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Into
the Villages |
Posted:
May 18, 2003 6:15 AM |
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The
villages are the REAL way to see Ladakh. During my year here, as well as 7
weeks 3 years ago, I have seen way too many villages to mention in a post
like this. So, I will tell about villages and the people in general here,
and then about my outings from the end of April and early May in a separate
post.
Villages in Ladakh can be as small as just a few buildings, or as large as a
few miles up a valley. They can have only a dozen people, or a few hundred.
But in all cases, you have a distinctly rural feel which you can not get
here in Leh. The people are friendly, wear genuine Ladakhi outfits, still
maintain the traditional customs and culture, have the Ladakhi architecture
in their homes, and still farm barley and wheat like their ancestors. And,
most of the villages have their own gompa (monastery).
Unfortunately, little by little roads are being built in to what were once
remote villages, and today over half of them are accessible by road. There
is an excellent bus service from Leh accessing many of these villages. The
size and remoteness of the village, as well as the proximity from Leh,
determine whether they have 3 buses a day or only one bus a week. And, in
the summer time, the villages in the Changtang and Zanskar areas are also
accessed by bus. Eventually, there will be a road accessing the Zanskar area
through the river gorge giving this area winter access as well (and
destroying the Chaddar ice trek).
But, whether a village has road access or not, it is still a joy to be on a
trek and come across a village. This is because they are all like an oasis
in the desert. Ladakh is really a high desert in a way. The climate here is
very dry despite being a mountainous region, although more rains have made
it across the Himalayas in recent years during monsoon months. But, the high
and dry climate mean that there is little vegetation, giving this area a
moonscape effect. The exceptions are the villages. There, trees are planted
and fields are irrigated. The irrigation systems are centuries old, and
remarkable. Nowhere else have I seen water work so hard. These irrigation
canals take out of the rivers and streams and sometimes go for miles at a
small rate of descent and end up high above a village. Then, they are used
to water barley fields. At the lower end of the field, the excess water
drains into another ditch and goes down to water another field. I have seen
the same water water as many as 8 fields (all small; most less than a half
acre) before returning to the stream! So, these fields are all considered
part of the village. This is why some villages with a hundred people can be
a mile or more long in a valley. Boundaries are the limits of the green.
The people are also remarkable in the villages. The children are extremely
cute, and the adults are beautiful people that age quickly due to the hard
work they traditionally have done. On my first visit to Ladakh, I noticed
that in the villages I saw young ladies up to about age 25, and then old
ladies 65 and older. There was a 40-year gap of middle-aged ladies missing.
Then I discovered them - in the fields working. My theory is that they enter
the fields at age 25 and emerge 40 years later. This is far-fetched, but not
by much. Except for the plowing, the ladies do the majority of the farm
work. If you look in the fields, you will always see ladies, but no men.
And, they will shout across several fields to a friend and carry on
conversations that way. They use the same tone of voice when nearby. I was
once camped by a hut, and at 5AM two ladies 10 feet apart began carrying a
conversation LOUDLY near my tent. They weren't mad or even trying to disturb
me. They were just used to this.
I should be fair to the men. They will work, too. But, it takes TWO men to
handle a shovel. One guy holds the shovel the traditional way. His buddy has
a small rope around the shaft of the shovel near the blade and stands in
front. As the first guy shovels, the other guy will pull on the rope,
pulling the dirt just offside to where he is standing. Or, you will see a
bunch of men by the side of a road each with a small sledge hammer. Using
one hand, they will sit there all day pounding rocks and small boulders into
gravel-sized pieces for road construction. Or, you will see men gathered
together drinking chang (beer brewed from barley).
Finally, I need to talk about the Ladakhi architecture, which is still used
to this day. The main part of a village consists of several buildings close
together with walls connecting some, and paths between others. The effect is
that of a maze. In the village of Potaksur 3 years ago, I got lost trying to
find my way into the center of the village. Then, I got lost later trying to
get back out! The buildings are all made of mud bricks sealed into a smooth
form by mud cement. The dirt is shovelled (by 2 people) through a fine
screen to get rid of coarse material. This is then combined with water into
a kind of paste that they use to put around the bricks and smooth off. This
concoction is also used on the flat roofs, and is the reason why I had
waterfalls inside my house last August during a rain shower (they made it
way too thin).
Inside the house, there are usually 3 rooms. The first room, and most
important room, is the sitting room. This is the only room that may be
painted. The paint is a chalky paint on top of the mud that washes off with
water, or comes off on clothes if you lean against it (yes it is in my house
too). This is also the only room that has carpet. Throw rugs are on the mud
floor, with fancier carpets on thin 3 X 6 foot mattresses for sitting. In
front of these are the 1 1/2 foot tall Ladakhi tables. These tables can be
flat and painted with fancy designs, or carved and varnished. This is the
room where guests are entertained.
The second room is also important. And, this is the kitchen. Cast iron
stoves that can burn either wood or yak dung are common, although kerosene
stoves are seen more and more lately. These stoves have pipes going up and
through holes either near the top of a wall, or through the roof like a
chimney. Pots are placed on the stove to boil water or cook meals. For rice
and other dishes, pressure cookers are becoming increasingly common. Also
becoming common are solar lamps. Most houses now have a small solar panel,
with which they use to charge these lamps for use at night. One of my
favorite slides is one of the roof of a Ladakhi house. In the same shot, I
got a picture of a string of prayer flags AND a solar panel! Radios are also
becoming more popular, especially with the local All-India radio station
giving music and news in the Ladakhi language. Televisions can be seen, but
are extremely rare due to power problems. Those villages that are blessed
with electricity can only count on it from 7:00 to 11:00 in the evening.
The third room is the animal room. Most houses have a cow (or yak) or two,
as well as an assortment of chickens, donkeys, sheep or goats. These are
usually in a pen just outside the house, although I have seen the entry room
to some houses used for the animals. The cows or yaks are used for plowing
fields, as well as milk or curds (local yogurt). Curd is excellent, and has
a sour taste to it. Mixed with tsampa (barley flour), it makes a good meal,
especially when warm. The donkeys are the main beasts of burden for carrying
loads to and from places. Sheep and goats are used for their wool. The pashm
goats here produce the pashmina shawls, which are known throughout the world
as being high quality.
Finally, there is the toilet. These are rarely within the house, and usually
in a separate building (either attached or unattached). But, Ladakh is the
only place I've ever seen where the toilet is ALWAYS upstairs. These are
squat toilets, which are a retangular hole in the floor through which
organic material drops to the lower level. After you have taken care of
business, you take a shovel and shovel a small layer of dirt through the
hole on top of your business. Downstairs, there is a door through which they
remove the organic material to be used as fertilizer in the fields. In a
couple of days, I will post part 2 about the villages in which I will tell
about my personal experiences this past month in specific villages.
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I Love the Mountains
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