Welcome to Zanskar
Added 2021-04-01 12:39:43 +0000 UTCHello everyone. First of all, apologies for the long silence and the lack of updates over the past few months. I just returned home to Chennai after a long winter in the remote reaches of Zanskar.
It was an interesting trip. Full off unexpected twists and turns. I had low expectations when I went to Ladakh last December. Most of the places I regularly visit (Changthang etc) were out of bounds to tourists due to Covid. So I decided to buy a used car (a Gypsy) and just drive around Ladakh, camping by the roadside and keeping away from the villages. I was all set to buy the Gypsy when suddenly I saw an update on Twitter that the road to Zanskar was open. I did not know what the Covid situation was like in Zanskar and did not know if outsiders were welcome or not.
I decided to take the gamble and a few days later I was in Padum, all excited to spend my first winter in Zanskar. But that excitement was short lived as 3 days later I got frostbitten in all my toes and spent the next 35 days recuperating in the small village of Pischu. The long wait was frustrating as my feet showed no signs of healing. Infact is has been over 100 days now and one of toes is still bloody and yet to heal fully.
Anyway, I managed to visit the Phukthar monastery towards the middle of February. And it is no exaggeration when I say that the visit to Phukthar was one of the best experiences of my life. I had initially planned to spend a few days at the monastery, but ended up spending over 20 days there. And the only reason I left Phukthar was to call home and tell my parents that I was doing alright. Phukthar did not have any telephone connectivity and neither did any of the villages in its vicinity. And to make matters worse the road to Padum was blocked due to many avalanches and I had to walk for 3 days inorder to get a network signal to call home.
Needless to say, I'am smitten with Zanskar and can see myself visiting the region regularly in the coming months and years. But for now, my immediately plan for the next couple of months is to start working on my videos from Zanskar. Hopefully they will turn out interesting. Fingers crossed.
