meadows and we could see marmots popping in and out of the ground like they were performing a song in a Disney Movie.Soon, we reached the Indus. It was the first time any of us was encountering this fierce river that has shaped so much of the sub-continent’s history. Almost as soon as we crossed the river, it felt like the landscape began to change. Like most other people, I’d seen hundreds of photographs of Ladakh before ever going there and this was not even my first trip up there. Besides, we had already been in the field for over a week so I didn’t expect to be surprised. But  the landscape changed fast and I was completely stunned. Brown mountains turned to purple and then white and then black. I had never imagined rocks and sand or mountains could ever look like this. As if the place wasn't stunning enough, we spotted two black necked cranes just by the side of the highway, at a spot that isn’t commonly known to have them and were able to get  a closer look than even Tso Kar. Shashank managed to get some beautiful photographs too- talk about a happy birthday!

Onwards, the landscape only got more magical. Small towns, propped up on jagged hills looked like mystical kingdoms and herds of Kiang ran across the valley and  I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. But it was about to get better still. As we ascended towards our field site, clouds covered the sky and it began to hail. Suddenly, the vast brown landscape was speckled with white and just as we turned a corner, we saw a lake literally sparkling in the distance. We made our way towards the most surreal place I’ve ever been. The lake was a crystal blue that I’ve never seen before in a natural environment. We were freezing but were very excited to take the Trident out because it looked like there could be a dragon living in the depths!

We completed our field work and needed to head to another lake for a survey. But delayed by road blocks and hail; we were way behind schedule and had not had a chance to eat lunch. There was a lone tent by the side of this lake and Topden, our resourceful driver had no intention of skipping lunch. He was familiar with this area because he used to come here to assist with medical camps and vaccination programs. He spoke with the lady at the tent who graciously agreed to have us in for lunch. The tent was beautiful. IT was bright , so clean and well organized and the lake listened through the entrance. We communicated in pieces and smiles through Topden and she fed us fresh butter and curd and this was probably my favourite moment in the whole trip.

Having completed the other lake survey we returned to our rest house for the night which was at a monastery. Situated in the midst of barren brown lands, this bright and colourful building stood out magnificently. We were looking at this royal structure when Shashank called out to us to rush to come see something. The excitement was well worth it because a puppy about the size of his face was waddling towards us. He was a ball of fluff and excitement- he looked like an animation of a puppy. The rest of our time there was spent playing with and squishing this puppy..

After a fresh and warm dinner, cooked so kindly and eaten in the warm kitchen, we created an ad-hoc (but as indulgent) version of a serradura as Shashank’s birthday cake with condensed milk, marie biscuits, Dairy Milk chocolate and coffee powder. We then sat around together after dinner feasting on this bowl of (mostly) cream, and playing cards. At one point, Gaby, Raghav and I walked out of the monastery to use the washroom and when we were walking back in, we all paused at the entrance of the Monastery. I forget why we stopped there in the first place, but once we were there, we couldn’t leave. We stopped talking and it was one of those moments, when you could feel your mind making a memory. It was pitch dark and the you could just about distinguish the structure of the monastery but we could smell the incense that had been burning in the evening. Above was a sky densely full of stars. I’m not even sure how long we stood there but I definitely felt very grateful to be there that crisp night. Also grateful to then return  to the warmth of the room to play rummy and beat Raghav in every round :)

High-altitude Desserts (Ladakh Lakes #6)

Driving through the mountains for hours on end makes one hungry. After nine hours of being on the road, the Ladhaki landscape appeared edible.  Dusty brown chocolate truffle mountains, sharp Black Forest cake mountains, purple blueberry pie mountains and soft tiramisu-like caramel colored mountains topped with snow. Running through this delicious landscape is the River Indus: chocolate milkshake making its way through pancake plains. Ladakh is truly the land of high-altitude desserts.

Tso Kar lay at the end of one of these delectable drives, where a hot bowl of Maggie noodles put an end to my food-related hallucinations. Tso Kar, a vast salt water lake, sits at the center of a mosaic of bright green marshland and smooth white salt mounds hosting a range of rare species such as the black-necked crane and the kiang.

The salt mounds and wetlands of the Tso Kar basin

Here in Tso Kar, everything is beautiful. The elegant birds that inhabit the plains, the local people whose sun-wrinkled skin deepens their smiles, the ornate monastery with bright colored murals… I could go on. What I found most beautiful of all was that the community that lives around Tso Kar still follows its nomadic traditions. I found it fascinating that close to a hundred families should pack up their belongings, gather the old and the young and move across the plains through the summer, herding their animals till winter came. Without romanticizing the hardships of their lives, I am in awe of their connection to the landscape and the seasons, their local knowledge and their willingness to follow a nomadic existence in spite of the influence that tourism has had on the region. I wonder how many of the younger nomads value this hard yet beautiful way of living and how many of them have desires of living in a city with access to a school, a hospital and an internet connection.

The Thukje gonpa

With the melting of the snow and the opening of the mountain passes, visitors like myself pour into Ladakh, bringing with us our fast paced, mall-cultured, Swiggy- assisted lives. I wonder if there is a way of amalgamating these two worlds in such a way that the communities that inhabit Tso Kar are able to choose the future they want. I am so grateful to have witnessed this stunning alien landscape at this pivotal moment in time.

The author, with edible mountains behind her.

Arriving in Tso Moriri (Ladakh Lakes #5)

Tso Moriri (as seen from the perspective of Arva, our Mavic 2 Pro)

My diary entry for the 27th of August 2019  begins with “Today was my favourite day in the field by far”. We had  arrived in the small village on the shores of Tso Moriri the previous evening and I took to the place immediately. Wherever I stood, I could see the deep blue of Tso Moriri stretching across for miles. We were lucky to have found a  sweet old couple’s home to stay in, and had already gulped down several cups of the butter tea they provided us with. 

The kitchen in our homestay in Korzok, with a thermos full of hot butter tea.

We began the day at 7.30 am with a drive around the north-western portion of the lake stopping at various points to conduct our surveys.  After a drone flight along the lake shore, we documented the garbage, and then used our Trident to conduct transects along the lake bed. Tso Moriri was the first lake at which we found clear water,  which allowed us to collect some breathtaking footage using the Trident. Since we didn’t have any other travel planned for the 27th, we were all able to take turns to operate the Trident and it was just fun to be able to use it in such a special place. Besides, who can get over this view?

Varaha, our Trident, returning to shore after an excursion in the clear waters of Tso Moriri

We called  a halt to field work by lunch, which was wheat momos and fried rice at a little restaurant in the village. After the ‘mandatory’ afternoon nap, I went out for a cup of tea at a shop near our homestay. The women running the shop lived in Leh, but were working in this village for the summer. They were very warm and welcoming, and we had a nice chat until I asked them what was done with the plastic waste in the area. The conversation stopped abruptly and when I asked again, they pointedly engaged themselves in other activities. A gentleman sitting nearby  answered for them; he organised treks in the area and said they always disposed off the waste responsibly. When I asked how,the conversation ended again. I’m not sure why there was so much hostility around the subject of waste, but I didn’t push anymore.

After tea-time, I joined Gabriella and Shashank for a little excursion. Topden, our driver/guide in Ladakh, knew both the area and some people in a nearby nomadic settlement well, and took us to their campsite for a visit. When we got there, Topden spoke with them and a short while later, we were invited into their tent for tea. Some butter tea, yak cheese, broken conversation and compensating smiles later, we headed back outside. Shashank was carrying the aerial drone with him and Topden asked the crowd whether we met with them whether they would be interested in seeing it in action. Suddenly, the number of people tripled around us, and  after we communicated what was going to happen next, we launched the drone. As the drone flew overhead, a crowd gathered around us. We asked them what they would like to see and they pointed to their grazing sheep. We started to fly the drone in that direction but the sheep began running away from the direction of noise. We switched directions of the flight immediately and showed them images of the pasture, the surrounding mountains, and of themselves, on the drone controller. It was interesting to see even the smallest child was looking at both the flying drone and stream on our phone, seemingly able to make the connection between the two. It was a really fun and fulfilling evening with new firsts for us all. A drone flight for them and yak cheese for me :)

The author flying Arva and showing mmembers of the community an aerial view of their campsite.

Once we returned to the homestay, we sat on the carpet in the dining room and ate dinner while making silly jokes. Before bed, we all watched a few episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and when I finally went to bed, my last thought was that this wasn’t too shabby a workday!