Cold Desert - Changthang

Normally, civilians are allowed upto Spagmik village but we had the permit to go beyond to expand our image of this pristine mesmerizing beauty coupled with virgin sandy landscape. We reached a pile of Yak horns which served as the marker and milestone. Sand & boulders on the track kept distracting us from the nature's mystique. At the end of lake shoreline the track bifurcated into two. The left track led to an Army post and subsequently China border. We opted for right track which was actually a steep ascent of 5 kms. Then appeared the Chushul’s sandy valley, 30 kms long and more than 5 kms wide beyond which the mountains rose to awry heights. The track, on which we were riding, passed through some marshy meadows as well. They become marshier with the melting snow in summer, I was told. These marshy meadows form only 5 % of the grazing area of the pastures, yet they support maximum number of livestock during crucial winter months (as per the information collected from a study conducted for Government of J&K). And what a winter yaar?! I kept on bowing down to Engine for warming my hands and body during every stop. Chushul is a small village, hardly 20 kms from the border. The people here are simple but they understood Hindi and knew the brand name of our bike. They even asked the price of the bike! We visited the Army camp and the ‘Chushul War Memorial’ of the China war fought in 1962. Here we crossed our biggest (so far) and a difficult stream. Local lads gathered around us while we put on our shoes back after a 10 minutes fight.

Then the region again became desolate and except Wild Assess, called ‘Khiangs’ we couldn’t spot anyone else. Running ‘Khiangs’ are a sight to behold. They graze and move in groups. They run with horse-speed and take frequent turns. They are very similar to the ones found in Rann of Kutch in physical structure and ventral stripe on the body but the color differs. ‘Khiangs’ are brown in colour while the wild assess found in the Rann are somewhat grayish. Overall, we spent almost 10 minutes watching their activities. They looked gorgeous. After riding for about 5 kms a small barrier came. The soldier posted there checked our permits and let us go further. From this post, the left track goes to a border post at a beautiful lake, Spanggur Tso (ST). ST is still not open to tourists and its permit is hard to get for a civilian. This lake is situated on a gap called Spanggur gap in the north-eastern mountains of Chushul. Chinese are very border conscious and recently I read that they have built a strong road from Rudok in Tibet right upto the gap which is worthy of even carrying Tanks. We stayed on the right track. I got little scared of loneliness for there wasn’t anybody, not even birds, to have a company. Just we and the bike roaring hard to keep pace with the altitude and what it had to lug further.

Snow clad mountains never left us and we were kept chilled with the cutting wind. After riding for about 20 kms we reached the lonely memorial of Rezang La. Here, the famous war of ‘Rezang La’ was fought between the hordes of Chinese soldiers and a mere ‘C company’ of 13 Kumaoun Regiment of Indian Army under the leadership of Maj. Shaitan Singh. He and his men held the post against the Chinese swarms till the last man with a .303 rifle could fire. The valour of the ‘company’ was recognized by presenting one ‘Paramvir Chakra’, eight ‘Vir Chakras’ and four ‘Sena Medals’.

Then we crossed a small village called ‘Man-Mirik’ and an army post called ‘Tara’. All through, we were little shaken for we never had an experience of riding through such a desolate region where even wildlife abandons you. On the brighter side we saw some amazing scenery niche and limited to only this part of the country. Then suddenly a well built road appeared and I can’t describe how much elated we were riding on it after a butt-charring ride of almost six hours. This road led us to a sheep and goat breeding farm and we felt so relieved to watch the life forms in the shape of a big herd of sheep grazing on the yellowing grass and a few herdsmen. Then came the Army camp but we rode past.

The road now edged a river like water body in which we saw our first Brahminy Ducks, frolicking and having fun. We wondered how could these creatures survive biting cold and that too when they are in a soon-to-be-ice water. Taking our final picture of these wonderful creatures we repented not having enough zoom capacity in our cameras. We finally took a halt at an ITBP post at Loma. Here we met with many soldiers of Gaurav Jani’s acquaintances, especially Mr. Prem Singh. Gaurav spent few days here during his visit to Changthang for making a documentary on Changpa nomadic tribe.

The soldiers vividly shared the stories of their interaction with Gaurav after we gave them the photo-posters he made exclusively for them. Gaurav had a good rapport with them and it reflected well there. We had milk and biscuits in their bunker. They asked us to stay with them but we wanted to visit Rhongo village, the gateway to Hanle valley. It was going to be dark any moment so bidding them goodbye with a promise to spend more time with them during our return, we rode across the Loma Bridge to reach Rhongo village. It was already dark and sky was studded with a never-seen-before density of stars. We reached the Rhongo Bridge and called for (Subedar) Major Latho Singh at a lonely tent beside the Hanle River. Making Mr. Latho Singh remember Gaurav didn’t pose a problem as we had a poster for him too. He is a character by himself (we later discovered) but he gave us a good company and helped us to make us comfortable in the only rest house of the region. Then he took us to a family of Changpa tribe known to Gaurav. ‘Changpas’ are a nomadic pastoral tribe residing in the ‘thang’ (plains). Therefore this area which is actually a cold desert is called changthang in the Ladakhi language. Despite its cold arid environment, the area supports an amazing number of livestock population comprising sheep, goats, yaks, donkeys and horses belonging to ‘Changpas’. The tent-dwelling Changpas herd sheep, goats, and yaks across the expansive thang. Herding their livestock is not a home to home daily activity. In fact, few members go on an expedition sort of a thing to the distant pastoral lands, loading their paraphernalia on several Yaks. It takes few weeks for one herd to return back. They also collect their animal’s dung and use it as fuel especially when it is scarce during the long winter there.

We were greeted by Urgan, a man in his late thirties, his sweet wife and a small kid. They were ready for the dinner. Good timing. We were (damn) hungry. Urgan’s father, Mr. Tsewang Palgais, joined in and we chatted up for more than an hour. Our conversation revealed that Mr. Palgais is proud to be a changpa tribesman. He still resides in a Yak wool tent called ‘Rebo’. Modern influences on seemingly timeless changthang, however, are distracting them from their age-old traditional practices and now young men are seeking occupation outside Changthang. Mr. Latho Singh is a ‘Tanker’ and perhaps always thinks about ‘booze’ :~) Although, he always pleaded not guilty and instead used Gaurav or Urgan as bait for making him overdrink. We dropped Latho Singh ji to his tent fearing what happens if he can’t find his way to the tent. After that we couldn’t think of any late night discussion amongst the two of us as cold was unbearable by now and we were exhausted. Sleep, in fact, during the whole Ladakh trip never posed a problem. We could sleep at any time provided we wished to. At 7:30 am in the morning, I woke out of my slumbers to a continuous knock on the door. At such a lonely place, I thought it is better to check out first before opening the door. To our surprise, Mr. Palgais was at the door. He came to call us for the breakfast at his tent. Now ladies and gentlemen, please be ready for our surprise of the lifetime. We could never imagine what we actually had in our breakfast. “CHHOLEY BHATUREY”! Amazing, isn’t it? It was a treat in Chang’thang. We discussed several things on their lifestyle and clicked few photographs. Notably, the Yak wool tent has spaces between its threads wide enough to let the sunlight penetrate inside. In fact, we could see outside and make out if it is human or livestock. Satiating our curiosity, Mr. Palgais told that the tent threads have hairs which don’t allow the snow to penetrate inside. Had it been rain, it might seep in. Moreover, Yak hair is an effective water deterrent. Mr. Palgais has a big family. Two of his daughters have become Nun (Chomu). One daughter is married. Another of his son is working at Leh. Seeing life at Rhongo forced us to think of a situation when anyone of these tribesmen & women would need immediate medical attention. Although fast disappearing, Changpas have their own indigenous healing systems similar to Tibetan medicine for minor ailments and injuries. Mr. Palgais liked my tooth powder and Manish’s wrist watch, which we merrily gifted him ;;~)).

Having a sumptuous breakfast, we bade goodbye to the Palgais family and crossed the Rhongo Bridge over the frozen Hanle River and called for Mr. Latho Singh to bid him goodbye. He was warming up in his tent. Shivering with cold he came out to get us inside. Our plea of getting late didn’t work. We had biscuits and Manish had tea. Then off we were for Loma. Loma is only 15 minutes away from Rhongo but on the way we saw what we missed the previous day while coming. We took a five minute break. Absolute silence, broken only by the gushy winds, snow all over the flanking mountains, a wide valley of sandy terrain and frozen Hanle was what we were listening to and ogling at. The moment we reached Loma, everybody congregated inside the bunker. We again had to had milk and biscuits. Drinking hot milk was absolute bliss for me as cold was unrelenting. We chatted for around 30 minutes and then bade goodbye to Mr. Prem Singh and party with a promise that we will send or bring them some more memory bouquets.

Ride from Loma to Mahe Bridge via Nyoma took us through some of the most exotic locations with almost no sign of life, perhaps due to extreme cold and light snowing. At Mahe Bridge we just entered inside the bunker to warm ourselves a bit. The guard checked our permits while we kept absorbing as much heat as possible. After 10 minutes break there, we charted the route to Chumathang. Riding for just 5 kilometers further from Mahe Bridge, we were caught unaware by a racing family of female Musk Deer and her three kids. It took us two seconds to understand what’s going on. She must have comedown at the river bank along with her two kids to avoid heavy snowfall of higher reaches. The family kept running along with the bullet till they overtook us and clambered on the mountain. This gave us an opportunity to watch them very closely. We stopped immediately to capture them on film but I guess we were not fast enough. Ladakh was full of surprises and it was not over yet. A little further after, Manish showed me another one on a high hill on the opposite side of the river. Musk Deer have a heavy outgrowth of hairs to protect them from extreme winters. At Upshi, a local (Mr. Ringyen) informed us that Musk deer reside in the upper reaches of this region, almost at the snowline. “Poaching has become rampant here which is really a matter of everybody’s concern”, Mr. Ringyen rued. By the time we reached Chumathang, a heavy snowfall ensued, to which locals said, “Abhi snowfall nahin hua hai”. We could imagine our plight had we been through the thick of snowfall by their standards. We saw the hotsprings of Chumathang boiling the snowflakes within seconds. The area for taking bath, though sheltered is dirty and not maintained. Before Upshi, we got our permits checked for the last time and after few moments we found ourselves standing outside the office of BRO. Manali road was snowed heavily and snowcutters were not able to keep pace. All passes including Rohtang Pass were closed. BRO declared that this time they will not be able to stick to their official date of October 15 and only those who are stuck will be rescued and no fresh entries will be taken. Losing all our hopes for Leh-Manali route we decided to complete the customary visit to Khardung La and if time permit then visit few monasteries as well. Since sometime was left to the Sunset so we thought we should visit Hemis Monastery on our way back to Leh. Hemis is the most famous monastery of Ladakh and more famous is its two-day festival which takes place in summer. We climbed a flight of steps to enter inside the main entrance of the Monastery on our left. It opens into a courtyard which doubles up as an arena for the famous ‘Chham’ dances during the festival. But we couldn’t see even a single soul inside this most touristy Gompa of Ladakh. North face of the courtyard is the main three-storied building of the Gompa and rest of the sides are surrounded by two storied shelters for viewing the festival and other activities. View from the monastery was breathtaking in the evening as on the other side of the Indus far on the mountains last rays of sun were lighting up the snow-capped peaks. Beside the Gompa is a residential complex where staff members and student monks reside. Since it was getting dark so there was no point of visiting other monasteries and we reached back Leh and slept early. But please do keep in mind that whenever we were in Leh, we essentially visited Leh Main market :~)

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