Leh-Ladakh Tour Packages
Ladakh has always haunted the traveller’s imagination because of its sheer inaccessibility. Zealously guarded because of its strategic location, it was opened to tourism as recently as 1974. It is no longer the valuable Pashmina wool or the rice, salt and tea of the old trade system that draws the traveller, but the composite world of Ladakh — the fascinating fusion of ancient religions, history and stormy political events which were the result of the proselytizing role of Buddhism. Although Ladakh is now a part of Jammu and Kashmir, it retains its independent character this is what makes Ladakh unique —not its resemblance to Tibet, with which it was once identified, but with which ties have now become tenuous.
The Ladakh is as a people are naive and spontaneous, as yet not undermined by the outsider. Their environment which defeats all those who are alien to it endows them with the capacity to retain their sturdy identity. The lonely tiers of the Lamayuru monastery appear to symbolize this spirit of endurance as do the defiant apple-green rivers that flow undeterred through narrow valleys. And the dun-coloured plateau seems to have beaten back the snow-bound, sunless gullies to provide a haven to those for whom Ladakh is home. Given Ladakh’s strategic importance, it has benefited by the creation of a logistical infrastructure, but has yet to receive a push towards industrial development.
Urbanization is getting under way, but the intrusion of modernity is limited. The old trade routes through the central plateau have been converted into roads that cut through the bronze and silver setting of the Karakoram, Ladakh and Zanskar ranges. The Border Roads Organization and the large military establishment maintain the roads but peasants and traders still use century-old routes.
A community in change
In a natural environment, which is by turns a hostile arctic desert and an oasis, water becomes the life-giving force, fundamental to the needs of development now visible in Ladakh. The pre-Buddhist peasant and wandering minstrel, who sang about the heroic vision of the Kesar Saga, would be amazed to see the changes that have been wrought into his world which was then still young and free of man’s pressing need for more room and greater resources. Now the emerging pattern of emerald valleys attests to his impulse for expansion.
The economic structure of Ladakh, sustained by the monastic system and what has been termed the ’emporium trade’, is being eroded by government-sponsored construction activity and agricultural improvement. The collective spirit and the community approach on which the monastic system was based still survive, but the living standards of the people haven’t improved much.
Only since 1947, when Ladakh became a part of the Indian Union, have Ladakhi skills been used for its advancement. Educated young Ladakhis have not been lured away by the promise of a brighter future outside their homeland but have stayed behind and helped in its development.
A prime example is the Stakna hydroelectric project – a tribute to Ladakhi engineers who have adapted design and technology to meet the challenge of stringent local conditions. The dam catches the Indus just below Hemis at 3,450 metres, and has been operated even in freezing weather in a region where forests are scarce and temperatures plummet to extreme lows, the advent of electricity has humanized the environment dramatically. Only a frequent visitor to Ladakh would be alive to the radical changes brought about by electricity to the work-style, architecture and social pattern of the electrified villages. Evenings in Leh can now be stretched beyond the 11p.m. deadline when diesel generators used to shut off.
Today, outside influences are tampering with Ladakh’s historically determined scheme as the land is subject to undreamed-of pressures, The transitory visitor is unaware of the impact of 1-is presence but it is obtrusively visible in the extending tentacles of the road network, in the pollution emitted by increased traffic and in the demand for services which are not expressive of the Ladakhi way of life. One again, it is the historical vulnerability of Ladakh’s economic system that becomes apparent as the genius of the people is mobilized to benefit the outsider.
Literacy in Ladakh
I2-year-old Stanz in Zangpo did not know what a train was. He could not recognize a cow or a buffalo. At school, during, geography lessons, he could not understand what a plain was and what a sea was. He only identified the jagged peaks near Diskit en route to the Siachin Glacier. When 30 Ladakhi children were brought to Delhi and taken to the zoo, they ran away in fright on seeing an elephant. The children were taken to Qutb Millar to learn about heights; they had never written a letter and were taken to the post office. After the Gujarat earthquake, they were taught about the causes and effects of quakes. They were present for the Army Day and Republic Day Parades to inculcate in them a sense of belonging and identity with the rest of India. Overjoyed with their new experiences in Delhi, one of them thought that the most exciting profession was that of an engine driver — a career that gave one freedom to travel and see the wonders of the country.
For more information of Enter the Tourist in Leh Ladakh and leh ladakh tour packages contact Swan Tours one of the leading travel agents in India.
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