Ladakh
is a land like no other. Bounded by two of the world's mightiest mountain ranges,
the Great Himalaya and the Karakoram, it lies athwart two other, the Ladakh range
and the Zanskar range.
In
geological terms, this is a young land, formed only a few million years ago by
the buckling and folding of the earth's crust as the Indian sub-continent pushed
with irresistible force against the immovable mass of Asia. Its basic contours,
uplifted by these unimaginable tectonic movements, have been modified over the
millennia by the opposite process of erosion, sculpted into the form we see today
by wind and water.
Yes, water! Today, a high -altitude desert, sheltered
from the rain-bearing clouds of the Indian monsoon by the barrier of the Great
Himalaya, Ladakh was once covered by an extensive lake system, the vestiges of
which still exist on its south -east plateaux of Rupshu and Chushul - in drainage
basins with evocative names like Tso-moriri, Tsokar, and grandest of all,
Pangong-tso.
Occasionally, some stray monsoon clouds do find their way over the Himalaya, and
lately this seems to be happening with increasing frequency. But the main source
of water remains the winter snowfall. Drass, Zanskar and the Suru Valley on the
Himalaya's northern flank receive heavy snow in winter; this feeds the glaciers
whose meltwater, carried down by streams, irrigates the fields in summer. For
the rest of the region, the snow on the peaks is virtually the only source of
water. As the crops grow, the villagers pray not for rain, but for sun to melt
the glaciers and liberate their water. Usually their prayers are answered, for
the skies are clear and the sun shines for over 300 days in the year.
Ladakh lies at altitudes ranging from about 9,000 feet (2750m) at Kargil to 25,170
feet (7,672m) at Saser Kangri in the Karakoram. Thus summer temperatures rarely
exceed about 27 degree celcius in the shade, while in winter they may plummet
to minus 20 degree celcius even in Leh. Surprisingly, though, the thin air makes
the heat of the sun even more intense than at lower altitudes; it is said that
only in Ladakh can a man sitting in the sun with his feet in the shade suffer
from sunstroke and frostbite at the same time!
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