Lamayuru to Padum

Lamayuru to Padum: a trip diary

Our pony guide with the horses. From left to right: Dolma, Poru, Seri, and Nori.




7/12 Lamayuru to Wanla


It is the first day of our trek and our four ponies are loaded and ready to go. Our pony guide, Sonam, is from a Tibetan refugee colony near Leh, and has taken three days to get here. Sonam will be our pony guide and our cook. My first impressions of Ladakh and Zanskar are that they are lands of great beauty and contrast. Dry, barren landscape is cut by flowing water into canyons and plateaus. Above this tower jagged peaks clothed in snow at the upper regions. Where there is adequate water and a slice of level land is the shocking green of cultivation. We start out in this cultivated land and move abruptly to a desert moonscape of hills and mountains, then plateaus and finally over our first pass, which rewards with glimpses of rock and snow peaks Then we follow a gully set in conglomerates down to the valley where Wanla, our stop for the night, is located.

The geology is fascinating, peaks with layers of conglomerate, rows of fins, and tortured, folded rock that must have seen hell near the earth's center.

Lamayuru



Throughout the journey we see walls and walls of beautifully carved prayer stones. These are in Lamayuru.



Inside Lamayuru Monestary



The contrast between cultivation and desert is incredible



The sun peaks through the clouds at Wanla



7/13 Wanla to Honupatta
We are walking through a maze of valleys and gorges. Down one valley, right turn to go up another, another right turn into a towering gorge with rock walls of 1000 feet rising above a rushing, boiling river, and finally another right turn into a narrow valley perfumed by wild rose bushes. Although there is a lack of vegetation in many areas, there is no lack of color. In the rocks there is black, green, purple, orange, gold, russet, brown, and yellow that glows so brightly I think it must be full of yellowcake (uranium)! We reach Honupatta camp just as it begins to rain.

This was an incredible gorge.



Looking back from Honupatta



7/14 Honupatta to base of Sisir La
We got a late start today, as Sonam had to walk about two hours to retrieve the horses, which he had dropped off last night high up the mountains, where the grazing was better. As we went up the valley it became decidedly more alpine, full of low growing flowers and with views of snowy peaks up ahead. We had planned on going over the Sisir La (La means pass) today, but decided instead to stop at the base of the pass as the valley looked beautiful to explore and there was and unnamed 18,000 foot peak that looked like it might be fun to try to climb.

Sonam carefully leads the horses over a slippery (for horses) rock bridge. The peak we tried to climb is in the background.



This photo is for my geologist readers. The folding is amazing.



7/15-7/16 "Rest Days" at Sisir La base
We awoke to a thick ice fog, wind, rain, and finally snow. It is a good day for reading, not exploring! For Sonam, who has a cotton parachute tent with many holes (he calls it air conditioning), it is a struggle to stay dry. We gave him a tarp we brought but it was only big enough to cover less than half the tent. Around 1pm, it had cleared and we decided to scout climbing routes today and that tomorrow would be one more "rest day" to attempt to climb our peak. Tim went up to the pass and climbed within 10 meters of the summit of a 5200m peak and I went back into the valley. The valley was magnificent, with glacier hung peaks at its heart. Putting our information together, we decided on a route for our climb.

The next day, we started out around 9:30am at our camp at 4450 meters. We hiked a few kilometers back into the valley and got onto a secondary ridge which led steeply up scree and boulders to the main ridge, at about 17,000 feet. From the main ridge it is 1000+ feet to the summit. It was a difficult day, with each step growing more and more difficult due to the steadily increasing altitude. We finally gained the ridge at 17,130 feet, the highest I have climbed by about 3000 feet! The view was absolutely stunning! We could see snow and glacier clad peaks of the Zanskar range surrounding beautiful river valleys, and off in the distance several white pyramids of the Himalaya range.

Unfortunately, it was about 3pm and getting to the summit looked more difficult from close up. We decided that we would never make it up and back before dark, but the views from the ridge were worth each and every difficult step that day and so I was not too dissappointed! After descending and exploring the valley a bit more, we reached camp at 7:30, to a hot meal of rice, dal, and curried potatoes cooked by Sonam. Having a cook is truly luxurious way to trek!

Himalayan peaks seen from the ridge of our unamed peak



Tim then I on the ridge





The glaciers on this peak are amazing. You can really see and imagine mountain carving in action.



7/17 Sisir La Base to Singge La Base
Over our second pass today and up the long valley to the base of our third. Coming down Sisir Las was pretty scary, especially with the horses. The trail was super steep, narrow and slippery as it switched back down a near vertical slope with a deadly fall zone. The horses alternated slipping and sliding down with freezing in fear in some precarious position that looked to have no way out. At the top of the pass, Sonam had pulled hair from their manes to tie in the prayer flags. After they made it safely down to easier ground, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Our fear coming down the pass turned out not to be unfounded. On the trail we ran into Sonam's uncle, who was returning from the Lamayuru to Padum trek. Earlier, on his way to Padum, he lost two of his horses. One had fallen coming down the pass that we had just come down. Another he lost on the high ledges between Wanla and Honupatta. Sonam said that his uncle was very sad and confused and would not do this trek again.

Sonam and the horses on SirSir La. From left to right are crazy Poru, Dolma, Seri, and Nori



7/18 Singge La Base to Khyupa La Base
Last night was my second bath of the trip, taken in the ice cold glacier water near Singge La. As we went over this pass today, the landscape has become drier and more rocky with canyons, rock fins, and towering gorges. The Zanskar River is somewhere below us, hidden within the gorges.

Peak visable from Singge La



Sunset at Khyupa La base camp




7/19 Khyupa La base to Lingshet
We went over Khyupa La and Netuke La today to arrive in Lingshet in the midst of bustling activity. The Dalai Lama is coming in August and the entire place is in uproar! A beautiful two story building with many windows is being built as a holy place, for the Dalai Lama to teach. In a room of this building, six monks spend their days painting brand new cabinets, tables and intricately carved wood trim. Within the monastery itself, there is much construction and many new murals being painted on the walls. A beautiful room with walls of windows, wall paintings, and lots of carved wood is being constructed for the Dalai Lama to stay. The monks and villagers do not know how long he will stay, but they hope he will spend one night at the gompa I hope so too, seeing all the effort preparing for his arrival!

A newly painted mural in Lingshet



The room being prepared for the Dalai Lama



7/20-7/21 Lingshet to Snertse
Over our fifth pass today, a difficult one, and down a river drainage, where I saw Fireweed, which also grows profusely in Alaska! We stayed in Snertse for an extra rest day, and met a monk who specializes in mandalas (sand paintings) and was heading to Lingshet to teach.

Barley fields near Lingshet



Barley is one of the staples of the diet



Woman wearing the traditional clothing with an animal hide around the waist. Click on photo to enlarge and see detail.



7/22 Snertse to Hanumil
We crossed our sixth pass today, and on the other side we could look down on the Zanskar River, flowing trough an impressive gorge below. We are now out of Ladakh and in the Zanskar region. As we yet again side hilled down a narrow, slippery path above a near vertical 1000 foot drop off, I feel sorry for the person doing this trek who is afraid of heights!

7/23 Hanumil to Pishu
7/24 Pishu to Karsha
7/25 Karsha to Padum
These were fairly easy days, as the valley gradually grew wider and flatter. Turning one large river bend we suddenly saw before us the glacier clad wall of the Himalaya! The camping area in Karsha was full, but a boy of about 10 years old brought us to his house and let us camp in the yard. The next day, after visiting the Karsha monastery, we headed into Padum. Tim and I enjoyed the luxury of a hotel here. Sonam spent his time helping a friend who had broken his hip working as a pony man. The clinic in Padum was inadequate for his care, and Sonam and another man worked until 9 that evening finding a taxi that would take him to Leh. The bill of US$250 was footed by the trekkers. It seems like being a pony guide is rather dangerous for both the guide and the horses! We are thankful to have reached as far as Padum safely. Tomorrow we begin the second half of the trek, from Padum over the Himalaya range to Darcha.

Pishu village



The Future Buddha in the Karsha Monastary



A monk at the Karsha monastary



A woman hefts her load



A woman weeds her Barley field near Padum

Padum to Darcha

Padum to Darcha : A Trip Diary

Traditionally dressed women near Padum



7/26 Padum to Reru
Please see blog entry “A Zanskar Wedding”



7/27 Reru to Pepula
7/28 Pepula to Purne

At Reru, our laundry soap is stolen. In Pepula, our dish soap and “Mister India” steel scrubber come up missing. Sonam is tearing up the tent, call for Mister India. Finally he concludes that it has been taken from our tent by the campground supervisor while he was taking the horses to graze up the mountain. “Very dangerous place” he tells us. “Many people stealing.” He goes on to describe cook tents being stripped bare of ata (flour) and shoes, just barely peaking out from under tent flies, being swiped during the night. The next morning, the dish soap and Mister India are mysteriously returned to us, laid outside of the tent.

I set off earlier than Tim and Sonam this day, little knowing my peril! I see many wolf prints, and stalking the wolves are huge cat tracks, possibly those of a snow leopard. The prints are nearly 20cm long and I photograph them next to my trekking pole to show Sonam later. On seeing them, Sonam begins shaking his head and moaning. “Oh, Oh, Oh. Very dangerous” he says. “Is Tamo. Walks like man. Long hair over eyes.” It sounds like Sonam is describing the Yeti, or Abominable Snowman!

“You do not see. If see, dead. Tear, just like paper.”

Sonam makes a ripping motion with his hands, accompanied by horror film sound effects. He shows the photo on the camera to a villager who is hanging out by the tent. The villager makes fearful sounds and they begin to converse rapidly in Ladakhi, and after reaching a consensus, Sonam turns back to me, “Yes. Is Tamo, very dangerous.”

The footprint. At the bottom near 00 cm on my pole you can see four toes. at the top a little before the 20 cm mark you see the heel.



Later that day, still hiking alone, I see a boy of maybe 12 to 14 years old walking towards me. As usual, when passing villagers, I call out a cheerful, “Julay” (hello) with a smile. The boy calls out an answering “Julay” with a smile. Then, just as he is passing by, I notice it. His pants are opened up. It is no accident. He is standing at full attention above them! I have run into the Zanskar Flasher! I continue on and don’t look back, refusing to give him the satisfaction of knowing that I noticed (after all, I almost didn't!).

Later this day, danger coming in threes, I saw two horses with riders almost fall off the narrow path and down a steep slope to certain death below. One horse startled and whirled about on the narrow trail and lost not only his own footing, but knocked the horse behind him half off the trail. It was a mad and desperate struggle for the horses to get back onto the trail, with the riders flinging themselves off and pulling on the horses any way they could. For several heart breaking seconds it hung in the balance whether the horses would make it back on safe ground, or fall to their deaths below. They did make it back on, but it was a truly terrifying moment.

Dancers we saw at the school when leaving Reru



Hiking up the river valley on the way to Pepula



The old, fortified village of Itchtar built up on a cliff on the way to Pepula.



A woman with baby I passed on the trail shortly after passing the Zanskar flasher.




7/29 Phuktal Gompa
Please see blog entry “A Day at Phuktal Gompa”




7/30 Purne to Tetha
The people in Zanskar and Ladakh are friendly and curious, with most beautiful smiles, which they freely give along with a heartfelt shout of “Julay, Julay.” The curiosity in Tetha was a bit over the top, though. This was a prosperous village, with many green terraced fields, solar cells and satellite dishes on the roofs, right next to piles of hay and dung patties for burning, and many, many children! The children and the adults alike swarmed around us, peering in the tent, coughing in our faces, fingering our things with fingers just used to pick snotty noses. Sonam tried to show them how to cover their mouths when coughing, but they only laughed at him, so it’s no wonder every child in the village was sick! A villager from the next village stopped and warned that they were looking to steal. “They OK when talking, but as soon as not talking, they stealing. Especially that one,” he says and points to a particularly persistent boy with polio who remained with us until almost dark before hopping away on his good leg, and who hopped back into camp the next morning at sunup. On breaking camp, Tim went on ahead, but Sonam had me stay with him until everything was packed, for fear of all the people stopping by to rifle through our things.

Hay and dung patties stacked on the roof of homes


The boy with polio pearing into our cook tent (and Sonams sleeping tent)



One of the villages



7/31-8/2 Tetha to Kargyak and rest days
We reached Kargyak around noon. After safely crossing six mountain passes, it was here, on a flat grassy river valley, that one of the horses was injured. Nori was kicked by the crazy horse, Poru, hard enough to crack the bone in her upper leg. The rest of this day Nori circled the tent, putting no weight on the front leg. Sonam was beside himself and kept peeking out of the holes in his tent at Nori, silent, unable to eat or sleep that night. For the first time, he took us up on the offer of some of our brandy.

The next day, Nori, was just as bad. A horse doctor from the next village came and diagnosed her with a cracked bone and did some traditional Tibetan treatment on her. The treatment was horrible, but it helped! First Nori was hog-tied and brought down on her side. Metal rods were heated up over the kerosene stove and used to burn the flesh around the wounded area. Then, with a pocket knife (our little Swiss Army knife!) the horse doctor punctured the wound. Fluid and blood poured out and Nori was untied and allowed to stand. Immediately, she was walking better, cautiously putting a little weight on the leg! Sonam spent the rest of this day organizing for a villager to keep Nori for 2-3 months to heal. He said he would try to do this trek again in September to retrieve her.

I left then to hike back a valley we were camped near. This was a gorgeous valley that jutted straight into the heart of the Himalaya. That evening, Sonam was excited and said that maybe Nori was walking well enough to go home if we went slowly. We agreed and asked if another rest day would be good for Nori. Sonam was overjoyed and agreed on a “rest day for pony, no charging.” This worked out well for us too, as I had left the camera case behind in the valley when I put the camera in a waterproof bag for a large river crossing. Tim rested most of the previous day so he hiked back to get it while I took a rest day.

Woman on the way to the fields check out our campsite



Nori, being treated by the horse doctor



Yaks in the valley



Himalayan peaks



Fireweed, which also grows in Alaska




8/3 Kargyak to Shingo La base
8/4 Shingo La base to Rumjak
8/5 Rumjak to Darcha
Kargyak to Shingo La was a gorgeous day, hiking towards a huge unclimbed granite peak and up to the base of Shingo La, which is a pass over the Himalaya range. We woke up early the next morning for crossing the pass. It was foggy and rainy this whole day, but we were afforded small glimpses of the glaciers and peaks. It must be fabulous in clear weather! Nori made it safely over the pass and back down the other side. Often we were walking on a large boulder and scree covered glacier. The weather remained rainy all the way to Darcha, so we hiked as fast as we could and cut three days of hiking into two, covering 23 km on the last day. By crossing the Shingo La, we entered an area that was affected by the monsoon.

The scariest part of our trek came walking the last 1.5 km on the road to Darcha. Trucks came roaring up behind us and did not stop as Sonam chased the horses up the banks of the road. Often times the trucks barely missed hitting them. Afraid for Nori’s leg, I led her to camp and let Sonam worry about the other three horses. It will be difficult for him going home. It is over 300 km from Darcha to Leh, and most of it he will have to travel on the road.

Our last night in Darcha was sad saying goodbye to Sonam. We took him out to dinner, drank beer until late, and promised to send him photos of the trek. This has been the longest trek we have ever done at 25 days. It was definately a very rewarding trek with beautiful views, friendly people, and interesting culture.

Unclimbed peak



Looking back as we go up Shingo La



Tim on Shingo La. Check out his shaggy beard!



Our farewell night with Sonam

A Zanskar Wedding

Click on the photo to see the detail in the costumes.

The seven grooms representatives sing while seated against the wall the bride cries. She is the white bundle leaning against the older lady in the lower part of the photo.



Day Four of the five day Ceremony:

The section from Padum to Reru has a road being built, and it is a long, dusty walk, with many passing dump trucks and jeeps. After about 15km, I had enough of walking on the road and hitched a ride in a passing jeep for the next three kilometers to Mune. This turned out to be a rather fortuitous choice. I had found out while visiting the Mune Gompa that there was a wedding going on in Reru. Later that evening I was in Reru hanging out in front of the house with all the action, hoping for an invite, while Tim, embarrassed at my boldness, looked around the village. It was not long berfore I ran into the jeep driver, Tundup. He invited me in and soon I was drinking tea, then chang (barley beer), and eating dal and rice with the groom's father, Nayupa, and other family members. Nayupa is a tall, handsome man, fabulously arrayed in a long burgundy-purple wool coat and tall traditional Ladakh wedding hat with a white handkerchief pinned to the side for good luck.

From Tundup and Nayupa I learned that the wedding was five days long. It was the final and most important night tonight, and tomorrow was the big day of sending off the bride. The groom lived in a village far away and according to tradition did not come, but tonight seven of his representatives would arrive for the ceremonies. The marriage was arranged and the long distances between villages of bride and groom was necessary because of the small Zanskar population to minimize the chance of inbreeding.

While I was learning all this, a man in the center of the room by the chang
jug was keeping the alcohol flowing. He would turn to you and gesture and yell at you to drink, after which he would top off your glass. In addition to chang, he had bottles of stronger stuff, arrak, which is distilled from chang. It was impossible to know how much you were drinking.

Tundup eventually disappeared, but returned again. "Come, Come" he says to me urgently, "The groom's men are arriving." We run across town and he positions me by the stupa which they walk through. The representatives are fabulously dressed in bright, ornately pattered robes and fantastic, tall gold hats. After walking thorough the stupa, they begin to dance and perform rituals using some type of paint in containers. Chang and Arrak are brought out and passed about liberally. Some people have small cups hidden in their robes, but the rest drink out of cupped hands. I fail this test and spill some from my palm so an eighty-eight year old lady shows me how, without spilling a drop. Nayupa laughs and tells me "We drink for God. They do dance for God" then points towards the seven men who are slowly twirling. Tundup and Nayupa both encourage me to take photos and so my camera, which I have kept discreetly in my bag, gratefully comes out. Tim hears all the commotion and finds his way to the ceremony.

After it gets dark, it is time for the next stage in the ceremony. Nine piles of stones have been placed at equal distances apart along the village road. The groom's men begin to sing as they move towards the first pile. Drums are beating and far away, the bride's family are singing in answer, as they move towards the first pile on the opposite end. I move closer to them and see that they are twirling wildly and snapping whips in the air and at the ground. They have huge hankerchiefs pinned to their hats and clothing. Nayupa has explained this part to me. It is the question and answer ceremony. The bride's family start out by singing "Why are you here? Why have you come to our village?" The groom's representatives will answer "We have come to take away the bride." Now as the ceremony starts, Nayupa is laughing. He tells me the bride's family has responded "No, go away, you are not welcome here." This exchange will go on until late into the night. The bride and groom's representatives and family eventually will meet in the middle and even later on the brides family will signal acceptance of the groom by offering a special food. Tim and I eventually go to bed around 10pm, but we continue to hear the drums late into the night.

Day Five of Ceremony:
The next morning, I arrive early. Tundup tells me that everyone stayed up all night. He takes me to the kitchen, where I eat steamed lamb momos (dumplings). Then he tells me that the bride is in the house. The bride has not been seen until now, spending the first four days of the ceremony shut up in a house somewhere in the village. He brings me to the room where she is. Along one wall, six of the groom's men are sitting to the right of the mother, a tiny, sad looking woman. Leaning against her is a white bundle of cloth, the bride. On the left side of the bride the seventh groomsman sits. Along the opposite wall sits family and friends, all arrayed in white handkerchiefs for luck in the marriage and drinking chang and arrak. Today, Tim and I are given handkerchiefs to wear as well. I quietly take a seat near the far wall, but don't go unnoticed, as I had chosen a spot right behind chang man. Today's chang man was a beautiful wrinkled old man with a constant smile. He was in great, chang-induced humor, laughing, yelling, and pouring chang. At one point, when I tried to refuse more chang, he grabbed my leg with a vise-like fingers and gave me a painful pinch. The bride, meanwhile, spends this time wailing, crying and shouting a short phrase over and over. I imagine it was something like "I won't go, I won't go." A man across from her, possibly her father, began singing in a mournful tone. The groom's representatives joined in. They stood and the one on the left started waving a ceremonial wand over the bride (photo at top).

Later, after everyone is seated again, a man comes in with long strips of fabric. He yells something and hands one to the groomsman on the brides left, who gently tucks the cloth into the bride's waistband. She lets out a wail. This goes on until her waist is thick with fabric strips. Eventually she runs out of the room screaming with her mother and hides in the basement. I catch a brief glimpse then of her large turquoise studded headdress. Other then this small glimpse, the bride is not seen, hidden as she is in a white bundle of cloth. Later I showed Sonam, our pony guide, the photos from the wedding. He tells me that Tibetan weddings are not like this. He laughs at the white bundle and says "very dangerous. dressed like a dead body!" He also tells me that it is very important for the bride to cry and carry on, even if she wanted to leave the village. Her family and village would be very upset if she did not. It seemed also to me, though, that it must be very terrifying for her, to leave her family and village for the complete unknown of an arranged marriage with a strange man in a far off village. I hope for her that her new life and marriage will be a good one. The groom's father, Nayupa, and the representatives seem like kind, gentle people, so I have hope that her new husband will also be a kind, gentle person.

We left around 12 noon, before the send off of the bride, which would happen around 5 or 6 pm, amid many tears, I am told. Tim had come from camp only a short time before we left and so I brought him into the Lama room for a while to sit with the monks. The monks have a room set up for them, and they are here for the entire five days of the ceremony, singing prayers for the marriage and keeping candles lit. They beat drums and build many pregnant figurines out of tsampa (ground barley) dough. Grains are offered for a life of plenty. Before leaving the monks feed us a meal of noodles and tea.

It was an amazing experience to be warmly invited into this wedding, and to have Tundup and Nayupa be able to explain so much to me. Tim and I wondered as we were leaving if we would be treated so kindly as wedding crashers in our own country!

Nayupa, wearing the traditional hat with a white handkerchief pinned to the side for good luck.




The bride is surrounded by the richly dressed grooms representatives



The Bride and her mother. The bride is never visible in her white bundle.



Chang man



A Lama next to the table of pregnant dough figurines



One of the grooms representatives.



The men wear beautiful long coats of burgundy colored wool.