Driving down memory lane, from Kashmir – Ladakh – Zanskar – Manali – Chandigarh, recalling our first visit almost fifty years ago, it was a mix of visual delights, concern for the environment, fear of ‘over-tourism’; nevertheless, a must-see and experience the delights of Zankskar.
It was the year 1975 when as young 17-year old with the St Stephens College Hiking Club, we undertook a trek of over 350 km, from Manali via the Zanskar province of J&K short of Kargil town.
This was an epic journey where we walked on a ribbon of a trail, lost two mules to snow leopards with raging torrents of the Tsarap Lingti chu below us. Each day brought newer surprises between perched monasteries & circling Black Eagles, we felt beyond the surreal. As we walked past Padum through Buddhist & Islam communities with their roots in polyandry, it was exciting to sample barley powder stirred in water and listen to the Zanskari dialect, a mix of Ladakhi – Balti with a script was Tibetan.
In August 2024, almost half a century later, we found ourselves trekking over the Shinkun La (16,703 ft) and the Pensi La (14,400 ft), with the Suru valley opening up to the lofty snowcapped 7000m peaks like Kun and Nun, and the Z (Zanskar) series. The valley was flanked by the mountains that ranged from azure and brown to copper and purple to burnt sienna with the diverse minerals present.
An ideal setting to enjoy the 5th symphony of Beethoven aloud in resonance with the grandeur of this valley flanked by rugged mountains.
It’s hard to not fall in love with this topography, its people, the landscape and its remoteness, drawing me to revisit this over the last 5 decades. I made ascents of Kun, Z1 and rafted down the River Zanskar thrice, trekked its valleys and did jeep safaris traversing the landscape and its adjacent areas of Kishtwar. Our 1994 Indo British Winter expedition opened doors for winter tourism in Ladakh & Zanskar as it paved the way for a worthy ecotourism product which was the walk on the frozen river Zanskar, the “Chaddar”.
The expedition was a joint venture between the Ministry of Tourism, Govt of India, the State Government of J&K and Ibex Expeditions. An adventure journey through the Zanskar gorge (India’s Grand Canyon) where the local Zanskaris are landlocked for 6 months of the year, would open employment for them and offer tourists the opportunity of staying in Zanskaris homes and give an insight to their culture.
Carrying capacity and Limits to Tourism
By opening up this area without regard led to over tourism of the area as there was never a carrying capacity limit put in despite my fervent calls for it, actually sits at the heart of our tourism conundrum. How do we decide when its enough or is it a free for all rapacious capitalistic model that has no conscience which constantly asks for more? Well that’s the question that kept ricocheting in my mind as I led the grand overland road traverse from Srinagar all the way via Zanskar into Manali and down to Chandigarh.
For, a road had cut through this pristine wilderness connecting Kargil to Manali and admittedly for the reasons of Defence movements and benefits to the local communities of Zanskar who would have fresh vegetables and medical aid and all the advantages from road connectivity.
Tourism in its wake always tends to bring some negative impacts and the challenge lies in outweighing the negative with the positive benefits of Tourism both for the local environment, its fauna and flora, its heritage and traditions and above all to its communities.
Impressions from this trip, now in 2024
At Srinagar, our group of travelers from 5 countries, experience the joys of a Shikhara ride in what seemed clear waters of the Dal & Nageen Lake. The lake looks cleaner and without weeds but in practice it is polluted with sewage from houseboats without being treated.
The quality and quantity of Carp caught has dwindled and despite vast amounts of funds being spent, tourists remain unaware of this. The lake has also shrunk by half from 20 sq. km due to illegal construction & untreated sewage from houseboats and dwellings.
The heritage walks in the old city revealed the aesthetic thin brick buildings that are in real need to be upgraded and restored. The Jamia Masjid and Shah E Hamdan R.H Mosque reflect an ancient Srinagar which are still worth visiting. The exquisitely laid out Mughal Gardens and Pari Mahal are well maintained and gives a bird’s eye view of the dreamy Dal Lake.
Eco Tourism warriors like Bilal Chapri who owns Sukoon houseboats (One of the retro-fitted houseboats whose sewage is not sent into the Dal, following the principles of the Kerala Houseboat model) and the boutique Qayam Gah voiced their disappointment at the change in the size of the lake which was evident from our bird’s eye view perched at Pari Mahal.
I recall standing atop the Shankaracharya hill gazing at the expanse of the Dal Lake in the early 1980’s. What was a true delight in Srinagar was the quality of the architectural integrity and harmony as compared to other Indian hill towns in the Himalaya. As we sipped a coffee at the vantage point of the Taj hotel, a look back into the valley revealed a small cluster of homes that had sloping roofs and were aesthetic in design and color and for a moment, it resembled a hamlet in Switzerland. On deeper investigation, we found that thus far, there has been a natural expression of harmonious house building despite no law in place that may allow characterless buildings of cement and glass to appear. Many workshops have been done in the past by the Responsible Tourism Society of India which allows for better government policy, responsible industry action and conscious traveler choices.
We drove to Drass in Zanskar at a height of 10,800 feet which has become a Brown bear watching point and the Drenmo Lodge was the ideal place to do this. Supporting the Brown Bear Trust as there are man-animal conflict stories, it is an area where tourism is supporting and protecting the local communities.
At Kargil, we visited the Munshi Aziz Bhat Museum of Central Asian and Kargil trade artefacts which showcases its fascinating history. The town of Kargil is now densely populated though visually interesting with a lot of foliage all around. The museum is family owned where you can witness the Silk route trade as well as visions of all adventurers, early explorers and mountaineers that thrived in these areas from Skardu to Gilgit – Baltistan and into Kargil and beyond to Padum and up north to Leh. Certainly, another tourism asset that can be supported by the Government (as with the small but historic private museum in Turtuk owned by Mohammad Kacho).
We drove through the salubrious tiny towns along the Suru valley as we turned in from Kargil towards Zanskar. The road was well made by the Border Roads of the Indian army as well as the National Highways. Every village had a scurry of young kids, neatly turned out for school in their white head scarves.
The prominent and aesthetically made mosque domes glinted evenly as we drove past, set amidst the oasis of green, dwarfed by the rugged hills. The strains of the second movement of Mozart’s 21st piano concerto, Elvira Madigan, began to play in my head.
We then rolled into the township of Panikhar where we experienced breathlessness not just due to its height but the breath-taking views of Nun and Kun massifs. We did some glamorous camping with large dome tents and camp cots, sleeping bags, hot water bottles and a rug harking back to the early expedition style of the Piacenza and Bullock Workman style expeditions.
We did a short hike to the Lago La 12,500 feet which affords the stunning views of the Nun-Kun massif and the meandering Suru River valley below. Looking into the yonder, we were mesmerised listening to Beethoven’s 5th symphony play as it uplifted us to different heights.
As we drove past the Parkachik village, we were disappointed to see the grand glacier that reaches the Suru River had lost its magnitude, shrunk in size and was black in colour. Later, it was understood that the tower burning from road building efforts and the vehicular traffic had this impact!
Driving ahead we stopped at the Rangdum Gompa at 13, 225 feet where a prayer for our team was made by the monks. This was restored by the ASI in recent years and from its vantage point, we found the tall electrical towers had been placed through the valley floor scarring the views all around.
The road conditions were exceedingly good and fortunately, the wide Zanskar valley would not succumb to landslides unlike the sharp and steep valleys of Uttarakhand or Himachal which are showing their impacts due to excessive widening of roads.
In Padum, we met a young climate activist, Lobsang Wangtuk who is a protégé of Sonam Wangchuk of Leh, and he is trapping water by making artificial glaciers. Lobsang was deeply concerned with the growing impact of the numbers of people that would be a pressure on Zanskar with more agricultural land being diverted to hotels and accommodation and the ensuing pollution apart from social impact on the communities.
We glamped beneath the impressive 18,110-foot Gonbo Rangjon. The sacred Gonbo Rangjon, meaning “God’s Mountain” is a towering peak in the Zanskar Valley. We witnessed the roar of a large number of motorcyclists as well as other vehicles, all of whom were driving to Shinkun La. The pass was devoid of snow, a far cry from the experience of 1975 when our mules sank to their haunches in snow!
The snow cover had reduced in all the surrounding mountains. Our journey continued past Darcha into the Lahul valley and we made our next stop at Jispa. We visited the 200- year-old, Khangsar Palace at 11,500 feet which is being restored by the Namgyal Institute for Research on Art and Culture (NIRLAC).
We drove through the Atal tunnel from Lahaul to the Kullu valley and stayed a night at the well-appointed Urvashi’s Retreat now part of Welcomgroup’s Storii brand which has an architectural integrity reflecting the Himachali architecture in its stone and wooden craft.
Manali has been overbuilt and has been witness to the devastation of cloudbursts and flooding of the river. There were signs of road expansions were the main reason apart from unauthorised construction too close to the river or hillside, that was ignored.
As we drove to Chandigarh, it was evident how the housing had become faceless and modern ugly buildings were lining its roads.
The hills are still alive with the sound of music and our endeavour should be to let the music play on… Sustainably, responsibly, aesthetically so generations enjoy the sheer joy of this wilderness.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mandip Singh Soin is Founder & MD Ibex Expeditions and Founder President. Responsible Tourism Society of India. A Mountaineer Explorer, Environmentalist and a Tourism professional, he is the recipient of the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award for Lifetime achievement and is fond of Beethoven, Puns and can flip an omelette to perfection!
