Taking a vacation to Leh town situated in the Ladakh province was a last-minute decision. It was only a brief visit and we did not have time to read about it. The city of Leh is the capital and the largest union territory in the province situated 3500 metres above sea level. It was a major halt on trade routes along the Indus Valley between Tibet and Kashmir. With its huge mountains and coloured crystals under the clear sky, it is known for its beauty. Its lakes and rivers have crystal blue water that changes its tone according to the changing light.
We landed between the snow-capped mountains on our connecting flight from Delhi. It was announced that we weren’t supposed to click any photographs as it was a defence airport. People hurried out of the aircraft, a few of them had quickly grabbed their netted hoods, beanie and jackets. While Delhi was burning hot with the advent of summer, this place had cool winds blowing and was chilly. We enjoyed looking at the mountains and the initial drift of cold breeze as we waited for our luggage. The buses in the runways had carried us across.
This picturesque airport has been constructed on one of the highest altitudes in India after the majestic mountains were grazed. I took a deep breath and subconsciously pulled out my mobile to click a photograph. As I was trying to adjust the view, I heard an uproar and saw a man run in a yellow jacket waving his hands in anger saying ‘No, No…No photographs’. Keeping down the phone, I quickly apologised. We began moving out and a man was waiting outside with a signboard bearing our names. We were greeted by a young tourist guide who smiled and welcomed us. His name was Nono. We wondered why Nono, it could have been something else…Nono was pleasant with an air of enthusiasm. He was short and healthy-looking. He smilingly spoke in Hindi and English. He looked like a Tibetan. He was repeatedly getting phone calls and he spoke in a musical tone. It sounded like a mixture of Sanskrit, Hindi, and many other Indian languages. The language was rhythmic and mostly ended with Olay Olay Olay….
After a while, we asked him, ‘What does Nono mean?
He said, ‘It means little child’.
Nono waved out and called Parvez the Taxi driver. He and Parvez helped us place our luggage in the trunk of the car.
Nono said, “Parvez will take you to various locations according to the itinerary.”. Parvez was a young lad but his smile was conspicuous. We wondered how everyone could be so joyful. The taxi seat was covered with a Ladakh carpet giving a peep into the culture. Parvez drove us into the hills and along narrow lanes of the mountainous terrain. A lot of construction was underway on the roads. Parvez said that the city was slowly reeling back after a cold winter. The temperatures varied around 0 to 3 degrees celsius but it was warm inside the car.
I asked them ‘How cold is it usually during winter?
‘Typically it dips to -12 degrees celsius, but this year it dipped to -43 degrees celsius’, he said.
As we were about to turn into a lane when we were stopped by two fair lady police constables. The two sat away from each other on the corners of the road and were having their afternoon tea. They stopped drinking their tea and quickly approached Parvez. They gestured their hands in the opposite direction saying ‘It is one way….the rest of the language was musical to hear as they went off in Ladakhi language which is basically Tibetic. We understood that Parvez was supposed to turn the vehicle and take the other route as the traffic had to follow the one-way route…
Nono and Parvez kept nodding as they asked them permission to acquit their fault. Despite their hectic schedule, they carried their smiles and did not lose their temper. They said they would have to turn around and drive a few kilometres to get back. They were quite close to the hotel. They were finally allowed to drive away after a lengthy discussion with the lady police who poured out another cup of tea as they occupied their seats close to the road.
We were put up in the Leh Palace hotel a few kilometres away from the main market. The narrow lane opened up to welcome us into the hotel. The hotel had a small garden and a paved path leading to a three-story building. Our luggage was taken care of and we were invited for a cup of tea in the garden. The garden had small circular tables and chairs around them. There were a few plants and to one end there was an apple tree and a tree laden with pale whitish flowers with maroon calyx. Nono told us that it was an Apricot tree. We asked them to have tea but both Parvez and Nono said they were fasting as it was the holy month of Ramadan. We felt a bit uncomfortable having our tea in front of them but a gust of cold wind made us gulp the hot tea. Nono got our luggage and it was dropped in the room. We were shown our room later. The hotel had almost everything made out of strong wood that had been hand carved.
There was a common room with Diwan on both sides and a few chairs to relax. The room had a balcony and space to relax in the sunlight and these were attached to three of the hotel rooms on each floor. The Diwan was covered with Ladakh carpet just like the car seat. This gave one the feeling of a home. There were many such common rooms on all the floors and on the ground floor where one could relax or wait after lunch or dinner. There was a large dining hall but it had almost none visiting as we were the first set of guests for the year.
Nono and the hotel staff asked us to lie down straight on our back and rest to get acclimatised to the weather. We did not feel any discomfort. We went to the restaurant for lunch, we had steamed rice and lentils but the lentils seemed different and tasted a lot different. We did not want to rest after lunch. We went along with Parvez to see the Leh palace and Shanti Stupa and the monasteries. The Leh Palace or the Lachen Palkar Palace is a former royal palace built by Sengge Namgyal. The Shanti Stupa is a beautiful place holding relics of Buddha enshrined by the Dalai Lama. The roads grew narrower and we were at a greater height. At the farthest end were the snow-capped mountains while close to us were dry sandy mountain terrains.
‘Parvez, does it rain here?’ I asked.
‘No, it doesn’t usually rain here,’ he said.
I looked around and found a lot of buildings under construction. They used stones that were uneven rubbles and mountain rocks
‘How do these people build homes without water? I asked
Parvez showed us the huge plastic containers and said the tempos and water carriers bring water and some of it is groundwater.
Parvez added saying the moats near the buildings get filled when the snow melts in summer.
He added, ‘It usually doesn’t rain heavily here. Once when it rained in 2010 there were great landslides and many people died.
We found the weather cool and it snowed every evening in Leh. Every morning the mountains were covered with snow that would begin melting with sunrise. There was very less vegetation but the pine trees stood strong. They called it Safeda and used its wood to design their homes and furniture.
A peak from the balcony showed the staff working continuously. It also gave us an idea about the villagers who lived nearby. They cleaned, swept, supervised, and cooked with pleasantness. They used very less water. The smile on their faces was constant and so was their punctuality towards things. The place hardly had any opportunities but the people appreciated every bit of life. They said that winters were harsh and the whole place would shut down. People moved to warmer places and searched for other jobs. The steward was a native of Nepal who spoke of the pandemic woes with nothing to earn.
There was a calmness in the environment, I’m not sure if it was due to the Lamas or Buddhists, Mohamedans, Tibetans or others who lived as one. Here, there was no discrimination or gender bias, nor crime or fear. It strongly reminded me of the Sanskrit saying
ॐ सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः
सर्वे सन्तु निरामयाः।
सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यन्तु मा कश्चिद्दुःखभाग्भवेत।
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः॥
May all sentient beings be at peace,
may no one suffer from illness,
May all see what is auspicious, may no one suffer.
To be continued….
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