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Into
the Villages, part 2 |
Posted:
May 24, 2003 9:25 AM |
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In my last
post a few days ago, I told about the villages of Ladakh including the
access, fields, people, buildings, and animals. But, these were all in very
general terms. In this post, I will talk more specifically about my recent
trips into certain villages at the end of April and beginning of May. As it
was exam week right after Easter, I would not have any classes for a week or
two. So, I used this time to head out and see some villages of Ladakh that I
either had not yet seen, or wanted to return to. In all, I made 4 trips out
of and back to Leh, and stayed in 8 villages, besides those I just passed
through while on a bus or hiking. I will tell about those 8 villages, while
only briefly mentioning some of the others I saw enroute.
1. SKURBUCHEN APRIL 21. This village is the furthest one to Leh that I
visited, and was also the first one I went to on my break. My purpose for
going here was for my music research project on Ladakhi traditional folk
music. Although research has been done on music here, it is mostly ABOUT the
music with maybe English translations of a verse or two of songs. Nothing
has been published including putting the music into musical notation. So,
that is my aim; to put some songs into notation to preserve it. The
traditional style is dying out, partly due to modern pop Ladakhi music, and
partly due to the performance of music here being considered low-caste.
David Sonam at my school put me in touch with Tsering Stanzin from
Skurbuchen, and when he was in Leh back in December I interviewed him.
Tsering Stanzin is a famous Ladakhi singer. Now, Skurbuchen is only 35 miles
from the "line of control" with Pakistan, so I had to get an "inner-line"
permit to travel there. I did, and after a 7-hour bus ride, I arrived there.
As everyone knows everyone else in a village, I had no trouble in finding
someone to guide me through the maze of that village to Tsering Stanzin's
house. When I arrived, he had two monks in his sitting room chanting
Buddhist scriptures. One of them was playing a 4-foot "lollipop" drum with a
"question-mark" beater. They would chant 9 syllables along with the drum,
rest a beat, and do 9 more. Occasionally, they took a break to drink their
salt-butter tea. Finally, they tossed barley grains into a vase with water,
feathers, and other items. I assumed it was to ensure a good crop, as it was
planting season, but found out it was for the health of Tsering Stanzin's
daughter who was sick. After the monks left, Tsering Stanzin sat with me for
5 hours. During that time, he wrote down in Tibetan Bodhi script the words
to 14 songs (which I now have to get translated here in Leh!). He then sang
them into a tape recorder that I brought with me. Afterwards, I showed him
my clarinet and keyboard. In 10 minutes, he had the keyboard figured out,
and was playing his melodies on that! I showed him music paper, the basic
treble clef notes and the timings for basic notes. Then, I had him sing one
sentence of a song. I wrote it down, then played it back for him while
pointing note by note. So, he has an understanding of my project now, and is
grateful.
1 1/2. ULETOKPO APRIL 22. It is because Tsering Stanzin had to walk 1 1/2
hours uphill to his field for 3 days for planting that we worked so hard on
the 21st of April. I had planned on three days for the music project, and we
got it done in 5 hours in just one evening! So, I had time to spend in other
villages. I took the morning bus back towards Leh and got off at Uletokpo.
This is a smaller village at the mouth of a narrow valley. It has few
fields, and sits above the Indus River.
2. RIZONG APRIL 22. This is the second village that I spent an evening at.
From Uletokpo, I walked for 2 hours up-valley to the Rizong Gompa
(monastery). I didn't expect any trekking on this outing, so was loaded down
with a HEAVY day pack on my back, as well as a keyboard and sleeping bag in
one hand, and a clarinet and tape recorder in another. In the end, it was
worth carrying all of these things. I got to the Rizong Gompa at 2:30PM and
the monks there gave me a room. It was maybe 6 X 8 feet in size, but had a
mattress for me to put my sleeping bag and a solar lamp. They then unlocked
the temple and I was able to see the Buddha statues and the paintings on the
walls. Nothing special, but still a site few people see. Most magnificent,
though, was the view of the valley and the Zanskar Mountains from the gompa,
which is perched high on a mountainside. I got out my tape player and a tape
of Ladakhi monastery songs, and was soon surrounded by young boy-monks. They
enjoyed listening to this. Then, I got out the keyboard and taught them how
to play the "Om Mani Padme Hum" chant/song that they had just heard on the
tape. Some adults were there, as well, and got quite good at playing that
song.
3. ALCHI APRIL 23. I was up early, and walked back down the valley to
Uletokpo. Here, I caught the 9AM bus to the Indus River bridge about 8
kilometers away. From here, I walked 45 minutes in to Alchi village. This is
a village I had visited 3 years ago, and is the only village where I had
taught songs in a school that year. Of course, I had photos of some of the
children from then that I wanted to personally give those children. Many of
the children remembered me, and at the school they were STILL singing the
same songs I had taught them 3 years ago! I spent the day teaching songs
during assembly and break times. The liked when I played Ladakhi songs on my
clarinet. No doubt, many of those will still be sung there in 2 years if I
return. During the last period, I taught several of the students dance
including the Mexican Hat Dance, the Irish jig, the Philippine Tinikling,
and the Limbo! A teacher from the school owns a guesthouse, and let me stay
there and even eat for free. This is the only village I've seen with cats
and no dogs. The 2 at the guesthouse slept INSIDE my sleeping bag, as it was
cold. In the morning, I went to the Alchi Gompa. Being low by the Indus
River, and not in a high prominent place, this is the only gompa to survive
the Muslim invasion in the 1600's. Thus, the paintings here are a thousand
years old, as opposed to 400 years for all the others. And, these paintings
were remarkable. On one wall of one of the 4 temples there, there were about
300 different images of Buddha.
3 1/2. SASPOL APRIL 24. After seeing the Alchi gompa, I saw the school
children one last time, and walked back to the bridge and the highway. I
caught a bus and soon went through Saspol village. Through this village, I
kept the bus window closed, even though it was very warm. Through
experience, I've learned that young children here make a game of throwing
water via a cup from an irrigation ditch through open bus windows.
4. LIKIR APRIL 24. From Alchi and Saspol, I took the bus to the Likir
turnoff and walked in (carrying all that stuff) for 2 hours to the Likir
gompa at the up-valley side of Likir village. As with Rizong, the monks gave
me a place to stay there. In this case, it was a room at the gompa school.
There, I met Andrew, who is from Alaska and just finishing 3 years in the
peace corps in Kenya. This gompa also had 4 temples, plus a museum with
thonkas that were several hundred years old. But, although Alchi had the
best paintings, this one had the best Buddha statues. There were many
intricately carved statues at this gompa. The most recent was an outside 75
foot one made of copper and brass. In the morning, Andrew and I taught at
the school. I taught some English songs, and Andrew taught about Alaska. I
have a good photo of a monk about age 12 playing my clarinet!
4 1/2. NIMU APRIL 25. Andrew and I walked through Likir proper, and then
separated. He started a 3-day walk to Temisgam and Khaltse, while I headed
for the road and took a bus back to Leh. On the way, the bus took a meal
stop at Nimu. Not much to say, except that the best samosas I've tasted are
in this village!
4 3/4. KHALTSE APRIL 27. Two days later, I was on the once-a-week bus to
Wanla Village. After our first meal stop in Nimu, we took our 2nd meal stop
in Khaltse. Andrew had finished walking there, and met me when the bus
arrived. Our plan was to spend 2 days visiting Wanla and Lamayuru. In
Khaltse, I scored big - I found 3 2-litre bottles of coke and fanta. Leh had
been sold out of soda for more than 2 weeks by this time, and prospects for
the road (and supplies) is now June 1st!
5. WANLA APRIL 27. Our bus arrived in Wanla mid-afternoon, and we found no
hotel or guesthouse here. Having jettisoned my music items, except for the
small tape player, I now had a tent, my overnight pack and pad. But, Andrew
preferred a house. So, we motioned to the people, and a guy took us home and
gave us his sitting room for 50 rupees ($1.06) each. For this price, we got
tea, as well as dinner and breakfast. And, his place had an inside toilet!
But, that was upstairs - they use for fertilizer. My purpose for going to
Wanla was to find an old lady I had taken a photo of in order to give it to
her. Of course, everyone wanted to take the photo and give it to her. But, I
wanted to give it to her myself. I finally was led to her son, who was one
of a group of men with a tractor (that was a surprise) plowing a field. He
took me home, and while his wife made me tea he got his mother. She was so
grateful for that photo, and did remember me from 3 years ago. After that
visit, I walked back and soon had a cluster of children around me. As with
all villages, the children asked "One pen" "One photo." But, I don't give to
children who begged. What I did do, though, let them borrow my binoculars,
which they loved and spent a lot of time using before I had to leave.
5 1/2. SHILLA APRIL 28. Shilla is a small "suburb" of Wanla. But, upstream
from there is a narrow and remarkable gorge. The guidebook says this is only
trekkable in September or later due to high water, but we found it easy
going. We went up-canyon for an hour crossing 3 bridges until we would HAVE
to get wet to go further. On the way back, we met a group from Saspol headed
up and over the pass to Kanji village. Too much snow and too far for us,
though.
6. LAMAYURU APRIL 28. We returned down-canyon to Shilla and then took the
trekking route up and over Prinkiti La (pass) to Lamayuru. This is a
favorite village of mine. We stayed at a proper guesthouse here run by a
Ladakhi family. For 100 rupees, we had dinner and breakfast provided, as
well as a real bed. My purpose for going to Lamayuru was to visit Rigzin,
the man who walked with me to Lingshed 3 years ago with his donkeys carrying
my pack. I had breakfast with his family the following morning. At the
guesthouse, we were treated to a Hindi movie. Those things have interesting
choreography, although the backgrounds change abruptly in the songs. One
minute, they will be by a lake, the next in a city, etc. But, at least this
movie actually had a plot that could be followed. In Lamayuru, the main
attraction is their gompa. Not many intricate paintings like Alchi, nor
statues like Likir. But, this one is on a small hill with a mountain
backdrop giving the appearance of a castle.
7. PHEY APRIL 30-MAY 2. I spent 3 days at SECMOL school in Phey village near
Leh after taking a bus back to Leh on the 29th. SECMOL is an alternative
school where they focus on the Ladakhi language, as well as skills that will
be of use to the students as they return to their villages. I admire this
place for that reason. SECMOL's other purpose (their named main one) is in
school reform in Ladakh, especially in the government schools. There is a
lot of corruption, teachers not going to class, teachers blackmailing
students into going to private (paid) tutoring sessions in order to pass,
and other things. SECMOL is trying to change this. But, they are very
idealistic, and don't seem to be making headroads. I've been told that they
come off to others like their way is the ONLY way, which turns off a lot of
people. But, I was invited, and had all my musical toys with me again, as in
the first trip. I spent the time teaching songs, as well as keyboard basics
to interested students. Some of these students, and maybe a teacher may help
me with the translations of those Ladakhi songs.
7 1/2. ALCHI MAY 4. I returned with Andrew to Alchi Sunday afternoon. In the
meantime, it had snowed, and Andrew had been stranded at Pangong Lake. His
driver got stuck on the pass, and he spent a cold night at an army barracks.
The next day, a general gave him a ride the long way back to Leh. He got
within a mile of the Tibetan/Chinese border! In Alchi, we stayed at the
hotel run by the teacher from the school.
7 3/4. MANGYU MAY 5. From Alchi, we walked for 3 hours along the Indus
River. Then, we cut up-valley to Mangyu village. It was a pass-through
village, but we asked villagers about the way to Mangyu La. In every case,
they tried to discourage us. Due to the recent snows, they indicated the
snow was waist high. This proved to be false. It was barely ankle deep on
one side and slightly less than knee-deep on the other. No one had been over
since the snowfall. We saw absolutely no human footprints. BUT, WE DID SEE
SNOW LEOPARD TRACKS, AND THIS IS NOT A JOKE THIS TIME.
8. HIBTI MAY 5. We descended steeply from Mangyu La, and got to the village
of Hibti in one hour's time after descending 2000 feet or more. We were
surprised to see Hibti, as it is so small that it isn't even on our maps.
There were maybe 5 buildings there total, and a few small fields. Upon
entering Hibti, a guy was at the only clear water source. He asked, using
motions, whether we wanted a place to sleep and eat. So, we ended up putting
up my tent on the roof of his house. And, we had excellent Ladakhi food for
dinner and breakfast. The man didn't believe we had come over the pass,
indicating that the route now was down valley to the Indus, up that river to
the next river and then in to Mangyu. After handing him the binoculars, he
saw our tracks on the pass and THEN believed us! This was a poor family with
a little boy. I got their address to take back to the Mission School.
Scholarships are offered for poor children in remote villages who seem
bright, and this is one of the things I've been told to watch for on treks.
Even in this remote village, the family knew of the mission school, and even
David Sonam the dean of students there. It seems that everyone in Ladakh
knows and respects him! The man was grateful that I wanted to try and get
his boy a scholarship, so he walked us down the valley to the bridge across
the Indus and the highway where we waited for the bus back to Leh.
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I Love the Mountains |
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