Facets – in Youlang, Sani and Padum

22. + 23. September 2024

 

 

So after the nun’s visit, I left Delek and his car and walked down the slope to see an acquaintance. I’m doing this anonymously because it’s the man whose wife commited suicide a few months ago. I want to write about it, but I don’t want to personalise it. I went to his house – it was very clean, but locked. I wondered if he’d been away for a while or just for a short time. I made my way back and met a neighbour who I spoke to. She didn’t speak English, but took me to her sister, who spoke very well. They didn’t know where he was and didn’t have his phone number either, but they would find out. I was told to come into the house and have a salty tea. I was happy to come into the house, but I spurned the tea. But here, homemade yoghurt! Very tasty! Would you like some lunch too? No, I already had. We’ll make a black tea, but you’ll drink it? OK. And then some delicious biscuits. Are you sure you don’t want lunch? A child and a woman with another child also arrived. The acquaintance’s sister-in-law.

 

 

Come with me, I’ll make you lunch! Then the acquaintance was reached: he is in Padum, where he was working with someone. OK, I’ll be on my way after tea. Wouldn’t you like to sleep here? – came from the young woman again. Her name is Lobzang and she had been looking for work for two years. She didn’t have a husband either, but her sister was already married (both can be seen above). Her father died not so long ago – the good thing about her unemployment is that she can now better support her mother. She was grazing a large flock of sheep. A grandad also came along and was pleased to see a strange face.

 

 

Then it was time to leave and she accompanied me to the road. A car was already approaching. But it didn’t stop. But another one came straight away and I was able to get in. The driver even drove me as far as Padum, although he didn’t really want to go that far. He was a trekking guide and talked an awful lot and lamented about all the changes and how much nicer and more ecological life used to be. It sounded a bit strange coming from someone who was happily driving his car over beautifully tarmaced roads. But anyway, he was very nice to give me a lift.

 

I thought that this was something you could really only experience in Zanskar (or elsewhere, but not at home), that strangers would invite you into their house, offer you hospitality, sleeping accommodation, etc.

 

The acquaintance was actually working and came round for a chat afterwards. He now lives alone in the big house, his children are for studies elsewhere. He has sold two of the four cows and the fields have been lying fallow, at least this summer. He has a job and there’s quite a lot to do and he’s very happy about it. He also enjoys working in the evenings. He now has the whole household on his own, but that’s fine. You get used to it. It’s lonely though, even though he sometimes goes to his siblings’ families etc. We talked about him, but also about Zanskar and the youth and the developments. He is pleased that the young people are so well educated and that many of them are very happy to come back here, but sad that they actually only want to have government jobs. They would rather be unemployed and moan than take on any other jobs.

 

Then he also confirmed what I had already heard before: the school where I had done the Kamerakidz is sponsored by a foundation from Germany – and India has now put a stop to this. There is the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) or a certificate that regulates which organisations are allowed to receive money from abroad. The school had this certificate, but it was not renewed – as was the case with countless other organisations. A prominent example: Greenpeace. That’s really tough – how quickly do you want to rebuild a school financially? Can you even manage that?

 

I was very moved by the encounter with its mixture of openness and distraction, his vulnerability and his bravery. I don’t know if it’s more comfortable for someone to talk to an outsider – or not, I like him a lot and appreciate him immensely, but this was on another level.

 

Ashfaq arrived next. He has a travel agency and is a partner of Diamir. We had already met in Dresden and liked each other. And we were delighted to be in Padum at the same time! He was travelling with a photography group, but had some time for a chat and lunch

 

 

We have a very similar level when it comes to tourism and it’s just nice to exchange ideas with someone like that.

 

My trekking start had been pushed back a day, so I used the afternoon to visit Sani. There is an old monastery there, but you couldn’t get in. Nobody there with a key.

 

 

But I still had the late light at Padmasambhava on the holy lake in Sani. There was also a flock of sheep and a group of Indians there:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I walked part of the way there and then hitchhiked and hitchhiked all the way back. The road was really quite wide. The driver back was a middle-aged man from Sani who was unhappy about all the changes. If money plays an increasingly important role, as it does now, then human relations are no longer so good. He thinks the road connections are stupid and that life was much better before. Then he also talked about his wife’s sister, who married a Tibetan and is now going to France and – I think it’s been four years – hasn’t been back to Zanskar. That’s not good at all!

 

And here are a few more finds from Padum.

 

I couldn’t resist this pretty tourist photo:

 

 

And not this photo of my hotel bed either. That there would be something so elegant here! And that I – who tends to travel a little more simply – would sleep in it! But due to short travelling time and luxury in general this is very pleasant….

 

 

Icehockey has become extremely popular in Ladakh. And so they wanted to give Zanskar a chance and built this ice hockey ring.

 

 

The milk co-operative also seems quite new to me – but I would have to find out more about it.

 

 

Padum has a helipad, by the way. This wreck is located there. But there are plans for a proper airport (at least for the military) – what changes there will be! The driver back from Sani said that in 10 years at the latest it would look like Leh. Not good at all!

 

 

 

And here you can see a few military buildings in the distance – and how the army has immortalised itself on the mountainside.

 

 

And to round off this blog post, here are three more pictures of dogs. There are a lot of them here, but so far I haven’t seen any aggressive ones.

 

 

 

 

I hope this was not too confusing!