Day 4 26th April Road trip north west along Indus River

Photo above - stupas at the entrance to Basgo Monastery.

A very cold start

It was -8c in the night, but when I woke up it was bright sun, blue skies,......and -5c! Started the day sitting in the garden in a puffa jacket, 5 layers on, sun cream on my face, and having a post breakfast sunbathe at 8am!

We left Leh at 8.30am to drive to a village called Uleytokpo approximately 50 miles north west of Leh. Once out of the town the scenery became very barren and dusty. We drove through several huge army encampments on the way. They are here due to the relative proximity to eastern China and Pakistan. This whole state of Ladakh is considered border country despite the distances being 250 km or more

Some signs on the walls state that trespassers will be shot dead, so being unsure of the penalty for photographers, I let the opportunity pass. The road going north west was good quality, although traffic was light. It eventually goes to Kashmir. There are some great safety signs all along the side of the main roads, and I think that the government must have a department thinking up the slogans. How about: Fast and furious makes you injurious!

Permission to go inland

A few miles out of Leh we came to a halt by a roadside tent which contained a smartly dressed lady wishing to check our credentials IE that we had an “inner land” permit for travel in the interior of Ladakh. If not we could be in trouble at any police check points we may come across.

Indus meets Zanskar

A few miles further on we left the dusty valley and started climbing our first mountain pass. Cutting through the brown barren mountains, we eventually came to a point where you can see the deep blue clear Indus River joining the green coppery Zanskar river. There was an actual line where the two different coloured waters met. From here the river is called the Indus, but takes on the colour of the Zanskar.

The pass we were on had the ubiquitous signs for rock slides, but they need to be taken seriously here due to snow melt and minor earthquakes. Once over the pass we were in a slightly lower valley (3000m). The army bases kept coming and have so far outnumbered normal settlements.

Another mountain top monastery

We arrived at a small village called Basgo which sits at 10,800ft/3292m and has a population of about 100. It is here in 1680 AD. that invading Mongol and Tibetan armies were held in check over a three-year long siege. The monastery or gompas here is at the top of a rocky outcrop overlooking the village. The rock is very soft, so has eroded to form some very strange shapes. As we go up the track to the monastery, we are met by 3 stupas, coloured blue, yellow and white. These represent compassion, enlightenment and stability.

The monastery was effectively built three times over the centuries. All three buildings are visible here, but only the newest is in use. There are amazing views from the top as always, and here there is a unique view of the green coppery rock across the other side of the valley. This is not a site that gets a lot of visitors and there is a lot of renovation work going on, which tends to be typically done by the local community. When we arrived, there was a man re-painting some intricate paint work around a door.

More monasteries, veggie food and apple blossom

Next, it was another mountain pass out of the valley, through the barren brown and green rock. After a short drive we arrived at the village of Alchi, across the other side of the Indus. The village seems to exist primarily to cater for visitors to Alchi Monastery. There are actually four tiny temples in this complex.

Dwarfed by high mountains in the backdrop, the monasteries of Alchi are fine examples of traditional Tibetan architecture. Solid square and rectangular structures with flat roofs and with elaborate murals which is a landmark of Buddhist art and architecture in the Himalayan region.

As with many monasteries, there is a place to eat, so we stopped here for lunch. They served only vegetarian, and we had a really great Indian meal sitting out in the sun, surrounded by mountains and apple blossom.

Rock slides yes, monks and snow leopards no

Back across the river to the main road, we continue another 8km and reach Uleytokpo village (10,000ft/3048m), where we are staying tonight. However we pressed on another couple of Km and turned once again across the river to drive up through a gorge to visit Mangyu Monastery and see the village. In winter, Mangyu is a great place to search for the elusive snow leopard, but we are too late in the year.

The road up through the gorge is mainly single track and winds up the mountain following the path of a small stream. However because of the recent heavy snow and subsequent snow melt, there had been several rock slides, some not completely cleared. On the way up the guide was continually glancing up looking for loose rocks. We saw a small water tanker at the side of the road filling up from snow melt rushing down the mountain side.

The village was just a few scattered houses up the hillside. At the monastery there was no one home, so we just walked around it taking photos and looking at the views. On the way down we were held up by a gang of workman who were working right across the road to try and clear a slide. The driver got out to try and help shift some of the bigger rocks that the JCB had not moved. Further down we came across the tents where the labourers are staying while they clear and repair the road.

Finally it was back to Uleytokpo where we are staying in some mountain side huts, right near the Indus River.

Tomorrow we continue our drive in a generally north west direction to see more of inner Ladakh