A Long Walk in the Himalaya: A Trek from the Ganges to Kashmir

A Long Walk in the Himalaya: A Trek from the Ganges to Kashmir

Language: English

Pages: 288

ISBN: 0975022873

Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub


Weare's finely rendered story of his five-month trek from the sacred source of the Ganges through the Kullu Valley, Zanskar and Ladakh to his houseboat in Kashmir is remarkably entertaining. The people he meets and travels with are fully-fledged characters that the reader comes to know and care about while the Himalaya, captured in all their variety, cast their spell. It is as if the act of walking allows the author to fully understand all the nuances-spiritual, environmental, social and politica l- of this inspiring region. A Long Walk in the Himalaya is a book to savour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

kilometres along the newly constructed road to Dolan. I arrived about five minutes ahead of the jeep. Bhagat Singh had done a good job in hiring seven porters at short notice. Four were from Nepal the other three were wafer-thin young men from Sankri. They were dressed as if they were about to go to Delhi, with well-pressed trousers, smart cotton shirts, and runners that seemed hardly adequate to cross the snow-bound pass ahead of us. Even so, they seemed as keen as mustard. ‘Don’t worry,’

metres and gorges are so deep that the sun rarely penetrates their depths for more than a few hours each day. This was the terrain we would traverse for the next week as we made our way towards the Indus Valley. It was also a stage of my trek that even today is followed by only a handful of Ladakhi villagers and foreign trekkers. The route over the Cha Cha La (4850 metres) and the Zalung La (5020 metres) to the Markha Valley is by no means accessible throughout the year. During the winter the

1600 Ladakh was overrun by a powerful army from Baltistan that plundered the villages and monasteries for the best part of a decade. This was the political climate preceding Senge Namgyal’s reign: it was a time when the traditional seats of power in Ladakh—its upper kingdom run from the nearby Shey Palace, the lower kingdom ruled from Basgo 50 kilometres down the Indus valley—were united. Leh was the new capital with the King’s Palace prospering during the occasional periods of peace and

stability. During this period, Leh emerged as an important trading centre, linking the markets of Kashmir, the Punjab and northern India with those of Kashgar and Central Asia. Sengge Namgyal’s expenditure on the monasteries of Ladakh made a significant dent in the local exchequer. It also ultimately contributed to Ladakh’s defeat by the powerful Balti and Moghul forces towards the end of his reign in 1639. Following this defeat, a tribute to the Moghul emperor eventually resulted in a mosque

would be required to show my passport. Approaching the well-camouflaged army check post, I lifted my right arm to acknowledge the presence of three or four soldiers carrying sten guns. They waved back. ‘Yes, you are going to Drass?’ the sergeant enquired. ‘Yes,’ I nodded. While his features were typically Ladakhi, his deep sonorous voice made me wonder where he was from. ‘Are you from Ladakh?’ ‘No, we are all from Tibet,’ he replied. I should have guessed; it would be hard to nominate a group

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