Last July's trek over the 5600-meter (18,300 foot) high Parang La
pass from Spiti, a remote high-altitude Tibetan Buddhist region in the
north Indian State of Himachal Pradesh, to the vast, electric blue Tso
Moriri lake on the high Changtang Plateau in Western Ladakh was a trip
that we are all still raving about.
The scenery is spectacular and the wildlife and meetings with the nomads
who inhabit this area are unforgettable. It was the perfect trek–just
long enough to get into it and begin to feel that body and mind have been
transformed (nine days including two rest days). It was a group from Switzerland
that joined us. We'll be leading this 21-day trip again next July
(2003), and we're already looking forward to it. The drive into the
Himalayas follows a stunning route that really shows off the grandeur
and extent of these mountains and valleys. We toured, while at the same
time acclimatizing to the altitude, in Kullu, Lahaul and Spiti, not far
from Tibet and very much like it, before actually starting the walk.
In the lush, heavily forested Kullu Valley at the foot of the Great
Himalayan Range we visited ancient temples, the bazaar town of Manali,
and Naggar, the valley's ancient capital and home to the Roerich Gallery.
Nikolai Roerich, philosopher, mystic, occultist and painter, who was,
strangely enough, responsible for getting the pyramid with the eye put
on the US one dollar bill, was so taken with the beauty of this valley
that he made Naggar his home and painted splendid scenes of the mountains.
We walked through the impressive forest around Naggar to start stretching
our legs and lungs.
We drove over the mighty 14,000-foot Rohtang Pass into Lahaul, a land
of mountains, glaciers and mighty waterfalls. We were now in the heart
of the Himalayas. We crossed the Kunzum Pass and stopped at the top to
look at the chortens (Buddhist reliquary mounds) and Hindu temples, the
area strung with a multitude of, colorful, fluttering prayer flags, and
of course to admire the views. As we drove down the pass into Spiti a
herd of yaks came storming down the mountainside looking like big dogs
at play. What a sight! In Spiti we toured villages and dramatically perched
monasteries, repositories of Tibetan art and sculpture, with lively populations
of traditional people and maroon-robed lamas. It's a magnificent region,
the place where the Indian subcontinent first made contact with the Asian
mainland in that long-ago collision of continents that created the Himalayas.
On the morning the trek began our horses and crew assembled below our
hotel and loaded the supplies, gear and tents (dining and lounge tent,
kitchen tent and sleeping tents) while we started walking, carrying only
our small daypacks. It took us about 4 hours to reach our first camp with
a stop for lunch on the way. After reaching camp we had steaming bowls
of noodle soup and tea and biscuits prepared by Sonam, our ever-smiling
cook, and we began to take in this amazing place. What a spot it was:
nestled in a bowl of mountains with gorgeous peaks in every direction
and low growing shrubs covered in yellow flowers (caragana brevifolia).
We spent a rest day there to acclimatize and get into being in the high
mountains. Some of us did a walk to a spot on the edge of a cliff over
a river valley from where we had a view of the Parang La pass.
But it would be another two days of steep walking before we'd cross
it. The pass is 18,300 feet high, so even though we started walking high
in Spiti, at about 16,000 feet, we still had altitude to gain. These paths
are made for walking, for they are used by nomads, shepherds and traders
from Tibet, so even though we were gaining altitude the going was not
that difficult, no big steps or leaps, though some of the grades were
fairly steep. Our legs and lungs were getting a really good stretch now.
It felt as though we were on another planet and all thoughts of the “real
world” were far away. We just concentrated on where we were, drinking
in the sublime beauty of it all.
This trek has everything: the Parang La pass with great views in every
direction, an easy walk over a glacier on the other side, then three days
of great, full-stride, nearly level walking through a valley with hallucinogenic
formations, two river crossings, which were good fun as we all held hands
and waded through the knee-deep water, and finally, the lake, Tso Moriri-amazing
to come upon such a huge lake in these high mountains-truly awesome. Surrounded
by “soft” cream-coloured hills-a dramatic contrast to the rugged,
jagged mountain scenery we had been walking through-and meadows where
Changpas (nomadic shepherds) graze their flocks of pashmina goats and
yaks, Tso Moriri is a vast expanse of azure water, a blue that is other-worldly,
truly electrifying.
The colour of the lake changes throughout the day depending on the light.
And at times parts of it seem to disappear as if “captured”
by the reflections of the tan peaks behind it. On the 9-day trek we saw
herds of yak, marmots, kiang (wild horses), wild goats, bar-headed geese-mothers
and fathers bobbing on the lake with their goslings-lammergeiers (gigantic
vultures), and the nomads living in their yak hair tents. And the wildflowers!
The Swiss were amazed to see edelweiss growing in such profusion. After
a rest day at the lake and a climb up on the ridges behind it for great
views, we walked up the lakeshore to the village of Karzok, one of those
frontier villages that looks as if it's at the end of the world. And
then the drive to Leh, capital of Ladakh, India's “little Tibet,”
with its fascinating bazaars and palace, a mini-Potala, and the world's
highest polo field.
Flying back to Delhi, where the trip began, the Himalayan ranges spread
out below us. We toured Old and New Delhi, appreciated the architecture
and urban design of the British Raj, visited colorful temples, markets,
beautiful parks and the Qutab Minar, Asia's tallest ancient minaret.
We rode through Old Delhi in bicycle rickshaws and wandered the narrow,
winding lanes of its colorful bazaars. Martin and Carol Noval have
been living in India for more than twenty years and organize and lead
several special cultural tours and treks a year for small groups. They'll
be doing this trek again next summer; it's one of their favourites.
If you would like to get in touch, email them at tripsintoindia@usa.net
and check their website (www.tripsintoindia.com).