Enmeshed in la la land — part 2
The long road… to apricots!
Read the first part of the article here.
Look! look! said Prasenjit. “I’m looking southwards and see a six kilometer high mountain!” As seen from the Shanti Stupa in Leh, the towering summit of Stok Kangri rises distinctly above the valley, giving its inhabitants a permanent ever-changing canvas to reflect within and without. We were on an unplanned detour crossing one mountain range after another; headed towards Zanskar, an idea which seemed increasingly theoretical…
‘The plan’
Having never traveled to Zanskar before, we were unsure of how to reach, yet strangely confident that we would — one way or another. We had rough information on the various routes we could take. The traditional, longer route from Manali involves the arduous, high altitude Manali-Leh highway. After that, one reaches Zanskar via Kargil — another equally long road trip. There is a shorter path, one that diverges shortly after Keylong and crosses a high mountain pass called the Shingo-la. We had heard that the pass may be motorable in a four wheel drive vehicle significantly cutting down travel time.
Of course, we had to get to Manali first. Prasenjit and Ishan were in Dharamsala, amidst heavy monsoon showers. The bus services on the route had been suspended for a few days due to landslide, and after a four day wait, they ended up taking a much longer circuitous route. I was in another high altitude valley called Spiti, two high passes away from Manali, but thankfully the road was open.
After meeting up in Manali, we hired a taxi till Darcha, an eight hour road trip. We were optimistic that the path across Shingo-la would be open, but nervous about the amount of luggage we were carrying — over a hundred kilograms. Our hopes were dashed when the driver who was supposed to take us over the pass commented that we will need to walk on foot at some point and cross a river stream. The weather was also playing tricks and there was high risk of snow fall on our path across the pass that day. So, we decided to take the longer detour via Leh. In an instant what was to be a three day journey, became a seven day adventure. The mountains have a way of enforcing their own will!
Detour
In a stroke of sheer luck, we found three taxi drivers staying overnight at Darcha. They were planning to return to Leh the following morning. So, like a royal procession, we each sat alone — one taxi per person as the convoy sped to Leh. On the way, I was surprised to find the road in much better shape than just two years ago, when I had traveled to setup Skynet in Ladakh with Mikko, another friend and returning visitor to these high valleys. We left early morning, and reached around sun down.
The following morning, we contacted Geshe Lobsang Tseten (or as we call him, Geshe-la). He was visiting Zanskar after eight years himself, and had arrived a few weeks before us. At 3500 meters (11,500 feet) Prasenjit and Ishan were feeling the effects of high altitude, so we decided to take it easy. The equipment we had mailed to Zanskar was still stuck in Leh, so we decided to track it down, an endeavor that would take us a couple of days. The main market in Leh was full of local apricots, a fruit that can be described as nothing short of heavenly. We were also secretly yearning for Zanskari apricots after having tasted the ones that Sandup had brought back to Dharamsala.
Samphal-la, Geshe-la’s brother, Sandup’s father and our to-be-host was also in town and came to meet us. He arranged a shared taxi that would take us straight to Zanskar. The driver said he would show up the following morning but only did so late in the afternoon, his vehicle needing repairs. And so, another long road journey began. At some point late in the evening after crossing Kargil, our path transitioned to a collection of rocks and loosely defined vehicle marks on a high altitude desert. As we hobbled through the dark of the night, our only gauge of where we were was the roar of the water echoing in the valley, and stark, steep outlines of the mountain range we were driving along. After more than a week of spiraling around our destination, we were on the home stretch!
As our tired eyes opened up to the first bit of dawn sunlight, we were left gasping. Before us lay a wide open expanse bordered by mountain ranges that seemed to be without end. The four corners of the sky stretching over the four corners of the valley, each telling its own story. One, the deep blue cobalt above the valley leading to Ladakh. Two, in Dharamsala’s direction, mountains buffeted by dark clouds — always threatening, never transcending. Three, over the road we came from, golden as if a child took a crayon and went mad with it. Four, a bright spotlight through the clouds shining on a lone white mountain.
Eventually, our vehicle stopped, the constant drudge of its engine coming to a halt. It took a while for our bodies to adjust to not being constantly thrown around. As the driver got out and started speaking to some locals in Zanskari, the crimson robed figure of Geshe-la approached. Our long journey had finally come to an end. We had reached the land beyond!
***
The first few days were spent acclimatizing our bodies and spirits to the tempo of this place. In the house were Geshe-la, Sandup’s sister, and the three of us. We were also visited by lots of curious neighbors. Slowly, we would have to start exploring the valley, get to know its people, understand culture, make a plan, and deploy a solar powered community mesh network.
And yeah… the apricots? Stay tuned for part 3!
